Wat Jao Ta is a defunct monastery located on Ayutthaya’s city island outside the Historical Park in the north-eastern part of the Tha Wasukri Sub-district.
The monastery was situated on the east bank of the (now defunct) Khlong Pratu Khao Pluak. (1) Wat Jao Ta stood more or less in the middle between Wat Racha Burana and Wat Phlapphla Chai on the opposite side of the canal. The Elephant Bridge was in the north, and the Pa Than Bridge was in the south.
There are no traces anymore visible of the monastery above ground level.
Historical data about the monastery and its construction are unknown.
Wat Jao Ta on the maps
Neither Engelbert Kaempfer nor Jacques Nicolas Bellin has this temple on their maps. (2)
The site is first mentioned on a 19th-century map by an unknown surveyor. Wat Jao Ta stands on the opposite side of Wat Racha Burana and is marked with two chedis. Phraya Boran Rachathanin's map drafted in 1926 CE shows Wat Jao Ta in the same position. 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.
Wat Jao Ta was in geographical coordinates: 14° 21' 31.99" N, 100° 34' 9.77" E.
Footnotes:
(1) Khlong Pratu Khao Pluak, or the ‘Canal of the Gate of Unmilled Rice’, was part of a waterway running through the middle of Ayutthaya from north to south. The canal, a shortcut in the oxbow of the Lopburi River, ran until the Chikun Bridge and continued to the Chinese water gate (Pratu Jin).
(2) Engelbert Kaempfer (1651-1716 CE) was a medical doctor working for the Dutch VOC (Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie) who surveyed the city of Ayutthaya in June 1690 CE. Jacques-Nicolas Bellin (1703-1772 CE) was one of the most important cartographers of the 18th century. He was a hydrographer and 'ingénieur hydrographe' at the French 'Dépôt des cartes et plans de la Marine'. He made the map ‘Plan De La Ville De Siam’.
