Wat Phra Si Sanphet
Wat Phra Si Sanphet is the loveliest and historically
most important temple in old Ayutthaya. Its three large chedis and
numerous smaller ones on a long terrace make this wat - also known
as the King's Temple - one of the most impressive sights in the ruined
city.
Two of the large chedis, the eastern and central ones, were built
in 1492 by King Rama Thibodi II to house the ashes of his father
and elder brother. His own ashes are interred in the third chedi,
built in 1530 by his son and successor on the throne, King Boromaraja
IV. All three chedis were opened up and plundered by the Burmese
who nevertheless failed to find the hundreds of small statues of
the Buddha in bronze, crystal, silver, lead and gold now on display
in the National Museum in Bangkok. The building on the west side
of the terrace, once crowned by a chedi, has numerous entrances
with small prangs. Like the smaller chedis and chapels around it
these probably contain the ashes of other members of the royal family.
Between the chedis are what were presumably mondhops while in front
of the terrace, roughly in the center of the temple compound, are
pillars and walls, the remains of the great wiharn which once housed
a 16-m (52-ft) high figure of Buddha encased in gold. The statue
itself, damaged and stripped of its gold by the Burmese, was removed
by King Rama I to one of the large chedis of Wat Pho in Bangkok.
Other smaller Buddha figures were also taken to the capital to be
placed in Wat Buddhaisawan (now part of the National Museum in Bangkok)
and the western wiharn of Wat Pho.
Leaving the Royal Wat - note the memorial to King U Thong opposite -
take the turning on the left to Wang Luang palace, also sometimes
referred to as "the Old Palace" to distinguish it from the
Chandra Kasem Palace which was built later. A third palace, Klang
Suan Luang, once stood close to the city's western wall in the vicinity
of Queen Suriyochai's chedi. Of this latter palace nothing now remains.
The walls of Wang Luang extend right up to the Lopburi River. Apart
from these and the well-restored foundations, there is little to
be seen, the Burmese having been very thorough in their destruction
of this part of Ayutthaya. For the same reason little survives from
the once numerous old Thai houses. Even so a fairly good idea of
the original extent of the palace complex, which also incorporated
Wat Si Sanphet, can be obtained. Perhaps the best way to visualize
this section of the old city is to compare it to the Great Palace
in Bangkok which was actually modeled on Ayutthaya's Wang Luang
though built in different styles. The oldest building in the complex
was erected by U Thong in 1350, the year in which Ayutthaya became
his new capital.
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