WAT KLANG RAMAN

Wat Klang Raman, or the Monastery at the Midst of the Mon, is an active monastery located off the city island in the northern area of Ayutthaya, in Suan Prik Sub-district. It is situated on the east bank of Khlong Bang Khuat (1), the old Lopburi River in earlier times. The initial name of this temple was Wat Klang Nuea. It can be reached by road No 2003 at Km 5. Wat Pom Raman and the defunct Wat Klang Tai lie in its vicinity.

In 1584 CE, internal troubles arose in Burma. Prince Naresuan, at that time Governor of Phitsanulok, was ordered to assist the Burmese in an expedition against Ava. Nanda Bhureng, King of Burma, thought the occasion favourable to get rid of the Naresuan and instructed two Peguan (Mon) noblemen - Phraya Khiat and Phraya Ram - to ambush him and his army. The plot was revealed to Naresuan by the head monk Thera Khan Chong of the City of Khraeng, and the Black Prince proceeded to Hongsawadi with a considerable army. Most of the population along the border joined him. Learning however that Nanda Bhureng conquered Ava and was returning with his army, he decided to return to Siam, taking with him a large number of prisoners, mostly Siamese, captured by the Burmese in previous wars. After the Battle of the Sittaung River, Prince Naresuan moved back to Ayutthaya. [1]

Mon families - the relatives of the two Peguan noblemen, the head monk, and about 10.000 forcibly removed Raman (Mon) inhabitants of the provincial cities along the way - migrated to Thailand and settled in the outskirts of Ayutthaya. The group of Mons who migrated to Siam during King Maha Thammaracha's reign (1569-1590 CE) was very skilled in working with elephants, especially training elephants for warfare. Many Mons were mahouts (Th: Mae Thap Na) and fought actively and successfully along with the Siamese against the Burmese in the wars of 1584-1586, 1587, 1590 and 1592 CE.

After the successive wars with Burma ended in 1592 CE, the Mon immigrants built Wat Klang in the location of Thung Pho Sam Ton (2), in the middle of their community later renamed "Klang Raman" - amid the Mon.

With the siege of Pegu and the city's fall on 8 May 1757 CE to the Burmese King Alaungpaya (reign 1752-1760 CE), the last independent Mon kingdom fell to the Burmese. Many Mon were slaughtered, while others escaped to Siam and settled near the City of Ayutthaya. The Klang Raman Monastery was thus rebuilt in 1757 CE on top of the old ruins.

"When King Alaungpaya later attacked the Mons, many of the Mons who suffered defeat at the hands of the Burmese migrated into Siam in many batches and sought the protection of the king of Siam. They were well received as was the case formerly. They were given lands on which to build their houses in the outskirts of the capital, as for example at the village of Three Bodhi Trees." [2]

Wat Klang Raman is in geographical coordinates: 14° 23' 21.28" N, 100° 33' 1.01" E.

There were four more temples with the same name in Ayutthaya City District: The ruin of Wat Klang and Wat Khlang Khlong Takhian (Wat Klang Pak Kran) in Pak Kran Sub-district Wat Klang Khlong Sra Bua in Khlong Sra Bua Sub-district

Footnotes:

(1) Khlong Bang Khuat is situated off the city island in the northern area, on the western border of the Suan Phrik Sub-district. The waterway is part of the old bed of the Lopburi River and is named after the village Banh Khuat along its track. The old Lopburi River ran from Wat Khao Din (Wat Wora Nayok Rangsan) in Bang Pahan District towards the city of Ayutthaya and is now divided in four stretches Khlong Ban Muang from Wat Muang until Wat Dao Khanong in Bang Pahan District Khlong Bang Khuat (a short-cut canal in the old Lopburi River loop) from Wat Dao Khanong to (south of) Wat Klang Raman in Ayutthaya City District Khlong Hua Ro from (north of) Wat Pom Raman to Hua Ro in Ayutthaya City District.
(2) Three Bodhi Trees or Pho Sam Ton (in Bang Pahan District) is the area located between the stretch of the old Bang Kaeo River (now Khlong Bang Phaeng) and the stretch of the old Lopburi River (now Khlong Ban Muang). The remains of the temple of Wat Pho Sam Ton are located just opposite Wat Dao Khanong. It is unclear whether the area within the loop of the old Lopburi River belonged to the Pho Sam Ton Field - or the Lum Phli Field. Following the text (in italic here above) of Prince Damrong, it belonged to the first.

References:

[1] Wood, William, A.R. (1924). A History of Siam. Chalermnit Press. pp. 131-2.
[2] Rajanubhab, Damrong (Prince) (1917). Our Wars with the Burmese. White Lotus, Bangkok (2000). p. 141.