WAT PHRA RAM (2)





Wat Phra Ram, or the Monastery of Rama, also called Wat Cha Ram, is a restored ruin located off the city island in the northern area of Ayutthaya, in the Khlong Sra Bua Sub-district. The area where the monastery is situated is locally called Thung Khwan (1). The ruin is located between Wat Sri Pho (active temple) and Wat Jong Klom (restored ruin).


On the site is a walled monastic complex consisting of an ordination hall (Ubosot) with a principal chedi and several minor chedis. The Ubosot on an elevated base had two entries in the front and two at the rear. A moat surrounded the whole complex. At the entry gate, there are left and right, the foundations of two unknown structures.


According to archaeological evidence, the monastery had been restored several times. The photographic highlight of the site is the eastern entry gate covered in a Bodhi tree.


The site is only indicated on Fine Arts Department maps. Historical data about the monastery and its construction are unknown.


A Fine Arts Department board shows the site incorrectly as Wat Phra Ngam.


The restored ruin of Wat Phra Ram is in geographical coordinates: 14° 22' 15.84" N, 100° 33' 19.34" E.


Footnotes:


(1) Thung Khwan, or "Field of Fumes", is an area north of the city of Ayutthaya bordered on the north by Thung Lum Phli, on the east by Khlong Sra Bua and Thung Kaeo, in the south by the old Lopburi River and in the west by Thung Phukhao Thong.