Wat Hong, or the Monastery of the Swan (1), was located off the city island in the northern area of Ayutthaya, in the Wat Tum Sub-district. The temple is situated on farm premises, and farming tools are parked near the ruin.
The temple stood within a loop of the old Lopburi River, of which the southern part is now called Khlong Wat Tum. At a particular moment, a shortcut was dug to straighten the Lopburi River. The shortcut was named Khlong Bang Khuat, referring to the village Ban Bang Khuat in which area, the canal was dug. Wat Hong stood north of Wat Tum and west of Wat Sasada (Ruin).
The monastery is completely ruined. Only brick walls standing on an east-west axis and without windows remain on top of a brick mound. The southern wall still has its roof junction visible, giving more or less an idea of the height of the monastic structure. The northern wall collapsed, and only its foundations are visible. Only a little bit of fragmented remains of Buddha statues was found in situ. There were no traces of a chedi on its western side.
The historical background and period of construction of the former monastery are not known.
The monastery probably once had 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]
Wat Hong features on a 1993 and 2007 CE Fine Arts Department map.
Some temple remains were excavated by the Fine Arts Department (FAD) in geographical coordinates: 14° 23' 33.69" N, 100° 32' 9.34" E.
Footnotes:
(1) หงส์ means "swan" in the Thai language, but as it was derived from the Sanskrit word "hamsa", it is often considered also to be a goose.
