Wat Phra Si Sanphet

Wat Phra Si Sanphet stood inside the royal palace at Ayutthaya and was the king's private temple, the equivalent of Wat Phra Kaeo in Bangkok - it had no resident monks and existed for royal ceremony. The three bell-shaped chedis aligned along its terrace were built between 1492 and 1529 to hold the ashes of King Borommatrailokkanat and two of his sons, and they are the most recognisable image of Ayutthaya. The temple also held a standing Buddha of about sixteen metres covered in some 170 kilograms of gold, from which the temple took its name; when Burmese forces sacked Ayutthaya in 1767 they burned the image to melt the gold off, and the remains were later moved to Bangkok. What survives is brickwork - the chedis, restored, and the foundations and columns of the halls around them. It is inside the UNESCO-inscribed historical park.

History

In 1350 King Ramathibodi I, also called U Thong, ordered a royal palace built on this spot, and on its completion in 1351 he made Ayutthaya his capital. In 1448 King Borommatrailokkanat moved the palace north and made the old grounds a holy site, his son Ramathibodi II built two chedis in 1492 for the ashes of his father and of his brother Borommaracha III, and in 1499 a royal chapel was built to house the Phra Si Sanphetdayan, a 16-metre Buddha cast in bronze and covered with some 343 kilograms of gold; a third chedi was added in 1529 for Ramathibodi II himself. It remained the holiest temple of the palace until the Burmese laid the city waste in 1767 (Wikipedia, Wat Phra Si Sanphet).

What you'll find

• The three chedis - aligned on the terrace, holding three kings' ashes.
• The palace ground - the royal compound the temple stood inside.
• The hall foundations - brick columns and platforms of the vanished buildings.
• The 1767 destruction - the sack that ended Ayutthaya as a capital.

When to go

November to February. Early morning or late afternoon - the site is entirely unshaded and midday is severe. Combined park tickets cover several temples.

Practical notes

No shade anywhere on the site and very hot from mid-morning. What stands is brick and restoration; the gold Buddha and the halls are gone. Ticketed, with a higher foreign rate.

Nearby

Wat Mahathat and Wat Ratchaburana are close; Wat Chaiwatthanaram is across the river.

Key facts