AYUTTHAYA HISTORICAL RESEARCH



WAT KHUN IN PRAMUN





“The reclining Buddha at Wat Khun In Pramun, seventeen fathoms long”


In the "Testimony of the king from Wat Pradu Songtham", eight sacred places are listed outside the city of Ayutthaya, the glory of the capital since olden times. One of these eight places is Wat Khun In Pramun, which features a reclining Buddha of 50 meters long, considered the largest in Thailand. [1]


The Buddha image is called "Phra Sri Mueang Thong” and has a similar appearance and size to the Phra Non Jak Sri in Sing Buri Province. It is assumed to have been built in the same period. The style of the reclining Buddha is a Sukhothai Buddha statue, which is similar to the Jak Sri reclining Buddha, but the base of the image is lower. The Buddha image is handmade and slender, while the face is more beautiful. The Reclining Buddha sits on a lion's lap above a lotus pedestal, facing north, with its head facing east.


Initially, the reclining Buddha was enshrined in a vihara, but it later collapsed, so it looks like it was enshrined on an earthen mound. The villagers, therefore, called it Khok Phra Non. Considering the style of art and the stories in the historical documents, the site has probably been important since the pre-Ayutthaya period. The ancient temple is situated in Pho Thong District of Ang Thong Province.





(The reclining Buddha of Wat Khun In Pramun – Picture taken August 2013 CE)



History


Wat Khun In Pramun is said to have been built in the reign of King Li Thai of Sukhothai (1347–1368 CE). The Singhanawat legend tells the history related to the construction of the reclining Buddha at Wat Khun In Pramun that during the Sukhothai period, during the reign of King Le Thai, he traveled from Sukhothai by boat to pay homage to his teacher, Rishi Sukthanta, at Khao Samo Khon in the Lavo (Lopburi) area. After that, he crossed the Chao Phraya River, sailed along the Noi River, and passed through the Bang Plap Canal to visit the countryside. Since the time of his visit was when the water was above his shoulders, he stopped to rest and build a pavilion at Khok Bang Plap. While he was staying overnight, he had an auspicious dream. He saw a large ball of fire rising above the treetops and disappearing into the air to the east. He was joyful and thought of building the reclining Buddha here as a place to worship the Buddha. When it was built. The reclining Buddha was completed and named "Phra Phuttha Saiyat Lithai Nimit". The village head was given the responsibility, and he returned to Sukhothai.


In the Ayutthaya period, the Reclining Buddha was not maintained. Still, monks used this place to practice Vipassana meditation continuously until the middle of the Ayutthaya period in the reign of King Borommakot (1733-1758 CE).


The vihara of the reclining Buddha was destroyed during the first fall of Ayutthaya in 1569 CE.


According to a legend, a tax collector named Khun In Pramun, the head of Bang Plap village in Mueang Wichian Chaichan District (1), was very devoted to religion. He wished to repair the Reclining Buddha, initially one sen long (40 metres). He expanded the Buddha image to be 25 wa (50 metres) long and five wa two cubits high (about 10.9 metres). Repairing the Reclining Buddha cost hundreds of ‘chang’ (2), and he used all his money to build it. As he did not have enough, he embezzled official funds.





(The statue of Khun In Pramun on the site – Picture taken December 2020 CE)



Phraya Kalahom (3) was sent to investigate where the money came from to build it. Khun In denied the charges and refused to tell the truth because he feared the merit of constructing the Buddha would go to the King. He was put in prison and whipped to death. As Khun In had great faith in Buddhism, the name of the temple was called Wat Khun In Pramun, the reclining Buddha ‘Phra Phuttha Saiyat Khun In Pramun’.


It took another hundred years until it underwent a significant restoration and renovation during the reign of King Borommakot (1732-1488 CE). The monastery features in a paragraph of the Royal Chronicles of Ayutthaya, in which it is written that the king, on returning from a visit to Wat Phra Non Jak Sri in Sing Buri, visits Wat Khun In Pramun around 1754 CE.


“Arriving at the ninth day of the waning moon, His Majesty went in holy royal procession to venerate the Holy Reclining Buddha at the Monastery of the Holy Sleeper of the Glorious Wheel. He spent one night there and thereupon floated on along the course of the Minor River. His Majesty ascended to venerate the Holy Reclining Buddha at the Monastery of Khun In Pramun. Then His Majesty returned to the Holy Grand Metropolis of Glorious Ayutthaya”. [2]





(The reclining Buddha of Wat Khun In Pramun – Picture taken December 2020 CE)



It is assumed the king must have ordered the restoration and renovation of the reclining Buddha, the ordination hall, and the vihara, because the temple had significantly deteriorated due to being deserted for a long time. The bricks to restore Wat Khun In Pramun came from a brick production centre and a landing 1.6 Km southwest of Wat Khun In Pramun in Bang Phlap Subdistrict. After the completion of Wat Khun In Pramun, a temple was built on the site and named Wat Tha It, the Monastery of the brick landing (4).


At the fall of Ayutthaya in 1767 CE, the reclining Buddha was destroyed by fire, leaving only large octagonal pillars surrounding the Buddha, with lotus buds at the tops of the pillars.


King Chulalongkorn (King Rama V) visited the site in 1908 CE and ordered the restoration of the Buddha. King Rama V wrote that the reclining Buddha of Khun In Pramun was one sen three wa long, not considering the flame Ushnisha, as it had fallen on the ground then. With the flame, the Buddha image measured one sen four wa.





(Wat Tha It in Bang Phlap Sub-district – Picture taken December 2013)



Other monastic structures


The Ubosot (or vihara) and the octagonal chedi were built on a mound with 2-meter-high bricks circling their edges as large temple courts.


NNW of the vihara of the reclining Buddha stands a hall facing east with a stupa on its west side, on a mound higher than that of the reclining Buddha. At the time of King Rama V, it was a brick mound and has been visibly restored today. The base is a high lotus pedestal with two stairs leading to the structure on the east side. The walls are made of brick and mortar with alternating short and long bricks. There are two entrances at the east and the west. There is no evidence of windows or boundary markers (sema), and the roof has collapsed a long time ago. The floor is covered with unglazed tiles. On the west side are many pieces of sandstone Buddha images from the Ayutthaya period, both seated and standing Buddha images, estimated to be around the 20th - 21st Buddhist century.





(The monastic building on the high mound - Picture taken December 2020 CE)



The chedi is located on the same circumambulation area as the ordination hall, adjacent to each other on the west side. It is made of an octagonal base with five tiers of decreasing height and a large octagonal lotus base as part of the dome. Above it is again an octagonal lotus bud base, the harmika, and an octagonal bell-shaped body with an incomplete spire. This pagoda was mentioned in the royal letter of King Chulalongkorn during his visit along the Makham Thao River in 1908 CE, stating that this pagoda was dug into a cavity, and many Buddha amulets were taken out and discarded outside. The Buddha amulets were not very well made they were large, sitting Buddha amulets. Therefore, the age of this pagoda is estimated to be around the second half of the 18th century CE.

The Fine Arts Department announced Wat Khun In Pramun as an ancient site in the Royal Gazette, Volume 52, Part 75, 8 March 1935 CE. According to the announcement of the Ministry of Education on 20 October 1959 CE, the site was probably restored to house monks again.

In 1975-1976 CE, the Fine Arts Department restored the Reclining Buddha by removing the old plaster, replastering, and repainting the entire statue. The area surrounding the Reclining Buddha was restored, including the mound with the hall (Luang Pho Khao) and the chedi.

In 2012-2013 CE, the Reclining Buddha, the ubosot and the chedi were restored.




(The octagonal chedi - Picture taken December 2020 CE)



Footnotes:


(1) It previously covered Sing Buri and Chai Nat provinces.

(2) “Chang” was a unit of weight in the Ayutthaya period, commonly used for weighing silver and gold, which formed the basis of the monetary system. The “chang" was not a physical coin as it was too large (over 1 kg of silver) to be a practical coin. Instead, it was used for trade, taxation, tribute, and significant transactions, especially involving large quantities of silver. Physical currency was in smaller units: baht, salueng, fuang, etc. One chang (ชั่ง) was 80 baht (บาท), about 1.2 kg of silver.

(3) The “Kalahom” oversaw the Military administration of the provinces. He formed, together with Phraya Chakri, the Great Council of State. Several officials under him, ranking as Ministers, were in charge of different military Departments. (Frankfurter - Remarks On Kaempfers Description Of Siam 1690 – JSS 006).

(4) The principal Buddha image in the ordination hall is Luang Pho Phet, while the one in the praying hall is Luang Pho Khao. Luang Pho Khao dates to the Ayutthaya era and was once enshrined in the Maha-Ut Vihara. The temple features a gilded stupa, 40 metres wide and 73 metres high, in Ceylonese -Ayutthaya -Rattanakosin art style, called Phra That Chedi Sri Pho Thong and built by Phra Khru Sukhonthasilakhun (Luang Pho Hom) in 1992 CE.


References:


[1] Pongsripian, Vinai, Dr. (2007). Phanna phumisathan Phra Nakhon Sri Ayutthaya: Ekasan jak Ho Luang. Geographical description of Ayutthaya: Documents from the palace. Bangkok: Usakane. p 107.

[2] Cushman, Richard D. & Wyatt, David K. (2006). The Royal Chronicles of Ayutthaya. Bangkok: The Siam Society. p. 453.



Selected PICTURES



Pictures taken August 2013 CE



Selected PICTURES



Pictures taken December 2020 CE



When the past no longer illuminates the future, the spirit walks in darkness.
(Alexis de Tocqueville)





HISTORY OF AYUTTHAYA



© 2009-2025
All rights reserved