WAT RANG 2 (วัดร้าง) |
Wat Rang is remotely located among rice fields in the southeast sector (near Wat Yai Chai Mongkhon). Hidden behind an apartment complex and heavy vegetation, it can be quite difficult to find. It situ is a medium-sized mound, most of which has collapsed due to seasonal flooding. Large exploratory holes have been excavated on the spot. There is no chedi or sermon hall viewable. However, a large number of Buddha images can still be seen. These lie in numerous fragments that include portions of a head. Some of this debris is quite large, suggesting that a Buddha image of significant height once stood at this monastery. A large number of bricks are scattered across the mound. Not much is known about Wat Rang’s history. It first appears on a 1993 Fine Arts Department map. The monastery may have been situated on the outskirts of Ayodhya – the ancient settlement that predated the foundation of Ayutthaya. It was accessible from the north via Khlong Dusit. Khlong Pra Non also passed below it along an east/west axis. Although it is subject to debate, Khlong Pra Non most likely formed around the mud walls of the ancient settlement. Nevertheless, one can only speculate about the age of Wat Rang. |
Text by Ken May - April 2009 Photographs by Tricky Vandenberg - May 2009 |
(Detail of a 2007 Fine Arts Department GIS map - Courtesy of the Fine Arts Department - 3th Region) |
(View of the site in April 2009) |
(View of the site in May 2009) |
(View of the site in May 2009) |
Addendum In June 2019 the Fine Arts Department (FAD) - 3th Region announced on their Facebook page that the location here was under threat of being levelled and intervened to suspend the construction works near this landmark to protect it. FAD wrote that they made a survey in August 2018 and found a mound of about 20 meters in size. The site consisted of at least 2 knolls and a stretch of water surrounding the mound. Artifacts found in situ were transferred to the Chao Sam Phraya National Museum. FAD gave two names for the site, being Wat Khok Sam Rong and Wat Song Ong, the latter may be referring to the two knolls (probably hiding the remains of a monastic structure) found in situ. The existence of the site was already known since the location figured on the 1974 FAD map and was named Wat Rang (vacated temple) on their 1993 map. I presume that the present denomination of the site is just fictive and has no historical background. The site is located in geographical coordinates: 14° 20' 23.53" N, 100° 35' 35.97" E. Looking forward to the excavation of the site... |
(Addendum by Tricky Vandenberg - June 2019) |
(View of the site in May 2009) |