An ancient site that is often passed by due to its location on the west bank of the Ping in the village of Nakhon Chum is Wat Phra Borommathat. It was founded in the Sukhothai days but now boasts a huge Burmese style chedi.
The roughly 30 meter tall chedi stands on the site of three smaller lotus shaped chedis commissioned by Sukhothai’s King Lithai to enshrine relics of the Buddha in the mid 14th century. In the early 1900’s a prominent Karen covered the chedis with a larger white plaster chedi resembling Yangon’s Shwedagon Pagoda, but much smaller. It is believed that the originals were built in a lotus bud shape and was renovated with the permission of King Chulalongkorn in Burmese style by a Burmese merchant known as Phraya Taka.
Close to the riverbank, the chedi has since been painted gold and is a focal point of the annual Nop Phra Len Phleng Festival, which coincides with the Makha Bucha holiday in February. A colorful procession of musicians and dancers cross the Ping from ...
Wat Pho, known as the Monastery of the Bodhi Tree, stands as a relatively well-preserved temple ruin off the city island of Ayutthaya. The site lies in an area once called Thung Kaeo, positioned between the remains of Wat Kuti Thong and Wat Wong Khong. Flooding can make access difficult during the rainy season.
The monastery was originally approached by water along a now-filled canal known as Khlong Wat Pho, which appears on historical maps from the early twentieth century and likely connected to other local waterways such as Khlong Pha Lai. A ferry once operated across the old course of the Lopburi River from the Ten Cowries Landing near Wat Thammikarat on the city side. Traces of a surrounding moat remain visible in places.
What survives on the ground consists of the restored ruins of an ordination hall and a sermon hall, together with the foundations of four smaller chedis, all enclosed by an outer wall of the type known as a crystal wall. These principal structures are aligned east-west, with ...
Wat Sangka Tha วัดสังขทา
Wat Sangkha Tha is located on the city island in the southwestern part of Ayutthaya. The temple is licsted in the Somdet Phra Sri Nakharin Park. Wat Sangkha Thae and Wat Chedi Yai are nearby Wat Chao Phram and several other ruins are located just east of here.
Being part of the Somdet Phra Sri Nakharin Park the ruin has been restored by the Fine Arts Department. The site consists of two monastic structures, an ordination hall and a wihan, both with a chedi.
Two other monastic structures are also nearby. A wihan called Wat Sangkha Thae or the "Monastery of the True Monkhood" and likely a bell or drum tower.
The whole complex is surrounded by a moat. All buildings were probably originally part of one temple but early maps show them as two seperate temples.
Its historical background and period of construction are unknown with most records being destroyed during the fall of the city to the Burmese in 1767. The Royal Chronicles of Ayutthaya mention an important ...
Wat Bowon Sathan Sutthawat (วัดบวรสถานสุทธาวาส), also widely known as Wat Phra Kaew Wang Na, stands as a quiet yet significant royal temple within the grounds of Bangkok’s former Front Palace, now part of the Bunditpatanasilpa Institute complex near the National Theatre and close to the Bangkok National Museum. Unlike ordinary temples, this sacred site has never housed resident monks, serving instead as the private chapel of the Front Palace in much the same way that Wat Phra Kaew functions within the Grand Palace.
Its story begins in the reign of King Rama I, when Prince Maha Surasinghanat established a small convent called Wat Luang Chi for royal women of Khmer origin to observe religious precepts.
By the time of King Rama II the buildings had fallen into disuse and were cleared to create a rabbit garden. Under King Rama III, Prince Maha Sakdiphonlasep, the Front Palace ruler of the day, dedicated the land to a new temple as an act of Buddhist merit and ...
