AYUTTHAYA HISTORICAL RESEARCH



WAT KHUN PHROM (2)





Wat Khun Phrom is an active temple located off the city island in the southern area, in the Samphao Lom Sub-district (1). The monastery is on the south bank of the Chao Phraya River (2). Wat Nang Kui and Wat Pa Jak were situated on its east side, and Wat Yi Kham on its west side.


Wat Nang Kui and Wat Pa Jak were situated on its east side, and Wat Yi Kham on its west side.


The ordination hall is built in the late Ayutthaya style (1629-1767 CE). The building has the classic elevated front and back porches, with four columns supporting the roof. There are two entrances at the front and back. The ubosot is 15 metres long and 5 metres wide. Behind the ubosot stood a chedi. A prayer hall was added in 1982 CE. Some monastic structures were excavated in 1955 CE. The monastery apparently was built in 1557 CE.


In front of the monastic hall of Wat Khun Phrom was a white stone Buddha image from the Dvaravati period, enshrined, which was moved to Wat Khun Phrom from Wat Phraya Kong, smaller than the Buddha image at Wat Na Phra Men. [1]


The villagers, with assistance from the provincial governor, Pol. Col Nueang Rayanak, agreed to transfer the Dvaravati-era Buddha to the Chao Sam Phraya Museum. The transfer of the Khao Sila Buddha fragments from Wat Khun Phrom to the Chao Sam Phraya National Museum occurred between 27 November and 5 December 1962 CE. The transfer from Wat Khun Phrom to the National Museum was carried out as a precaution against theft, due to increasing demand for antiquities. To move the statue by boat, the Buddha image was broken into pieces. Unfortunately, the pieces became mixed up with the remnants of two other sandstone Buddha images from Wat Phraya Kong, and they no longer fit together, making the restoration a lengthy and difficult process. (3) [2]


Historical data about the monastery is unknown.





(View of the ordination hall of Wat Khun Phrom – October 2008 CE)



Noh Na Paknam


Noh Na Paknam was a prolific writer, art historian, and preservationist who worked closely with Silpakorn University and the Fine Arts Department, and who wrote extensively on Thai temples, antiques, and murals. From November 1966 to March 1967 CE, he spent five months in the Ayutthaya area, visiting known temples and ruins. He visited Wat Khun Phrom on 30 November 1966 CE. The following is a report from his site visit.


"The boat continued on to Wat Khun Phrom, where we stopped to visit. Wat Khun Phrom is a small temple with monks' quarters near the bank, the main temple building a short distance away. The ordination hall sits on a raised mound of earth. At the entrance, there are two large, identical Dvaravati-style seated Buddha images with their feet hanging down, painted bright white, indicating their modernity. We didn't inquire whether they were restorations of the originals. The large ordination hall shows signs of later renovations, using Bangkok-style square pillars. Inside, there are smaller Ayutthaya-era Buddha images on a pedestal. Outside the ordination hall is a high brick base running along the veranda, presumably the foundation of a new ordination hall built over the original. The large pagoda behind the ordination hall is a large, Lanna-style pagoda standing on a raised platform 1 meter above the ground. The pagoda's structure features raised, segmented lotus motifs, not a continuous, conical spire. The bell-shaped dome is tapered, resembling the waist of a Sema (boundary marker), similar to Lanna pagodas. Interestingly, pagodas in this area, such as those at Wat Nang Kui, Wat Mai Bang Kaja, and Wat Khun Phrom, are almost entirely Lanna-style. While they may not be purely Lanna in style, they clearly blend Lanna and Ayutthaya styles. The Sema at Wat Khun Phrom are small, measuring 39 x 23 x 4 cm. Their shape is unusual, featuring a floral pattern of three radiating lobes. The lower part has criss-crossing lines forming alternating rhombus shapes. The base is crudely decorated, making the period difficult to determine. However, the base of the Sema is in the late Ayutthaya style, similar to Sema bases from the reign of King Narai, but with a more elongated shape. The lotus-shaped base supporting the boundary marker is small, complementing the marker's already small size. This is understood to be an original boundary marker from the late Ayutthaya period. Some terracotta eaves tiles were discovered, indicating that the original ordination hall was roofed with corrugated terracotta tiles. Other than that, there is nothing else noteworthy." [3]





(Sema or Boundary stones of Wat Khun Phrom – October 2008 CE)



​Opposite Wat Khun Phrom was the mouth of Khlong Pratu Jin and its well-known water gate. A ferry connection existed from the Phraya Racha Wangsan landing at the mouth of the canal to the landing of Wat Khun Phrom (4). This ferry is still in existence today. [3]


The temple is mentioned on a 19th-century map and Phraya Boran Ratchathanin's map drafted in 1926 CE. Phraya Boran (1871-1936 CE) was the Superintendent Commissioner of Monthon Ayutthaya from 1925 to 1929 CE but occupied important functions since 1896 CE in Monthon Ayutthaya.


Wat Khun Phrom is in geographical coordinates: 14° 20' 46.59" N, 100° 34' 13.33" E.



Footnotes:


(1) Sub-district called after the village Ban Samphao Lom near the Chao Phraya River. The village is on the Monthon Krung Kao map (1916 CE). John Bowring (1857, London, John W. Parker and Son, West Strand), in his book ‘The Kingdom and People of Siam’, wrote: "Between the modern and the ancient capital, Bangkok and Ayuthia, is a village called the “Sunken Ship,” the houses being erected round a mast which towers above the surface at low water."

(2) Not many people realise the Chao Phraya River was not running on the west side of the city island in the Ayutthaya period. At that time, the Lopburi River flowed around Ayutthaya. The Chao Phraya River ran through the Bang Ban Canal to Si Kuk and from there to Bang Sai (historical site: Chedi Wat Sanam Chai), where the Lopburi River joined the old Chao Phraya River. At the time, the old Chao Phraya River was situated about ten kilometres west of the centre of Ayutthaya. The city was linked to the ancient Chao Phraya River in the northwest of Ayutthaya via the Khlong Maha Phram and in the southwest via the Khlong Nam Ya. Steve Van Beeck (1994), in 'The Chao Phya: River in Transition' (Oxford University Press - New York), writes that "It was not until 1857 that an alternative path was created [for the Chao Phraya River]. A 5-kilometre channel was dug from the entrance of Wat Chulamani to Ban Mai. The river responded by following this new course and abandoning the old one, in effect making a secondary river of the stretch that ran from Ban Mai, and into the Chao Phya Noi. Half as wide as the river above and below it, the 1857 Ban Mai shunt funnels the Chao Phya down to Ayutthaya."

(3) The first Buddha image was restored and completed in 1964 CE, and it is now displayed at the Chao Sam Phraya National Museum in Ayutthaya. The second Buddha image was finished in 1966 CE and is housed at the Bangkok National Museum. The third image was assembled at Wat Phra Pathom Chedi on the south side in 1967 CE.The three Dvaravati images, seated with legs pendant (bhadrasana), have their right hand raised in a teaching gesture (vitarka mudra) and their left resting on their knee. They were once part of the stupa at Wat Phra Men in Nakhon Pathom. Four of these images were arranged around a central structure. The fourth Buddha image was moved from Wat Phra Men to Phra Pathom Chedi in 1861 CE and is now housed in its ordination hall.

(4) In the Ayutthaya period, there were twenty-two ferry routes between the mainland and the city island. In the southern area, the five other crossings were: the crossing to Wat Phanan Choeng, Tha Hoi to Wat Pa Jak, Tha Dan Chi to Wat Surintharam, Tha Chakrai Noi to Wat Tha Rap and Tha Wang Chai to Wat Nak.


References:


[1] Krom Sinlapakorn (1968). Phra Rachawang lae Wat Boran nai Jangwat Phra Nakhon Sri Ayutthaya (Fine Arts Department).

[2] Interview with Mr Thanit Yupho, former Director-General of the Fine Arts Department, by Mr Prathum Chumphengphan, former head of the Chao Phraya National Museum on 7 February 1986 CE.

[3] Ratchathanin, Phraya Boran. Athibai Phaenthi Phra Nakhon Sri Ayutthaya kap khamwinitjai khong Phraya Boran Racha Thanin. Explanation of the map of the Capital of Ayutthaya with a ruling of Phraya Boran Ratchathanin - Revised 2nd edition and Geography of the Ayutthaya Kingdom. Ton Chabab print office. Nonthaburi (2007). p. 91.



Selected PICTURES



Pictures taken November 2008 CE



MAPS



Map 1 - Detail of a 19th-century map. Courtesy of the Sam Chao Phraya Museum. Remark: The map is oriented south.
Map 2 - Detail of Phraya Boran Rachathanin's map, 1926 CE. Wat Suwandararam, Ayutthaya.
Map 3 - Detail of a 2007 CE Fine Arts Department GIS map. Courtesy of the Fine Arts Department 3rd Region.
Map 4 - Google Earth.



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





HISTORY OF AYUTTHAYA



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