Wat Chong Krom (วัดจงกรม), also known as Wat Jong Krom or Wat Jong Klom, stands today as a carefully restored ruin in the northern outskirts of Ayutthaya, off the main city island in the Khlong Sra Bua district.
Nestled in the historic area called Thung Khwan (the “Field of Fumes”), the temple lies along a northwest axis roughly parallel to Khlong Sra Bua canal, positioned between Wat Phraya Maen and Wat Phra Ngam, with Wat Prasat situated just to its north.
Its name is believed to derive from a traditional Buddhist meditation practice known as jong krom—walking meditation involving mindful pacing back and forth—which underscores its spiritual purpose as a place of contemplation.
The monastic complex presents an intriguing and somewhat unconventional layout for its era. It encompasses a main chedi, a vihara (assembly hall), an ubosot (ordination hall), several smaller satellite chedis, and other structures, all enclosed within a surrounding wall.
Traditionally, the ...
Wat Pradu Songtham (also rendered as Wat Pradu Songram or earlier forms such as Wat Pradu Rongtham) stands east of the former Ayutthaya city island in the area historically known as Ayothaya or Ayodhaya, adjacent to the sites of Wat Kudi Dao and Wat Chakrawan. The surrounding district shows evidence of settlement long predating King U Thong’s foundation of Ayutthaya in 1351, with Khmer occupation under Suryavarman I of Angkor in the early eleventh century establishing a stronghold linked to Lopburi and naming the place after the sacred Indian city of Ayodhya.
The earliest firm historical references place the monastery firmly within the Ayutthaya kingdom under royal patronage from the reign of King Songtham (1610–1628). The Royal Chronicles of Ayutthaya record that Japanese merchants, angered by the king’s treatment of their community and by the execution of one of their leaders, formed a force of roughly five hundred men and, in alliance with the official Phra Phimon, marched on the palace ...
Wat Sika Samut (วัดสีกาสมุด), also rendered as Wat Sika Samud, is a small ruined Buddhist temple located outside the historic city island of Ayutthaya in the eastern area. It sits just north of the more prominent restored ruin of Wat Maheyong.
The site occupies a raised mound enclosed by a moat, giving it the appearance of a small island. According to descriptions from the Fine Arts Department, this surrounding water served as an udaka sema (or utoka sima), a water boundary marking the sacred precinct for religious rites in the Lankawong Buddhist tradition, where water symbolizes purity and the enclosed space evokes Mount Meru rising from the cosmic ocean.
No contemporary historical documents record the temple’s founding or builder, so its origins remain obscure. Archaeological and architectural evidence places its construction in the Early Ayutthaya period, roughly between 1351 and 1488, contemporaneous with nearby Wat Maheyong.
The principal chedi shows stylistic links to ...
Chankasem or Front Palace National Museum Ayutthaya.
Chankasem Palace was built during the reign of King Maha Thammaraja, the 17th King of the Kingdom of Ayutthaya. During the reign of King Naresuan the Great the Palace became his permanent residence. Chankasem Palace, like the other palaces, was destroyed during the Burmese invasion. It has been renovated and reopened as a museum open to the public on Wednesdays through Sundays from 9.00 a.m. to 4.00 p.m.
Chankasem National museum, Chankasem Palace or Wang na is located in the northeast of Muang island which is near Hua Ro market. According to the historical record, Chankasem palace was built in King Dhamma Racha reign around 1577 in order to be the residence of King Naraesuan Maharacha and was the residence of King Yuparat and many kings.
When Ayutthaya was attacked and seized in 1767, the invaders burnt and destroyed this palace and left it abandonly. Until the reign of King Rama IV of the Rattanakosin dynasty, he commanded to repair of the throne ...
