WAT KHUN PHROM





Wat Khun Phrom, or the Monastery of Brahma, was situated on the city island in the central part of Ayutthaya in the Pratu Chai Sub-district. The temple was located on the west bank of Khlong Chakrai Yai (1), and the location is part of the Ayutthaya Historical Park.


Wat Khok Khamin (defunct) stood in the north, while Wat Kao (defunct) was in the south.


The ancient site was cleared in the early 1970s 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 defunct. [1]


Historical data about the monastery and its construction is unknown. The site shows for the first time on Phraya Boran Ratchathanin's map drafted in 1926 CE.


On the 1993 FAD map, the site is still called Wat Khun Phrom, but on the 2007 GIS FAD map, it is renamed Wat Pa for a reason unknown.


Wat Khun Phrom was in geographical coordinates: 14° 21' 0.50" N, 100° 33' 20.56" E.


Footnotes:


(1) 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.





References:


[1] Bangkok Post - 09 Dec 1972 - Work suspended on Ayutthaya sites. The article states that “machinery engaged on the Ayutthaya Agriculture School extensions ploughed up the ruins of at least five temples in the disputed area”. The work at the school was stopped after students had sent a petition to the NEC. The Director-General of the Fine Arts Department stated he was sure the damage had already been done.