Wat Muang, or the Purple Monastery, is an active monastery north of Ayutthaya in the Pho Sam Ton fields of Pho Sam Ton Sub-district of Bang Pahan in Ayutthaya Province.
The temple was called after the old location "Ban Muang" and is located on provincial Road No2003, 500 meters below the Asian Highway.
Wat Muang was established around 1812 CE and received its boundary stones two years later (1814 CE). It is thus a Rattanakosin period construction. [1]
The temple stood on the right bank of the old Lopburi River (1), in a location where the river made a bend and went straight towards Hua Ro. Due to the construction of the Asian Highway, the stretch of water between Wat Muang and Wat Pa Fai was cut by the road and silted up over time. Locals confirmed there was until the end of the 1980s, a dry canal, which was used as a track on which even cars drove down. It was used before by buffaloes to drink in the river. The canal held only water in the monsoon period. The canal was filled up, and a road was built on top. [2]
Some traces of what was once the Lopburi River still can be found in front of Wat Muang. The remaining stretch of water running from Wat Muang towards Wat Dao Khanong is called Khlong Ban Muang. The stretch from Wat Pa Fai to Hua Ro was known as the Pho Sam Ton River in the early Rattanakosin period. Wat Muang features the classic monastic structures in situ.
The monastery is in geographical coordinates: 14° 25' 42.58" N, 100° 32' 47.21" E.
