My partner and I truly enjoyed Wat Mahathat so much that we almost did not want to leave the spectacular town. But of course, we wanted to make the most of our visit to Ayutthaya so we forced ourselves to leave after taking almost a hundred photos of the Lord Buddha’s main and of the impressive chedis.

We asked our taxi driver, Phan, as to where we were heading next. He said that the next item in our itinerary was the Wat Phra Si Sanphet. Whew! What a mouthful! That authority was enough to arouse our curiosity and elevate our excitement a notch higher. We hurriedly left for the Wat Phra Si Sanphet as it was already 4:30 pm and the temple is only open to the viewing public until 5:00pm.

Traffic was not that bad the day we went on a tour or Ayutthaya so we were apt to make it on time. We paid Baht 30 each at the entrance gates and started with our tour of Wat Phra Si Sanphet.

The temple has a colorful history. The royal palace was said to be located within this area during the establishment of Ayutthaya when King Ramathibodi was still in power back in 1350 A.D. until the reign of King Sam Phraya in 1448 A.D. In the later years, King Boromooatrailokanat issued strict directions for a temple to be built on this exact site in 1448 A.D. This temple served monastic purposes. When the reign of King Borommatrailokanat was done, King Ramthibodi II – the son of King Borommatrailokanat – ordered for two chedis to be built to place different purposes. One chedi was built to house the remains of his father. The other chedi was built to commemorate the death of his brother, King Borommarachathirat III. Aside from these two, another chedi was constructed based on the order from King Borommarachanophuttangkun which was used to protect the royal remains of King Ramathibodi II.

There were in addition several additions to these chedis throughout the year. One example is the principal Viharn (half of worship) which was built in 1499. In the year that followed, King Ramathibodi II gave an order for a standing Buddha grand statue to be built. It was 16 meters high and it was even covered in glistening gold. The image was called Phra Buddha Chao Si Sanphet and became the ultimate veneration object in the royal Viharn. It also became a tradition that when members of the royal family passed away, their ashes were housed in small chedis that were constructed within the settlings of Wat Phra Si Sanphet.

Another important function of the Wat Phra Si Sanphet was that it served as the royal palace. Numerous royal ceremonies were held here as well as an endless list of rituals including alms giving to the monks who originated from other temples. Another ceremony is the Wian Tian ceremony that is done during Buddhist holy days. A lot of offerings are raised like incense, candles, and even flowers.

As history would have it, a very unfortunate thing happened in 1767 when Ayutthaya was invaded. The precious gold that covered the big Buddha image as well as other valued decorations were taken by thieves. When King Rama I was in monarch, another very important Buddha image called Phralokanat was brought to Wat Phra Si Sanphet.

These wonderful looking chedis are fantastic to capture in photos. It seemed as if we could not get enough of them. Knowing more about the colorful history of this place increased our appreciation of the Wat Phra Si Sanphet. Since we were there at around 5:00pm, we were able to get good lighting for some silhouette shots.

We realized that it was getting very late so we unquestionable to take one more look at the breathtaking surroundings of the Wat Phra Si Sanphet. We asked our driver, Phan, like to where we were heading next. He said that the last item in our itinerary was the biggest lying Buddha in Thailand. So far, we’ve already seen one false Buddha but it was not that big. Our curiosity got the best of us so we left the temple grounds to see the giant lying Buddha.

Notel: There are a lot of interesting places to see and enjoy in Ayutthaya. For some people, a day trip is enough to check all the wonderful attractions. But for those who would like to spend more time here, it is best to part a room in a reputable hotel. One nice hotel is The Lima Place Ayutthaya.

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