Wat Jao Phram, or the Monastery of the Brahman, is a restored ruin situated in the southwestern area of Ayutthaya's city island in the Pratu Chai Sub-district. The monastery is located along Khlong Chakra Yai (1). Wat Jao Phram is part of the Somdet Phra Sri Nakharin Park.
The monastery, clearly visible from the road longing Khlong Chakrai Yai, is surrounded by a moat and is thus difficult to visit.
The site is indicated on a 19th-century map and features a prang and a monastic structure, still existing today. The prang with redented angles was made of brick and decorated with stucco, featuring construction work of the early Ayutthaya period (1351 - 1488 CE).
There is also evidence of an earlier restoration of the complex. The base of the prang was covered to be connected with the vihara in the late Ayutthaya period (1629 - 1767 CE). The temple was seriously dilapidated and restored by the Fine Arts Department last century. [1]
Wat Jao Phram shows on Kaempfer’s draft map. Kaempfer was a medical doctor working for the Dutch VOC (Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie) who surveyed the city of Ayutthaya in June 1690 CE.
The site, strange enough, does not feature on Phraya Boran Rachathanin's (PBR) map drafted in 1926 CE, which shows a space in that area.
Historical data about the monastery and its construction are unknown, as there is no evidence from documents.
In the vicinity of Wat Jao Phram stood a bridge crossing Khlong Chakrai Yai called Khun Lok Bridge. [2] Khun Lok could be translated as "Ruler of the World", which is, in fact, Brahma, the Creator. There could be a link between the name of the temple and the bridge as both refer to Brahma. For this reason, the temple could also have been known as Wat Khun Lok.
The site is in geographical coordinates: 14° 20' 39.92" N, 100° 33' 21.24" E.
Footnotes:
(1) Khlong Chakrai Yai is part of a waterway running through the west of Ayutthaya from north to south. The canal was the extension of Khlong Pak Tho and ran from the Lam Hoei Bridge to the Chakrai Yai Gate opposite Wat Phutthaisawan. The canal was a shortcut through the oxbow of the Lopburi River and connected the old Lopburi River, present Khlong Mueang in the north with - what is today - the Chao Phraya River in the south. Ban Chakrai was a village located on the city island but outside the city walls.
