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| UNESCO: Wat Mahathat, Ayutthaya Historical Park |
Wat
Mahathat
Located in
the old city of Ayutthaya. It inherited Thai traditions to named “Wat Mahathat”, for keeping Buddha relics in its main Chedi, like
the Sukhothai, Kamphaeng Phet and Bangkok. In addition, it was a residence of
the Patriarch.
The large viharn is located in front of the temple. The main prang is surrounded by the subsidiary chedis. Wat Mahathat's main prang is Khmer art. It collapsed in the reign of the King Rama IV of Rattana Kosin. Behind prang is ubosot.
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| Photogenic "Buddha Head", Wat Mahathat |
Amazing
Sight
Buddha
head beneath the tree roots is one of the outstanding objects in front of Wat
Mahathat. The visitors always take photograph of it. Recently, UNESCO brought
its picture to decorate at headquarter in Paris. There are only 40-50 images
from UNESCO World Heritage Sites are selected among over 900 sites worldwide.
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| UNESCO: Viharn and Main Prang, Wat Ratcha Burana |
Wat Ratch Burana
This temple was built
during the early Ayutthaya in the 15th century to commemorate the battle of two
princes for the throne (Chao Ai Phraya and Chao Yi Phraya). They killed each
other. As a result, youngest brother (Chao Sam Phraya) was a king and built the
temple to dedicate to his two brothers.
This temple has main prang
in good condition. The prang base is decorated with demon and mythical creature
stucco. Higher levels are adorned the deva and Garuda. Stairs to the upper
floor lead to a hallway that display light boxes of treasure found. And down to
the bottom has 2 levels of the vault decorated with mural paintings and it was
a place to preserved Buddha relics and priceless treasures.
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| Demon Stucco, Main Prang |
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| Garuda and Deva Stucco, Main Prang |
Treasure
Wat Ratch Burana is a
great source of valuable artifacts that survived from the war. It was
discovered by thieves who illegally excavated and sold to a gold shop in
Ayutthaya. And lead to the official survey on 1957.
There are more than 2,000
pieces of exquisite and beauty such as gold Buddha images, votive tablets and
royal utensils for the king. The treasure now is on display at the Chao Sam
Phraya National Museum.
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| Vault, Main Prang, Wat Ratcha Burana |
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| Stair to the Lower Vault, Main Prang, Wat Ratcha Burana |
Unconfirmed Story
One of the rumors about
the discovery of this treasure is about a crazy man swinging the royal sword in
the market. Cause the police knew that a huge treasure was discovered. Crazy
man was one of the thieves who had the unfortunate life. It might be a curse or
some other reason. The gold shop where were believed to be a source to purchase
the treasure was fire damaged as well. (The royal sword is one item of the
king's utensil collection).
Did you know?
Gold
Elephant of Wat Rat Burana treasure is one of the masterpieces in the series,
"Around the World in 80 Treasures", filmed by the BBC and presented
by Dan Cruickshank. This documentary is refered to "Around the World in 80
Days" by Jules Verne. Others to be chosen such as Samurai Sword-Japan,
Ming Dynasty Porcelain-China, Tutankhamun's Burial Mask-Egype etc.
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