Wat Khian (1), or the Monastery of the Writing, was located off the city island in the northern area of Ayutthaya in the Hua Ro Sub-district.
The monastery was situated on the south tip of Ko Loi (2).
Wat Khian stood south of Wat Inthawat and east of Wat Saphan Kluea at the confluence of the former Khlong Sai (3) and Khlong Na Mueang (4).
There are no traces anymore visible of the monastery above ground level.
Historical data about the monastery and its construction are unknown.
The site is only indicated on a 2007 CE Fine Arts Department map.
Some temple remains were excavated by the Fine Arts Department (FAD) in geographical coordinates: 14° 21' 54.29" N, 100° 34' 48.18" E.
There are three other sites with a similar name in the Ayutthaya City District.
Footnotes:
(1) Khian (เขียน), translated meaning "writing", was sometimes given as a nickname to a person in Siam. Monasteries were often named after their establishers or sponsors. The monastery here could eventually be named after its sponsor.
(2) Ko Loi, or Floating Island, is surrounded in the north by Khlong Chong Lom, in the east by the (new) Pa Sak River and in the west by the (new) Lopburi River. Khlong Chong Lom was dug in the early 20th century to reduce the whirlpools near Wat Tong Pu and the Chantra Kasem Palace, separating Wat Chong Lom from the eastern mainland. As the Lopburi River and the Pa Sak River were joining near Wat Tong Pu, and the erosive force of the two rivers was destroying the embankment in front of the Chantra Kasem Palace, the idea rose to divert the Pa Sak River. The diversion was made shortly after the digging of Khlong Chong Lom. Khlong Sai, a small canal cutting through the eastern mainland from Wat Chong Lom to the present Ayutthaya Ship Building Industrial and Technology College, was widened and deepened. The Pa Sak River, instead of running in front of Wat Tong Pu, changed its course and ran straight from Wat Pa Kho to Wat Phanan Choeng.
(3) Khlong Sai is a defunct canal once situated off the city island in the northern area, in the Hua Ro Sub-district and, at present, a stretch of the Pa Sak River. Khlong Sai, or Sand Canal, was a small canal cutting through the eastern mainland, in front of Wat Khae and Wat Chong Lom, going south towards the present Ayutthaya Ship Building Industrial and Technology College, where it joined the Front Moat or Khu Khue Na.
(4) Khlong Na Mueang, or Khu Khue Na (Front Moat), ran east of the city of Ayutthaya. The former moat is said to have been dug in the reign of King Ramathibodhi I, also called King U-Thong. It was initially a defensive moat or could have been a separation ditch (borderline) between the ancient city of Ayodhya, situated in the oxbow of the Pa Sak River and the newly established city of Ayutthaya in the oxbow of the Lopburi River. The Royal Palace stood on the premises of the present ruins of Wat Phra Si Sanphet, and the earthen walls surrounding the city were likely not further than the moat, later known as Khlong Pratu Khao Pluak.
