Defunct Temple (3) appears on Kaempfer’s sketch from 1690 CE and Phraya Boran Rachathanin’s map of 1926 CE.
Engelbert Kaempfer was a medical doctor working for the Dutch VOC (Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie) who surveyed the city of Ayutthaya in June 1690 CE. He made a sketch during his walks in the city and afterwards drafted a map, which was not published at that time.
Phraya Boran (1871-1936 CE) was the Superintendent Commissioner of Monthon Ayutthaya from 1925 till 1929 CE but occupied important functions since 1896 CE in Monthon Ayutthaya.
The monastery is shown on Kaempfer’s sketch and indicates a stupa and another unidentified sign. The surgeon pinpointed the monastery 200 paces (about 150 metres) west of the Hua Jaka Bridge, described as a 'P(ons) lign (eus) magnus' or ‘large wooden bridge’ over Khlong Makham Riang (1) and one of the fifteen wooden bridges mentioned in the old documents. [1] Wat Kraji was west along the road connecting the Chikun and the Hua Jaka bridges (Pa Thon Road).
PBR has this temple site on his 1926 CE map in a similar position as Kaempfer indicates. The site is only named with the word ‘Wat’. Wat Taphan Ngoen stood east, Wat Kraji west.
The defunct monastery is shown on 1974 Fine Arts Department maps.
The site must have been approximately in geographical coordinates: 14° 21' 14.73" N, 100° 34' 23.59" E.
Footnotes:
(1) Khlong Makham Riang, or the Canal of the aligned Tamarind Trees, was before called Khlong Nai Kai. It is a still existent canal situated east on Ayutthaya's city island. The canal was a shortcut in the oxbow of the old Lopburi River. It has today its origin at Khlong Ho Ratana Chai below Wat Senasanaram and the Front Palace, and its mouth at the present Chao Phraya River, west of Phet Fortress. At the mouth was one of the eleven water gates of Ayutthaya called Pratu Nai Kai. The southern exit, which has today a water regulator, has been altered. The original mouth of the canal was about 170 metres more south, close to Pom Phet. Khlong Makham Riang is one of the three large canals running north to south, of which two still are in existence.
References:
[1] Baker, Chris (2014). Final Part of the Description of Ayutthaya with Remarks on Defense, Policing, Infrastructure, and Sacred Sites. Journal of the Siam Society, Vol. 102.
