AYUTTHAYA HISTORICAL RESEARCH



BUENG PHRA RAM





Bueng Phra Ram, named after Wat Phra Ram in its vicinity, is in the centre of Ayutthaya in the Historical Park. The former marsh is one of the 95 sites on the listing compiled in 1987 CE to be registered as UNESCO World Heritage in December 1991 CE. The site, called in the old documents ‘Dong Sano’ or sometimes ‘Nong Sano’ (1), has been largely altered over the years. Bueng Phra Ram was restored, deepened, and turned into a park in the period 1956-1957 CE during the time of Field Marshal Phibunsongkhram. [1]


Bueng Phra Ram is mentioned in the oldest foreign chronicle by the Dutch VOC merchant Jeremias Van Vliet. The latter describes in the "Short History of the Kings of Siam - 1640" the birth of Ayutthaya in this place. Remark that he mentions the existence of a city prior:


"Meanwhile, he received information about the island where the city of Ayutthaya is built and appeared surprised that such a beautiful site was not inhabited nor built upon. But he met a hermit (called Rishi by the Siamese) who informed him that previously, there was a city there called Ayutthaya. But how it declined, he had no knowledge and added that no other city could be rebuilt there. The reason was that at a place Wo Talenkang (2), now in the middle of the city, there was a pool in which there was a voracious dragon, called Nagaraja (3) by the Siamese, who on being disturbed blew poisonous saliva from his mouth. This brought about such an epidemic that everybody around there died of the stench. Thao U Thong asked the rishi whether the dragon could not be killed and the marsh filled in. The rishi answered that this would not be a remedy, but that a rishi (like him in every respect) should be thrown in. Thus Thao U Thong had the whole country searched to find such a person. The rishi further declared that Thao U Thong, after killing the dragon and filling in the marsh, should do three things if he wanted to live in that place in health: shoot an arrow and catch it again in his quiver smear his body daily with cow dung and blow on a horn every day, just as the Brahman priests do when they go to their temples or places of devotion.”

Thao U Thong said that he knew how to fulfil these conditions and went with a perahu to the middle of the river, shot an arrow upstream, and as the arrow came down, the quiver went to the water and received the arrow. In place of cow dung, he covered his body with rice meal every day mixed with a little seruijs, saying that the rice could not grow unless the land had been fertilised. By this, he meant that the cow dung is also part of the rice. About the blowing of the horn, he had sirib leaves rolled close together and ate it as pinang, which had some similarities with the blowing of horns. The rishi replied, "Since thou hast made the arrow return to thee, thy people shall be united with each other and thy kingdom freed from internal wars. “Secondly, because thou so cunningly applied the cow dung, thou and thy people shall suffer little from smallpox. 'Thirdly and finally, because thou has rolled the sirib which had a likeness horn, the gods shall have great love for you and bring you great fortune.”

In the meantime, the messengers sent out returned to Thao U Thong the tidings that a rishi like that which they were ordered to look for could not be found. Thao U Thong kept this message secret, went to speak the rishi at the mouth of the marsh where the dragon was, and without warning threw him in and filled in the marsh. Since then, the dragon has never again appeared, and the land has been free from epidemics. Then Thao U Thong began to re-establish the city on the fifth day of the waxing fourth moon (in our reckoning being the month of March) in the year of the Tiger and called it Ayutthaya." [2]





(Detail of Jacques Nicolas Bellin's map ‘Plan De La Ville De Siam’ published as plate no. 4 in volume 9 of the 1752 CE French edition of Abbé Antoine François Prévost's l'Histoire Générale des Voyages. No indication of a swamp)



Our next source is one of the Royal Chronicles of Ayutthaya, the British Museum version. In this document, we find an identical story, but without the performance of ‘miracles’ by U-Thong.


"King U Thòng, however, marched his troops on a journey of several days until they came to a large river and saw a circular island, smooth, level, and apparently clean, standing in the center of the area. So he had his troops cross over and establish themselves on Dong Sano Island. There, he met a holy ascetic and, making obeisance in respect, greeted him, “When did the Reverend Teacher come to reside in this country?” So the holy hermit made known his connection with the island, “I have held religious rites here since the time when the Crown of the World, the Lord Who Conquered Mara, was still alive on earth. And I had two teachers. One died on Sapphalüng Mountain, and one died on Phanom Phupha Luang. And at the time when the Omniscient One, the Buddha, came to this place, I presented Him with tamarinds and myrobalans and bade Him sit and eat them above the ground on the stump of a takhian tree which floated in and hung suspended there. Then He made a prophecy that this deserted country would in the future be known as a royal city named Ayutthaya.”


Then the holy ascetic drew a picture of the city with charcoal and, throwing it up in the air, it came down in the form of a monk’s bathing cloth, showing a triple-forked path and revealing that the people born in this country would speak with falsehoods and little truth. Then the great reverend ascetic said, “At this time, the Great Sovereign has arrived. May you live in this country with a serene heart. I will take my leave and go to look after the Imprint of His Holy Foot on the lofty mountain peak way over there.” It is said that when the holy ascetic had so spoken, he floated to his dwelling and observed the practice of the Four Divine States of Mind until his life came to an end on those towering peaks. " [3]





(Detail of Engelbert Kaempfer’s sketch drafted in June 1690 CE)



Phraya Boran Ratchathanin (PBR), in his work "Tamnan Krung Kao", wrote that within the capital, in front of the Grand Palace on the south side, there was a large swamp the swamp in the north was called Yi Khan swamp, the swamp in the south was called Phra Ram swamp. He believed the first denomination should have been Chi Khan, as the latter was mentioned in the Palace Laws, and the so-called Bueng Phra Ram was just part of the larger Chi Khan swamp. The northern part of the marsh was stagnant water, and its area was likely smaller. Bueng Phra Ram was initially called Bueng Wat Phra Ram as it was in front of Wat Phra Ram, but in daily speech, the denomination was shortened, and the word "Wat" was dropped. PBR thought it possible that at a later stage, the ground was dug out to fill up the palace grounds and the premises of Wat Maha That, Wat Ratcha Burana and Wat Phra Ram, making Bueng Phra Ram vaster. [4]

Streets paved with bricks were constructed across the swamp to access more easily the palace and the temples. To allow the passage of boats, openings were left, which were covered by wooden bridges. The paved streets were: the road towards the grand palace (Palace Street), south of Elephant Street the road towards Wat Phra Ram, called by the French "Rue au Feu" (4) and a north-south aligned road running to the east of Wat Chum Saeng towards Wat Saphan Nak.

Boats from outside the city could access the swamp from different sides. On the east, there was a junction with Khlong Pratu Khao Pluak - Khlong Pratu Jin on the south was Khlong Pratu Thep Mi (Thesami) linked with Khlong Chakrai Noi near Wat Saphan Nak and in communication with the swamp on the west, the swamp was accessed by Khlong Pak Tho - Khlong Chakrai Yai and Khlong Nakhon Ban, while on the north there was access via Lam Khu Pak Sra.

Bueng Phra Ram Park contains, next to the larger temples such as Wat Maha That, Wat Ratcha Burana and Wat Phra Ram, the following temple ruins, and structures: Wat Chum Saeng, Wat Satabap (defunct), Wat Trai Trueng, Wat Phong, Wat Langkha Dam, Wat Langkha Khao, Wat Sangkha Pat, Wat Song Khon, Wat Jan (mound) and Wihan Phra Thinang Yen.




(Detail of Phraya Boran Ratchathanin’s map drafted 1926 CE – Wat Phong is here indicated south of the road to Wat Phra Ram. The reconstructed site of Wat Phong on the north side of Fire Street today is likely incorrect and could have been the remains of Wat Talapat.)



The Maha Prasat


On one of the small islets is Ayutthaya's Maha Prasat (Ayutthaya Great Castle), a shrine supposedly built on the place where Brahman priests performed the founding ceremony for the city-state of Ayutthaya on 4 March 1351 CE. The islet is only accessible through a footbridge. The shrine was built between 1968 and 1970 CE and dedicated to the spirit of King U-Thong, the founder of Ayutthaya and the other kings of the Ayutthaya period.


“In 712, a year of the tiger, on Friday, the sixth day of the waxing moon of the fifth month, at three nalika and nine bat after the break of dawn, the Capital City of Ayutthaya was first established.” [5]


The shrine was built (take it with a pinch of salt) on the place where Brahmin priests obtained a conch shell, which turned to the right (5), beneath a sebesten bush (6) when performing the Rite of Atonement (founding ceremony for the city). Based on the legend, King U-Thong built a tiny castle to house the shell.


The Prasat is a beautiful shrine on a two-indented base with a nicely decorated roof with three spires, worthwhile a visit. A statue of King Ramathibodi I (King U-Thong) is enshrined inside on a marble pedestal in which, - the story goes - his spirit and the spirits of five former Ayutthaya kings remain. The celestial pavilion is depicted in Ayutthaya’s provincial seal under a Manjack tree, while a conch is placed on a pedestal tray within.





(View of the Maha Prasat – Picture taken January 2009 CE)



Bueng Phra Ram on the maps


The question can be raised if Bueng Phra Ram existed since the establishment of the Ayutthaya Kingdom in 1351 CE, as such a swamp is mentioned in the Royal Chronicles of Ayutthaya. Two good maps of ancient Ayutthaya dating from the late 17th and beginning 18th centuries, the Kaempfer and Bellin maps, do not show the swamp.


On Jacques Nicolas Bellin's map ‘Plan De La Ville De Siam’ published as plate no. 4 in volume 9 of the 1752 CE French edition of Abbé Antoine François Prévost's l'Histoire Générale des Voyages, there is nothing that indicates the area of Bueng Phra Ram. Bellin shows just three rural neighbourhoods named ‘Quartier champêtre’ within the city, but nowhere where we should expect the swamp.


Engelbert Kaempfer (1651-1716 CE), a surgeon working for the Dutch East India Company, visited Ayutthaya in 1690 CE and made many annotations during his reconnaissance trips in and around the city. Though in the area, today known as Bueng Phra Ram, he did not indicate a swamp. He did mention ‘vegetables in the marshes’ (oleris in paludes) near the Wat Nak Bridge at the origin of Khlong Thesami, also called Thepmi or Khao Sami Canal. The marshy area here was likely created due to the constriction made up by the earthenware pipes buried under the Nak Bridge Road. The volume of water of the Lopburi River running into the Pak Sra Ditch via the Maha Thera Mai Sae Gate was likely too large to pass the pipes under the road and to join the Thesami Canal and formed a swamp in the area east of Wat Song Khon.





(Detail of a 19th-century map – The North is below)



On a 19th-century map, we find for the first time a small marshy area indicated as Bang Yi Khan, with a single temple in its middle, named Wat Jan, consisting of a vihara and a chedi. The marsh was fed by the waters of the Lopburi River (at present Khlong Mueang) via the Mahathera Mai Sae tunnel Gate into Lam Khu Pak Sra (ลำคูปากสระ) flowing west of Wat Yan Sen, Wat Langkha Khao, Wat Langkha Dam and Wat Sangkha Pat. The only remnant of this waterway today can be seen east of Wat Chum Saeng and Wat Langkha Khao.





(Detail of the Plan d’Ajuthia of the Bulletin de la Commission Archéologique de l’Indochine dating to 1912 CE)



On the Plan d’Ajuthia of the Bulletin de la Commission Archéologique de l’Indochine dating to 1912 CE, we find the swamp altered with an additional marshy area north of Wat Phra Ram, but still relatively small compared with the areas already mentioned on the French map east and west of the city. The map indicates, in the middle of the swamp, an islet with the indication ‘Pgd’ (pagoda), which must likely be Wat Jan.


On Phraya Boran Ratchathanin's map of 1926 CE, we see the swampy area increasing to its full extent. Landscaping of the swamp in the last century resulted in what we see today. As Sumet Jumsai wrote in his document ‘The Reconstruction of the City Plan of Ayutthaya’: “The point here is that the claim of Nong Sano or Bueng Phra Ram as having always been in existence from the founding of Ayudhya now seems dubious.” [6]





(Detail of a picture taken on 15 March 1946 CE out of the William-Hunt Collection – the area north of Wat Phra Ram)



Footnotes:

(1) Dong (ดง) = groove or Nong (หนอง) = swamp Sano (โสน) = Sesbania.
(2) Wo Talenkang, probably Ho Talaeng Kaeng, the drum tower located on Talaeng Kaeng Road.
(3) Naga Racha are Pali / Sanskrit words. Naga = snake, and Racha = royal or king the entire term means the King of Snakes (seven-headed). Old Siamese sages held that some King of Nagas mixed poison with the air. Among the supernatural powers attributed to Nagas is that of poisoning by their breath. [Henry Alabaster, 1871]
(4) 'Fire Street' was an ancient brick road mentioned on Bellin's map as 'Rue au Feu'. The road started south of Wat Maha That on Chikun Road and led straight towards Wat Phra Ram, the funerary site of the founder of Ayutthaya, King Ramathibodhi I (reign 1351-1369 CE). The road ran parallel to Elephant Street and Palace Street through Bueng Phra Ram. The Fine Arts Department likely reconstructed the brick road on establishing the park in 1956 CE. The name indicates that the ancient road was likely lit with torches.
(5) The conch shell is related to ancient times in India and Nepal. The shells were used as horns in rituals and are known as 'Shankha' in Sanskrit, a symbol of purity, brilliance, and auspiciousness. In Hindu mythology, the conch shell is a revered and sacred emblem of Vishnu, who is always depicted with a conch in his right hand. Shells which spiral to the right in a clockwise direction are a rarity and are considered especially sacred. The right-spiralling movement of a conch shell is believed to echo the celestial motion of the sun, moon, planets, and stars across the heavens. In Buddhism, it is one of the auspicious symbols, appearing by three conch-like curving lines on Buddha's throat and on the soles, palms, limbs, breast, or forehead of a divinely endowed being. The hair whorls on Buddha's head spiral to the right, as do his fine body hairs, the long curl between his eyebrows (urna), and the conch-like swirl of his navel.
(6) Sebesten is an edible fruit from the Fragrant Manjack tree (Cordia dichotoma). Cordia is a genus of shrubs and trees in the borage family, Boraginaceae. Around 300 species have been identified worldwide and are commonly called Manjack.

References:

[1] Charnvit Kasetsiri & Michael Wright (2007). Discovering Ayutthaya. Toyota Thailand Foundation. p. 55 and Amatyakul, Tri (1957). Guide to Ayudhya and Bang-Pa-In. Bangkok: Prachandra Press.
[2] Baker, Chris Pombejra, Dhiravat na Van Der Kraan Alfons & Wyatt, David K. (2005). Van Vliet's Siam. Silkworm Books. pp. 200-1.
[3] Cushman, Richard D. & Wyatt, David K. (2006). The Royal Chronicles of Ayutthaya. Bangkok: The Siam Society. p. 10.
[4] Ratchathanin, Phraya Boran (1907). Tamnan Krung Kao.
[5] Cushman, Richard D. & Wyatt, David K. (2006). The Royal Chronicles of Ayutthaya. Bangkok: The Siam Society. p. 10.
[6] Sumet, Jumsai (1970). The reconstruction of the City Plan of Ayutthaya. The Siam Society, Bangkok.



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