| WAT DAWADUNG 2 (วัดดาวดึงส์) |
| Wat Dawadung (1) or the Monastery of the Heaven of Indra is a commemoration pavilion located off the city island in the northwestern area of Ayutthaya in Phukhao Thong sub-district - Moo 4. It is situated near the crossing of the road which follows the Chao Phraya River and road No 347 (Pa Mok - Bang Pa-In). Following the locals the monastery stood before opposite the site of the pavilion, in a location which is now used by Buddhist nuns (Samnak Mae Chi Dawadung). The Buddha images apparently have been moved opposite the road. Historical data about the monastery and its construction are unknown. The site is not indicated on Phraya Boran Rachathanin's map drafted in 1926. The site is located in Geo Coord: 14° 22' 15.59" N, 100° 31' 42.03" E. Footnotes: (1) The Traiphum or the "Three Worlds" consists of the Immaterial World, the Fine Material World and the Sensuous World. The latter consists of eleven realms, dominated by the five senses. Four realms are states of deprivation (which include the animal and hell realms - the underworld), one is the world we presently live in (human beings) and six are happy destinations - the dewa heavens. Dawadungsa is the second tier of the dewa heavens, reckoned from the earth. Dawadungsa was located above the peak of Mount Meru (Phra Sumeru) the centre of the universe. In the Dawadungsa Heaven is the palace of Indra (Wechaiyanta) where Indra resides and where the Kalpa trees flourish (Th: Kamaphruk), whose branches furnish everything that the angels can desire. [1] References: [1] The Wheel of the Law - Henry Alabaster (1871) - page 82, 171. |
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| Text & photographs by Tricky Vandenberg - January 2010 Updated April 2014 |
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| (Commemoration pavilion in situ) |
| (Phra Sangkha Jai at Wat Dawadung) |
| (Buddha statues of Wat Dawadung) |
