Wat Khok Khamin, or the Monastery of the Mound of the Curcuma Plant (1), was situated on the city island in the central area of Ayutthaya in the Pratu Chai Sub-district. The temple was located near the crossing of Khlong Chakrai Yai (2) and Lao Street. At the intersection stood Saphan Lam Hoei, a brick bridge. The location is part of the Ayutthaya Historical Park.
Opposite Khlong Chakrai Yai stood Wat Jan (brick foundations visible), while Wat Khun Phrom (defunct) was on its south.
The ancient site was cleared in the early 1970s CE during construction works of an expansion project of the (former) Ayutthaya Agriculture School (Withayalai Kasetrakam). There are no traces of foundations or brickwork at ground level, and I classified the temple as disappeared. [1]
The site is mentioned on Phraya Boran Ratchathanin's map drafted in 1926 CE.
Historical data about the monastery and its construction is unknown.
Wat Khok Khamin was in geographical coordinates: 14° 21' 4.09" N, 100° 33' 19.99" E.
Footnotes:
(1) Khamin is the Thai word for Curcuma. The latter is a plant, a genus in the ginger plant family Zingiberaceae having its habitat in the warm, humid environments of south and southeast Asia. The most commercially important kind is Curcuma Longa, originating from India and widely cultivated in Asia for its underground stems. The stems are boiled for several hours and then dried in hot ovens, after which they are ground into a deep orange-yellow powder commonly used as a spice in curries and other South Asian cuisines. It is also used for dyeing and imparting colour to mustard condiments. The root of turmeric (Curcuma Longa) has long been used in traditional Asian medicine to treat gastrointestinal upset, arthritic pain, and "low energy."
(2) 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.
