WAT KHOK MADAN YAI





Wat Khok Madan Yai, or the Monastery of the Mound of the Large Madan Tree (1), was located in the southern area of the city island in the Pratu Chai Sub-district. It was situated in the Somdet Phra Sri Nakharin Park, part of the Ayutthaya Historical Park. The site of the former monastery is accessible via U-Thong Road and is found west of Wat Jao Prap.


The temple stood in between Wat Khok Madan lek and Wat Jao Prap.


The last traces above the ground level of this temple probably disappeared when the Somdet Phra Sri Nakharin Park was constructed. Only a large grass field remains.


Its historical background and the exact construction period are unknown, although it is very likely that the former monastery was built in the middle Ayutthaya period (1488-1629 CE).


The site is only indicated on a 2007 CE Fine Arts Department (FAD) map. Phraya Boran Rachathanin, on its 1926 CE map, shows two structures separated by a pond under the denomination Wat Khok Madan Yai. The FAD presumably renamed the western structure Wat Khok Madan Lek, while Wat Khok Madan Yai was kept for the eastern structure, closest to Wat Jao Phrap.


Wat Khok Madan Yai was in geographical coordinates: 14° 20' 29.31" N, 100° 33' 16.59" E.


Footnotes:


(1) "Madan" (มะดัน) is the Thai word for a tree with the Latin name "Garcinia Schomburgkiana Pierre". This tree belongs to the Clusiaceae family native to Asia, Australia, tropical and southern Africa, and Polynesia, consisting of many species. The tree is 3 to 7 m high and has medicinal capacities. Leafs and fruits macerated with saline water provide a mucolytic drink that relieves cough and can also treat abnormal menstruation.