WAT KHWIT (1)

Wat Khwit, or the Monastery of the Elephant Apple (1), was located off the city island in the northern area of Ayutthaya, in the Khlong Sra Bua Sub-district. The monastery was situated between Khlong Sra Bua (2) and Khlong Pha Lai (3) in an area called Thung Kaeo (4).

Wat Pa Taeng (ruin) stood in the south, while Wat Saliang (ruin) was in the northeast, opposite Khlong Pha Lai. Phraya Boran Rachathanin's 1926 CE map shows Wat Raeng on the north side of Wat Khwit, but this seems strange as later maps show Wat Raeng north of Wat Laiso. Wat Laiso is two hundred meter north of Wat Khwit. The indication of Wat Jao Ya at the same level as Wat Khwit proved incorrect.

Wat Khwit was surrounded by a ditch (filled by Khlong Pha Lai), which separated it from Wat Pa Taeng.

In situ, we still find traces of this monastery. Brickwork and scattered bricks recall its past.

Historical data about the monastery and its construction are unknown.

The site is indicated on Phraya Boran Rachathanin's map drafted in 1926 CE as on the Fine Arts Department maps drawn in 1974 and 1993 CE.

The ruin is in geographical coordinates: 14° 21' 54.53" N, 100° 33' 40.63" E.

There is a ruin with a similar name in the Wat Tum Sub-district.

Footnotes:

(1) ต้นมะขวิด – Elephant Apple, here abbreviated ขวิด. Elephant-apple is a common name for the 'Limonia acidissima', the only species within the monotypic genus Limonia of the family Rutaceae. Many monasteries are named after Plantae.

(2) Khlong Sra Bua, or the Lilly Pond Canal, is situated in the northern area, off the city island, in the Khlong Sra Bua District. The waterway splits from Khlong Hua Ro between Wat Ngiu (defunct) and Wat Si Liam. The canal has its mouth at the City Canal (Khlong Mueang) between Wat Na Phra Men and Wat Mai in front of the northeastern corner of the Grand Palace. The canal was a shortcut in the old Lopburi River.

(3) Khlong Pha Lai, or the Canal of the Patterned Cloth, was a canal situated off the city island in the northern area running partly in present Tha Wasukri and Khlong Sra Bua sub-districts. The canal is defunct, but there are still some stretches existing from this canal. Most of the waterway, though, has been filled up. Khlong Pha Lai had its mouth west of Wat Mai and ran adjacent to Khlong Sra Bua into the old Lopburi River, a stretch of water called today Khlong Mueang.

(4) Thung Kaeo, or Crystal Field, is an area north of the city of Ayutthaya bordered on the west and north by Khlong Sra Bua, on the east by Khlong Hua Ro, and on the south by Khlong Mueang.