Wat Hong, or the Monastery of the Swan (1), was situated in the northern area of Ayutthaya in the Pho Sam Ton Sub-district of Bang Pahan in Ayutthaya Province. The temple is located more or less opposite the Wat Dao Khanong school.
The temple stood near the east bank of the old Lopburi River (2) and the north bank of Khlong Chang (3) near the defunct Burmese camp.
The monastery has been restored in the sense that the foundations of the different structures have been redone. No walls are standing.
The historical background and period of construction of the former monastery are not known.
The monastery probably had once a relationship with Mon immigrants or captives.
The Hongsa, or royal goose of the Burmese, is associated with the half-mythical Himaphan (Himalaya Mountain) forests. The Hongsa mythical swan lived on the Mujalin Lake, a lake in the Himaphan forest. The bird gave its name to Hongsawadi, the capital of Pegu.
Representations of it, carved on the tops of high columns, are common in the temples of those Siamese villages where live the descendants of captive Peguans. It is probably the same as the Hindu Hanasa, the bird which carries Brahma, and from it, the common goose of Siam has derived its name, "Han" (ห่าน). [1]
We read in the Royal Chronicles of Ayutthaya that King Borommakot (reign 1733-1758 CE) offered land for settlement to the Mons, who migrated from Pegu - after it was attacked by the Burmese King Alaungpaya (reign 1752-1760 CE) - in the outskirts of the capital at the village of Pho Sam Ton.
"Furthermore, Phraya or Phra Ram, Phraya Klang Müang, and over four hundred followers of Saming Thò, were routed and fled on in to seek the protection of the Holy Royal Accumulation of Merit by way of the Municipality of Tak. They were directed to establish homes at the Three Fig Trees." [2]
Wat Hong is in geographical coordinates: 14° 24' 28.99" N, 100° 32' 59.65" E.
