WAT KHOK KHAMIN (2)





Wat Khok Khamin, or the Monastery of the Mound of the Curcuma Plant (1), was located on Ayutthaya’s city island in the east of the city in Ho Rattanachai Sub-district.


The monastery was situated between Khlong Makham Riang (2) and the Front City Canal (3). To its north stood Wat Pa Thon, while in the south was Wat Kho Wat Phao Khao was in the southwest. Wat Khok Khamin stood between Pa Thon Road and Rojana Road today (4).


No traces are anymore left of this monastery, a victim of urbanisation and likely brick pillage.


Historical data about the monastery and its construction are unknown.


Wat Khok Khamin on the maps:


The 19th-century map by an unknown surveyor shows Wat Khok Khamin north of Wat Pa Thon, Wat Wua (Wat Kho) south-west and Wat Pa Ek west. The temple stood more or less in between Wat Phichai and Wat Kluai on the opposite side of the Front City Canal (Pa Sak River today).


The site is indicated on Phraya Boran Rachathanin's map drafted in 1926 CE. Ban Pa Thon stood north of Wat Khok Khamin, Wat Kho south-southwest and Wat Phao Khao west-southwest. 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.


A 2007 CE Fine Arts Department map indicates Wat Khok Khamin in a location (14° 21' 10.48" N, 100° 34' 36.24" E) what I believe must be the site of Wat Pa Ek.


Wat Khok Khamin should have been located in approximately the geographical coordinates: 14° 21' 10.91" N, 100° 34' 41.60" E.


Food for thought:


The 19th-century map indicates two different sites being Wat Pa Ek and Wat Khok Khamin. I believe Wat Khok Khamin was situated to the east of Wat Pa Ek on the same north-south axis as Wat Krabue and Wat Kho/Wat Wua.


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, 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 Makham Riang, or the Canal of the aligned Tamarind Trees, was before called Khlong Nai Kai. It is a still existent canal situated east on Ayutthaya's city island. The canal was a shortcut in the oxbow of the old Lopburi River. It has today its origin at Khlong Ho Ratana Chai below Wat Senasanaram and the Front Palace, and its mouth at the present Chao Phraya River, west of Phet Fortress. At the mouth was one of the eleven water gates of Ayutthaya called Pratu Nai Kai. The southern exit, which has today a water regulator, has been altered, as the original mouth of the canal was about 170 metres more south, close to Pom Phet. Khlong Makham Riang is one of the three large canals running north to south, of which two still are in existence.

(3) 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 new 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, which became later known as Khlong Pratu Khao Pluak.

(4) Rojana Road is a post Ayutthaya era road.