AYUTTHAYA HISTORICAL RESEARCH



PHRA PRATHON





In the "Geographical description of Ayutthaya: Documents from the Palace", there are eight sacred places mentioned outside the city of Ayutthaya, being the glory of the capital since olden times. [1] One of these eight places was Phra Prathon (พระประโทณ). Phra Prathon was in the centre of the legendary Dvaravati city of Nakhon Chai Sri and on the premises of present Wat Phra Prathon Chedi Worawihan (วัดพระประโทณเจดีย์วรวิหาร) in Phra Prathom Chedi Sub-district of Nakhon Pathom City District.


Nakhon Chai Sri


Nakhon Chai Sri is shrouded in legends. The name "Nakhon Chai Sri" is believed to honour King Chaiyasiri of the Singhanavati Kingdom (1). The exact establishment date of Nakhon Chai Sri during the Dvaravati period is not precisely documented. However, the Dvaravati civilisation flourished between the 6th and 11th centuries, and Nakhon Chai Sri was likely established as a city during this era. The region was significant in the Dvaravati culture, which is evident from the archaeological findings in the area.





(Plan of the ancient city of Chai Sri – source: Hennequin, Laurent (2009). Phra Prathon Chedi de Nakhon Pathom. Descriptions du monument et comparaisons.)



The legend of the establishment of Phra Prathon


The story occurs in the Dvaravati period, 7th-11th century CE, when Chai Sri was still a coastal city in the Gulf of Thailand. The history of Phra Pathom Chedi is differently narrated and recorded. It goes in general as follows: Phraya Kong was the ruler of an area around Nakhon Chai Sri. The ruler of Rat Buri was a tributary to Nakhon Chai Sri. Phraya Kong's queen became pregnant, and the royal soothsayer predicted that if the child were a son, he would kill his father and take the throne. Like Moses, the newborn was placed in a tray in the river and left abandoned.


A woman called Yai Hom (grandmother Hom), raising ducks along the river, found the baby and called him Phan. Phan grew up as an intelligent man, became a favourite of the ruler of Rat Buri and finally was adopted as his son.


Phan, seeing the yearly tributes of gold and silver presented to the ruler of Nakhon Chai Sri, offered to wage war against the latter to set Rat Buri free. The ruler of Rat Buri consented, and Phan, with a large army, attacked Nakhon Chai Sri. Phan besieged the city, killed his father, Phraya Kong and tried to take the queen for his wife. The queen recognised her son at a scar on his forehead, and Phan finally discovered the truth. Enraged, he killed Hom, the woman he was raised by, for not telling him the fact.


Becoming suddenly conscious of his wrong actions, Phraya Phan ordered the construction of two stupas in an act of expiating his sins: one stupa in memory of his father, the Phra Pathom Chedi and the Phra Prathon Chedi for Yai Hom. Both chedis remain very important until the end of the Ayutthaya period.





(View of Phra Prathon after restoration – Picture taken August 2013 CE)



The excavation of Phra Prathon


The historical interest in Phra Prathon came only recently. Pierre Dupont, who, during his excavation and prospection campaign in 1939 CE, barely listed it in his report. Dupont hardly paid attention to the brick mound where monks found stucco heads and votive tablets and concentrated his efforts in 1940 CE on Chedi Chula Prathon, located a few hundred meters from Phra Prathon. Not much attention was paid to the site as the ruin was in the form of a truncated pyramid without any decoration, made of earth fill, with a most unsightly cement veneer added at the top since Dupont's visit, the whole being surmounted by a prang from the end of the Ayutthaya period and restored in the Rattanakosin period. It was only in the mid-1960s that the moat of the ancient city of Chai Sri could be identified, and the town's plan appeared, its size comparable to Ayutthaya.


After the moats of the ancient city were defined, it became apparent that Phra Prathon was in the city centre and could have been its sacred pillar, the space organiser, testifying to urban planning concerns. Phra Pathom Chedi, on which most of the attention was focused, suddenly became outside the city moat.


In early 2000 CE, the structure of Phra Prathon was threatening to collapse, and the Fine Arts Department started a survey to assess the damage. It was discovered that the present construction was covering another older one, which – some scholars say - could be a foundation in the centre dating from the time of King Ashoka, Emperor of Magadha (c. 268 - 232 BCE), and third ruler from the Mauryan dynasty. The initial construction of Phra Prathon is estimated from the end of the 6th century.


Restoration work was started in 2005 CE by a private company after the Fine Arts Department approved an emergency budget. It took another year to restore Phra Prathon, and some development work was carried out until 2008 CE.


Phra Prathon appears relatively small compared to the other chedis in Nakhon Pathom and has not yielded any important findings. This is perhaps precisely because it has been regularly restored and renovated. The chedi thus appears quite ordinary for a monument which may have been the centre of a city of prime importance in the Dvaravati civilisation. [2]





(View of the base of Phra Prathon – Picture taken August 2013 CE)



Architecture


Based on the excavation report of Phra Prathon, the chedi is built in large bricks, on average 8 cm thick, 18 cm wide and 34 in length, like almost all other Dvaravati monuments in Nakhon Pathom. The bricks contain a significant quantity of rice bran to ensure the material holds during firing, which gives them a granular appearance, and their firing at low temperature gave them an uneven colour tending towards mauve and an often blackish heart.


The bricks were carefully laid, without any binder, except for thin layers of a material that appeared to be sand mixed with brick powder. The laying left gaps between the bricks, probably due to their large size and the relative irregularity of their proportions, and these were filled in the same way. Some of the walls of Phra Prathon still had remains of stucco, and many detached pieces, sometimes moulded, were found on the site. Surveys were carried out inside the massif and revealed the presence of the single and same material of bricks.


The present monument partly covers at least another one built of the same brick. At the foot, at each corner, circular bases made of an assembly of bricks pierced with a hole in the centre were found below the level of the paving of the currently visible chedi, which therefore covered them. Similarly, at the base, a clearance revealed an older facing without being able to specify whether these two parts were connected.





(The ground plan of Phra Prathon- source: Hennequin, Laurent (2009). Phra Prathon Chedi de Nakhon Pathom. Descriptions du monument et comparaisons.)



The whole has also undergone a more recent renovation with the construction of four massive-looking staircases on each side. The chedi is a regularly oriented square of 37 meters on each side (between 100 and 120 lengths of bricks) with a relatively one-metre-high rectilinear plinth (10-12 courses of bricks). We can assume that it included the same iconographic program, namely, on the lower level, the story of the previous lives of the Buddha and the upper level, the Buddha after enlightenment, comparable to those of Chedi Chula Prathon.


On what remains of the monument, with a total height of about 13 meters (without considering the prang added in the Rattanakosin era), four levels can be identified supporting three terraces, not considering the initial plinth. The three lower levels have an utterly comparable modenature, with a few variations, and are distinguished from the fourth, where the facing is quite different. [3]


Jean Boisselier (1912-1996 CE), a French archaeologist, ethnologist, and art historian, noted: "As for the Stupa [of Wat Phra Prathon Chedi Worawihan] crowned with a Prang, probably during the Bangkok period, it is certainly old but appears too reworked to reveal anything of its primitive silhouette."


On the west side of the Phra Praton Chedi, there is a pond. There are traces of canals being dug to bring water into this pond.


As the present chedi certainly covers another older one, there could be a foundation in the centre dating from the pre-Dvaravati period, maybe with some resemblance to the Manikyala Stupa in the Punjab region of Pakistan.





(The Manikyala Stupa, one of many buildings built during the reign of Mauryan Emperor Ashoka to house the ashes of the Buddha (Pothohar, Punjab, Pakistan) - Picture taken in 2001 CE)



The origin of the chedi’s name

Phra Prathon is named after the Droṇa (Pāli: Doṇa) the sarcophagus not only serves as a coffin but also as a reliquary container for the relics of the Buddha. The Brahmin, named Dhūmrasagotra, who divided the relics, was called the same name as the sarcophagus (droṇa). The vessel used by the Brahmin to keep the relics before dividing them was called a ‘drona’, as well as each part of the divided relics and the measurement bowl to divide the relics equally. The divided relics were kept in a container, which was also called a ‘drona’ and afterwards interred in a stupa, called the drona-stupa. These connections of a similar word for the coffin, the Brahmin, the measure, and the reliquaries holding the relics were made with a purpose, highlighting the importance of preserving the Buddha- relics. Phra Prathon could be referred to as the ‘holy stupa of Drona’, where once, based on the legend, the measurement bowl used by Brahmin Dhūmrasagotra was kept. [4]


I will here draw up one of the many versions of the legend.


After Buddha’s Mahaparinirvana (final passing) in Kushinagar, his body was cremated by the Mallas of Kushinagar and the relics (sarira) were kept in a golden kumbha. According to Buddhist texts such as the Mahāparinibbāna Sutta (Dīgha Nikāya 16), there was a dispute among various kingdoms and clans over his relics.
To settle the dispute, a learned Brahmin, respected by all the disputing parties, acted as a mediator and divided the relics into eight equal parts using a golden measurement bowl. The relics were then distributed among Ajatashatru, Ruler of Magadha (stupa at Rajagriha), the Licchavis of Vaishali, the Sakyas of Kapilavastu, the Bulikas of Allakappa, the Koliyas of Ramagrama, Mallas of Kushinagar, the Mallas of Pava and the Brahmins of Vethapida. The Brahmin Drona is said to have taken the measuring vessel for himself and built a stupa over it. Each of these clans built stupas to enshrine their portion of the relics, leading to the early tradition of Buddhist stupas as sacred sites. (2)


Centuries later, Emperor Ashoka further redistributed these relics. He unearthed the stupas, took the relics, and redivided them into 84,000 parts to enshrine them in stupas across his empire. This division and enshrinement of relics was crucial in spreading Buddhism across India and beyond.


Based on the legend, the golden Drona ended up in the Suvarnabhumi region (often associated with parts of Southeast Asia, including present Thailand) in a Brahmin village and was enshrined in a stone stupa in 590 CE. Later, Nakhon Chai Sri was established.


The king of Sri Lanka, desiring the golden Drona, dispatched a prominent monk to request it from the King of Nakhon Chai Sri. The king agreed to the exchange, receiving in return a quantity of Buddha relics equivalent to the capacity of the Drona. He then constructed Phra Pathom to enshrine these sacred relics. (3)


Subsequently, in 656 CE, the king of Lavo (present Lopburi) renovated or rebuilt the original stone stupa, naming it Phra Prathon.





(View of Phra Prathon after restoration – Picture taken August 2013 CE)



Footnotes:


(1) The connection between the Singhanavati Kingdom and Nakhon Chai Sri lies primarily in the etymology of Nakhon Chai Sri's name. The Singhanavati Kingdom is an ancient and semi-legendary kingdom in what is now northern Thailand. It is thought to have existed before the rise of more well-documented civilisations such as the Hariphunchai and Lanna Kingdoms. The Singhanavati Kingdom is traditionally linked to early Mon and Tai migration into Southeast Asia. The kingdom was supposedly near present-day Chiang Rai, close to the Kok River. "Singhanavati" translates to "City of the Lion," possibly reflecting Buddhist and Hindu influences in its founding mythos. While historical evidence about Singhanavati is limited, some scholars suggest that it existed as early as the first millennium CE, predating the Dvaravati civilisation in central Thailand.

(2) The Moriyas of Pippalivana came after the distribution and were given charred pieces of firewood (jvalanasya aṅgāra).

(3) The exchange of a golden Drona for Buddha relics between a Sri Lankan ruler and the ruler of Nakhon Chai Sri is rooted in Buddhist legends and historical interactions between these regions.


References:


[1] Pongsripian, Vinai, Dr. (2007). Phanna phumisathan Phra Nakhon Sri Ayutthaya: Ekasan jak Ho Luang. Geographical description of Ayutthaya: Documents from the palace. Bangkok: Usakane. p. 107.

[2] Hennequin, Laurent (2009). Phra Prathon Chedi de Nakhon Pathom. Descriptions du monument et comparaisons.

[3] Ibid.

[4] Yakir, Gilad (2023). The Ramagrama Stupa and the Relics of the Buddha. Kathmandu University Centre for Buddhist Studies. Kathmandu, Nepal.

[5] Seneviratna, Anuradha (1994). King Asoka and Buddhism. Buddhist Publication Society. Kandy, Sri Lanka.



Selected PICTURES



Pictures taken August 2013 CE



When the past no longer illuminates the future, the spirit walks in darkness.
(Alexis de Tocqueville)





HISTORY OF AYUTTHAYA



© 2009-2025
All rights reserved