Wat Ratchaburana
In 1424 A.D. King Intharachathirat passed away. His
two sons, Chao Aye Phraya who reigned over Suphanburi, and Chao Yi
Phraya who reignned over Sanburi, met in battle as each desired the
throne. This took place at the approach to the Pa-Than bridge and
ended with the death of both sons. A third son, Chao Sam Phraya came
down from Phitsanulok and acceded to the throne where upon he declared
his intention to organize a funeral for his father and his two brothers.
Afterwards he ordered the building of a wat, namely Wat Ratchaburana,
at the site of the cremation and at the place where his brothers fought
and died. He has two chedis created in which to keep their ashed.
In September of 1957 A.D. looters dug into a two-level crypt inside
the main prang (Khmer-type tower) and stole a great quantity of
material. Police arrested some of these looters. The Fine Arts Department
proceeded to excavate the site and found Buddha images and many
artifacts made of gold. Among these were a large number of votive
tablets made of gold and lead. In 1958 A.D. the Fine Arts Department
built a stairway so that one could go down into the crypt and look
at the paintings which were also found there. Since the Buddha images
and votive tablets discovered in the crypt were very numerous, the
ministers of the government approved giving some of them to people
who had contributed to the building of the Chao Sam Phraya National
Museum, much of the collection in which was found at Wat Ratchaburana.
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