Wat Sri Sanphet,Ayutthya

Wat Phra Sri or Si Sanphet is one of the most beautiful in Ayutthya. Most of the structures around it have been destroyed but the three chedis still stand majestically.

view of the three chedis from the northeast end

Historical background:
In 1350, King U Thong, who also built the Wat Yai Chai Mongkhon built the royal palace where the wat stands now. This had three wooden buildings. He made Ayutthya his capital and was bestowed with the title of Ramathibodhi I.

In 1448, King Borom Trailokanath who was the eighth king of Ayutthya period and one of the greatest kings credited to bringing a lot of reforms to Thai bureaucracy, built a new royal palace and converted the existing one into a religious site to be used solely by kings or royalty. No monks resided there. They were invited only on special occassions.

Chaiyachettha, later known as Ramathibodhi II, son of Borom Trailoknath, built two chedis in 1492 to enshrine the ashes of his father and his elder brother King Borommaracha III.

In 1530, King Borommaracha IV built the third chedi to enshrine the ashes of his father, King Ramathibodhi II.

Special features of the chedis:

There are some features which are different and deviate from the normal chedi architecture during that time.

• The three chedis are identical and stand on a platform.
• They are built in Sukhothai style which was very deeply influenced by Sri Lankan bell shaped style of architecture.
• Each has a mondop on its east side. They probably had Buddha feet in them once but are just a empty mound now.

• The chedis have entrance at each of their four directions. If you look at the picture above, you would see porches jutting out on four sides. Each has a small replica of chedi on its top.

• A small Buddha image is placed in three side in the porches.
• There is a set of pillars above the harmika (square structure above the dome) supporting the pinnacle on top.
• Usually there is a gallery which surrounds the chedis which has images of Buddha facing the chedis but here, the images face outside, away from chedis.

In 1499, King Ramatibodhi II built a viharn called Viharn Luang meaning royal. The next year he ordered a huge image of Buddha to be built which took three years to finish. The 16 meter bonze image was gilded with 343 kgs of gold. It is said to be one of the most beautiful images in the world. The image was called Phra Si Sanphetdayan, meaning "Sacred majesty all seeing or knowing".

Over a period of years smaller chedis were made to house the ashes of royal family.

more chedis

an image of Buddha facing Viharn Luang

remains of viharn

a lone chedi

back view of chedis

Impressions showing the positions of images of Buddha.

Viharn Prasat Phra Narai

In mid 1600, King Narai built a viharn on the west side, in the opposite direction of Viharn Luang. It was named Prasat Phra Narai after the king,

dismembered images in front of a chedi

 ubosoth with sema stones still there

an image of Buddha faces the chedi

In 1767 Burma attacked Ayutthya, the place was ransacked. Buddha images in wats were dismembered. Viharn Luang was burnt thus melting the gold from the image of Buddha, Phra Si Sanpetdayan. Gold was looted and taken away leaving behind pieces of bronze.

In the late 18th century, King Rama I of Rattanakosin period enshrined the damaged image at Chedi Sampetdayan in Wat Pho in Bangkok.

Inspite of these instructions for visitors throughout, it is a shame that we do not protect the heritage of any country.

Taking a picture of themselves is more important!

Entrance ticket:

Since the wat is a part of Ayutthaya Historical Park, there is an entrance fee of 50 Baht

Timing:

0800 hours to 1700 hours

You might be interested in Wat Mahathat, Ayutthya where I proceed next.

Wat Yaichai Mongkol, Ayutthya

Wat Yaichai is one of the wats which does not form a part of Ayutthhaya Historical Park in Ayutthya. The central chedi which is 60 meter high can be seen from places in Bangkok. If you go to Suvarnabhumi airport via the old route, on the right side you see the brightly lit main chedi at night.

view from the road

Historical background:
Wat Yai Chai Mongkhon or Mongkol means the Great monastery of victory and was built by King Ramathibodhi I, also known as U-Thong, meaning "a golden cradle". He got this name after his father gave a cradle of gold to him. He belonged to Chiengsaen dynasty and was the first ruler of Ayutthya in 1900 B.E or 1357 A.D. His two sons died of cholera and he built a chedi in 1363 and viharn in their honor. The name of the wat changed many a times. It has been named Wat Pa Kaeo, Wat Chao Phraya earlier.

It has the highest main chedi and it comes as no surprise that if you are going to the Suvarnbhumi airport at night, if you look towards your right, you can see the lighted main chedi.

The wat was built primararily to accomodate monks who after studying under Phra Vanaret Maha Thera returned from Sri Lanka. The sect was known as Pa Kaeo or Pakaew which was a new sect of Thervada and focussed mainly on meditation. This school became popular very soon and the wat came to be known as Wat Pa Kaeo.

Since the abott or the patriarch lived here, it was also called Wat Chao Phya-thai, meaning "temple of the Supreme Patriarch".
In 1592, Burma attacked Ayutthya and King Naresuan fought bravely suppressing Burmese forces. The central or the main chedi to commemorate this victory. The chedi came to be known as Phra Chedi Yai Mongkol or chedi of the great victory but was popularly known as Phra Chedi Yai or the Great Pagoda.

model of Wat Yaichai Mongkol

Most of the wats in Ayutthya have a model which gives some idea about how they must have looked at that time.

After entering, turn left to see a huge image of the reclining Buddha.

The 15 meter reclining Buddha image on north-east side of the complex was probably built by King Naresuan. It was used for his meditation purposes. The image was restored in 1905 A.D.
Just behind the reclining Buddha, are two pillars of Sarnath or commonly known as the Ashoka pillars.

Devotees praying

Mostly, Buddha is seen with closed eyes in this posture but here, his eyes are open.

Rakahng or the bell tower is rung to inform monks about the prayer time.

Ubosoth

The ubosoth has two rabbits at entrance

Sema stone outside ubosot

Khmer style statue

The architecture in Ayutthya was highly influenced by Khmer style and you see a lot of common features between the two countries.

Steep steps lead inside the large chedi

Large Buddha images in mondop on one side

There are two mondops on two sides, the walls and roof do not exist now.

The steps lead to a central room inside the chedi. Bronze images surround a reliquary in the center.

reliquary

People were throwing coins in the reliquary.

view from above

There is a square gallery which surrounds the main chedi with images of Buddha in Bhumisparsh mudra.

This was one of the wats where I saw complete Buddha images. At other places most of the images were either broken or without head. It seems a pity to see a sight like this.

 images all face the main stupa

this was once a part of vihan

Such chedis surround the main chedi

Sri Lankan style chedi

The chedis show a reflection of Sri Lankan bell shaped architecture.

Notes:

• entry is 20 Bahts
• While coming down from central chedi, go to the first level terrace to get a good view of the surrounding.

I now am heading towards Wat Sri Sanphet, Ayutthya, Wat Mahathat, Ayutthya, Wat Chaiwatthanaram, Ayutthya, Wat Rachaburana, Ayutthya

Wat Umong, Chiang Mai, Thailand

We planned on going to Wat Umong first as this place is situated very close to the base of the mountain. Oo mong can literally be translated into tunnels in Thai. The full name of this Wat is Wat Oomong ( Oo mong)  or Umong Suan Puthatham.

This 13th century wat was made by King Mengrai, first ruler of Lanna Kingdom. It has tunnels under the mound of its bell shaped stupa. It gets covered with moss and vines specially during the rainy season.

The narrow path leads to monks quarters, take the other path to reach temple entrance.

steps leading to temple

On the sides of these steps, are fierce looking Dvaarpalas or temple guardians.

Dvaarpalas (Dvaar: a door, Paal: protector) or temple guardians who protect the  place inside. They are usually fierce looking demon like figures but sometimes may also have an average human like figure. They hold a weapon, usually a mace, in their hand.
The presence of dvaarpalas is very commonly seen in the temples of India, Sri Lanka, Bali, Java, Cambodia and Thailand.

There are three entrances, a big one in the center and two small ones on either side. A replica of Ashoka pillar at Sarnath, India stands with its symbol of 4 lions facing back to back on an inverted lotus and the wheel of Dharma on top and below.

Ashoka pillar replica

The symbols signify:
lions for power, the Dharm chakra with 24 spokes on top signifies that Dharma or righteousness
[not religion] is always at top.

inscription stone near the pillar

Ashoka, the great Mauryan dynasty king ruled India in 3rd century BC. He was a devout Buddhist and helped in spreading Buddhism across the Indian subcontinent and Sri Lanka. There were many of these pillars erected by Ashoka which were inscribed with Buddhist teachings.  Very few of them remain now.

 view of the three tunnel entrances

The 700 year old temple was made by King Mengrai to honor a monk (in the picture above) who wanted to get away from the hustle of city and go off into forests for days to meditate in the quiet surroundings. The King built this temple with tunnels apparently painted to resemble forest to keep the monk give a feel of forest and solitude. The restoration and plastering over a period of years makes it impossible to see any of those now.

entrance to center tunnel

The tunnel leads to an altar on which sits a golden Buddha.

Image of Buddha at the altar

The two tunnels open to the rear side and criss cross the central tunnel.

While going down the tunnel, you see niches on the sides with small Buddha images kept inside. They apparently were places to keep lamps in the times when there was no electricity.

Buddha image at the end of one tunnel

There is also a mat just in front of each image for devotees to sit and meditate.

Exit the tunnels and turning left leads to Chedi or stupa.

A flight of steps with mystical naga leads to chedi.

close up of naga

bell shaped Chedi 

Passing through the chedi, walk to the end, go down the steps and keep walking straight past the end of tunnels, follow the trail and on the right side is a black stone Buddha.

It pains to see the emaciated image of Buddha in this stage. Gautam Buddha in the last days of his life not only renounced world but stopped eating as well. He became weak and bones showed through his body. But deep in meditation, he did not worry about anything.
This Lanna style of architeture existed for a very short time and there are very few remaining examples now.

On the sides are the monks living quarters, walk towards that and turn to your right. A huge collection of damaged Buddha statues is seen there.

As I have already mentioned, it is objectionable and improper to keep a Buddha head so this place apparently was started by a devotee who rescued a Buddha head from a nearby place. Since you cannot worship or throw the damaged piece, he decided to keep it under a tree. Over a period of years, it became a practice for people to put their damaged or broken Buddha images here.

 damaged seated Buddha

 more damaged pieces

 more of these...

small pieces kept under a tree

Very close to the exit gate is a rest room. Notice that you need to remove your footwear there and change into slippers provided.

Points of interest in this wat:

• Entry is free
• Criss cross tunnels at the end of which are images of Buddha.
• Ashoka pillar
• bell-shaped chedi covered with plants at places
• black emaciated Buddha statue 
• a congregation of damaged Buddha statues
• for those interested, a pond where to feed fish.

Some other wats: Wat Chedi Luang, Chiang Mai, Wat Phra That Doi Suthep, Wat Sri Suphan, Chiang mai, Wat Jed Yod or Ched Yod, Wat Phra Singh, Wat Chiang Mun, Chiang Mai, Thailand, Wat Suan Dok Mai