Wat Chai Wattanaram

This was the first stop of our full day tour we booked in advance through GetYourGuide to the ancient city of Ayutthaya which was the capital for over 400 years until 1767. We were on a bus of 18 people and it took almost 1.5 hours to get to Ayutthaya. We saw rice paddies along the way. Our guide "Boye" was quite good and explained that "for no reason" Myramar (Burma) bombarded Ayutthaya and set it on fire. The reason was actually that they pillaged the treasures there. The structures you see were covered with 3 inches of gold which melted and they destroyed all the Buddhas typically cutting their head off thinking they were filled with treasure. After this horrible event, the local people and treasure hunters completed the job, even tunnelling under the chedi's to get to the buried treasures of the cremated Royalty. As a result of this and aging many of the structures which are now down to only bricks are at a tilt and at risk of tumbling down.

One of Ayutthaya’s most impressive temples, the Khmer style Wat Chaiwatthanaram is a Royal temple that was used by the King and other members of the Royal family. Wat Chaiwatthanaram was constructed in 1630 by King Prasat Thong. It was one of the grandest monuments of the Ayutthaya Kingdom. The King built the temple as a means to gain Buddhist merit and as a memorial to his mother. Her ashes are enshrined in two square chedis flanking the ubosot on the East side of the temple.

To celebrate victory over the Khmer Empire which had dominated, Wat Chaiwatthanaram was built following the concepts of the Khmer mountain temples of Angkor to symbolize the universe in Buddhist and Hindu cosmology At the center of the Wat is a 35 meter tall Khmer style prang (a corncob shaped tower) standing on a raised brick platform. The prang represents Mount Meru, a mountain in Hindu and Buddhist cosmology which is the center of the universe surrounded by oceans. At each of the four cardinal directions a steep stairway leads up to the prang, the East one leading to an inner chamber, the cella or crypt where relics and precious artifacts were enshrined. The main platform supporting the central prang is surrounded by eight smaller chedis connected by covered galleries that enclose a courtyard. The 25 meter tall slender towers diminish in size towards the top. In their interior are niches, that each enshrined an image of the Buddha seated on a pedestal.

As canon balls and canons were dug up during excavations, historians believe the temple may have been used as a fortress during the last war with Burma. The monastery was looted and largely destroyed by the Burmese armies in 1767 after which it was deserted.Read more