Wat Phanan Choeng

Luang Pho To at Wat Phanan Choeng is a seated Buddha about nineteen metres high, cast in 1324 - twenty-six years before Ayutthaya was founded - which makes it older than the city around it. Chronicles record that the image wept when Ayutthaya fell to the Burmese in 1767. The temple is one of the most actively used in Ayutthaya, particularly by Chinese-Thai worshippers, and the practice here involves buying long lengths of orange cloth which are hoisted by pulley up over the statue's shoulders as an offering, so the image is continually being re-robed. A separate shrine on the site honours Soi Dok Mak, a Chinese princess in the legend of the temple's founding who is said to have died there when the king failed to come and meet her boat. The temple sits where the Pa Sak meets the Chao Phraya and can be reached by river boat.

What you actually see

• Luang Pho To - a nineteen-metre seated Buddha cast in 1324.
• The cloth offering - lengths of orange cloth hoisted over the statue's shoulders.
• The Chinese shrine - to Soi Dok Mak, from the founding legend.
• The river position - at the confluence, reachable by boat.

When to go

November to February. It is busy year-round with worshippers rather than sightseers, and heavily so around Chinese New Year. An hour covers it.

Honest expectations

Very busy with pilgrims - this is a working temple, not a ruin, and worship takes priority. The hall is dim and crowded. Small charge to enter. Temple dress code applies.

Nearby

Wat Yai Chai Mongkhon is north; the Ayutthaya historical park is across the river.