AYUTTHAYA HISTORICAL RESEARCH



WAT PHRAYA KONG





Wat Phraya Kong is a not restored ruin situated off the city island in the southern area of Ayutthaya in Samphao Lom Sub-district (1). The monastery stood on the east bank of a today defunct, north-south running canal going towards Wat Phraya Phan (2), but also near a defunct east-west running waterway, and thus on a crossroad of canals. The temple stood west of the old Portuguese enclave.


There are at least two separate architectural formations and a surprisingly abundant array of Buddha statues in their original positions. The clustering of these statues implies the existence of a gallery hall within the monastery. Many of these sculptures are notably sizable, crafted meticulously from stone by hand, diverging from the prevalent brick-and-mortar construction seen in other temples. While some statues retain their complete form, evidence of looting is apparent, with several having their faces removed, leaving only fragments of their heads.


An unexcavated building stands with several supporting walls, displaying faint remnants of stucco decorations. However, dense vegetation obstructs closer examination. This structure likely served as a preaching hall, yet its roof has collapsed over time, filling the interior with debris, much of which remains buried. Nearby, another structure resembling a square-shaped chedi with multiple tiers lies obscured beneath layers of soil, vegetation, and debris. Despite its partial burial, it is feasible to ascend its heights, though the collapsed roof creates a sizable depression. A conspicuous aperture on the western side prompts speculation, though discerning its origin proves challenging—whether it was dug by looters or served as a legitimate entrance remains uncertain. Wat Phraya Kong harbours numerous similar unexcavated mounds, potentially representing remnants of smaller, collapsed chedis. Next to bricks, many laterite blocks are found on the site.


The history and establishment of this monastery is unknown.


Around 2010 CE, the site was altered, as a small meditation centre was being developed in situ by a Buddhist priest. The location has been cleared, and wooden resting places erected near the ruins of the former monastery.





(Remnant of a monastic building at Wat Phraya Kong)



The legend


The monastery is named after one of the main actors in the legend of the building of Phra Pathom Chedi in Nakhon Pathom. The story occured in the Dvaravati period, 7th-11th century CE, when Nakhon Pathom was still a coastal city in the Gulf of Thailand. The history of Phra Pathom Chedi is differently narrated and recorded. It goes mainly as follows: Phraya Kong was the ruler of an area around the present Nakhon Chai Sri (3). The ruler of Rat Buri was a tributary to Nakhon Chai Sri. Phraya Kong's queen became pregnant, and the royal soothsayer predicted that if the child were a son, he would kill his father and take the throne. Like Moses, the newborn was placed in a tray in the river and left abandoned.


A woman called Yai Hom (grandmother Hom), raising ducks along the river, found the baby and called him Phan. Phan grew up as an intelligent man, became a favourite of the ruler of Rat Buri and finally was adopted as his son.


Phan, seeing the yearly tributes of gold and silver presented to the ruler of Nakhon Chai Sri, offered to wage war against the latter to set Rat Buri free. The ruler of Rat Buri consented, and Phan, with a large army, attacked Nakhon Chai Sri. Phan besieged the city, killed his father, Phraya Kong and tried to take the queen for his wife. The queen recognised her son at a scar on his forehead and Phan finally discovered the truth. Enraged, he killed Hom, the woman he was raised by, for not telling him the fact.


Becoming suddenly conscious of his wrong actions, Phraya Phan ordered the construction of two stupas in an act of expiating his sins: one stupa in memory of his father, the Phra Pathom Chedi (the First Stupa) and the Phra Prathon Chedi for Yai Hom.


Why this temple south of Ayutthaya received the name Phraya Kong and why we have adjacent a temple called Phraya Phan is shrouded in mystery. Was there any relationship with Nakhon Pathom? [1]





(Broken Buddha images in situ)



The white stone Buddhas


Two heads of white stone Buddha images were found at Wat Phraya Kong and one at Wat Khun Phrom. The two stone Buddha heads were large and heavy and smashed apart to facilitate them to be transported on a boat. Then, someone picked them up and sold them to a shop in Weng Nakhon Kasem (4). The Fine Arts Department discovered it and returned the pieces to Ayutthaya for display at the Chao Sam Phraya National Museum. At the same time, the white stone Buddha image at Wat Khun Phrom was transferred to the museum in December 1962 CE. Unfortunately, the pieces of the statues became mixed up, and the parts did not fit together.


Thanit Yupho (1907-2004 CE), Director-General of the Fine Arts Department in the 1960s, believed that two of the large Buddhas of Wat Phra Men (ancient Nakhon Chai Sri) were moved from Nakhon Pathom to Ayutthaya during the reign of either King Ramathibodi I (1350-1369 CE) or King Ramathibodi II (1491-1529 CE). With the establishment of Ayutthaya and the construction of many new temples, there was a need for ancient Buddha statues. In the Royal Chronicles of Ayutthaya, we read that in 1431 CE, King Borommaracha II (reign 1424-1448) seized Nakhon Luang (Angkor) and brought all of the images to Ayutthaya to have them installed at the Maha That and Phra Sri Sanphet Monasteries. [2]


Thanit refers to the early Rattanakosin period in which King Rama I moved hundreds of statues from Sukhothai and the northern regions to have them installed in the temples of the new capital. Missing pieces were found on the balcony of Phra Pathom Chedi, brought to Ayutthaya and an artist, Mr. Sawet Tettham, was able to complete the first Buddha image in 1964 CE. It was displayed at the Chao Sam Phraya National Museum in Ayutthaya. The remaining pieces could be assembled into two more complete images. Missing parts were filled with plaster. The second image was completed in 1966 CE and went to the National Museum in Bangkok. The last image was assembled at Wat Phra Pathom Chedi on the south side in 1967 CE. [3]


The Buddha images belonged to a stupa in which four large Buddha images were seated around a central structure. The fourth image is found in the ordination hall of Wat Phra Men in Nakhon Pathom. [4]





(Reconstruction of the Four-Seated Buddha stupa at Wat Phra Men, Nakhon Pathom)





(The Kyaik Pun Pagoda, built by King Migadippa of Bago (Myanmar) in the 7th Century AD, is the home to the Four Seated Buddha shrine, a 27 m statue depicting the four Buddhas namely Kakusandha, Konagamana, Kassapa, and Gautama seated in four positions, sitting back to back to four directions. - Picture taken November 2003 CE)



2010 CE


The site of Wat Phraya Kong was slowly turned into a small meditation centre. A modern structure has been established since 2010 CE. Workers were constructing a new brick platform on the central mound. Pieces of broken Buddha images were cemented on top of the pedestal, while the central mound was opened up as many old bricks were shattered along the sides.


Wat Phraya Kong is mentioned on 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.


The monastery has been shown on all Fine Arts Department maps since 1974 CE. The site is in geographical coordinates: 14° 20' 20.07" N, 100° 34' 13.36" E.





(Modification of the site - The site is managed by the Department of Religious Affairs and is not the responsibility of the Fine Arts Department)



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) Khlong Wat Phraya Phan is a small defunct canal in the southern area of Ayutthaya, in Samphao Lom Sub-district. Its former existence is disputed as there are no traces of this canal found today. The canal is, however, mentioned on Engelbert Kaempfer's draft map (1690 CE) and published map of 1727 CE. Based on these maps, the origin of the canal was situated between Wat Tha Sak and Wat Yi Kham (Wat Tha Sak can be noticed on Kaempfer's draft map). The waterway split off from the loop in the old Lopburi River (today the Chao Phraya River) just opposite Pratu Khlong Thep Mi. The canal ran towards Wat Phraya Phan, passing along the west side of Wat Phraya Kong. Whether or not the canal ended up in the Khu Cham is unknown. Jumsai mentions the Wat Phraya Phan Canal in his work The Reconstruction of the City Plan of Ayutthaya (1970). [Jumsai, Sumet. The reconstruction of the city plan of Ayutthaya (1970). The Siam Society, Bangkok.]

(3) Based on the Royal Chronicles of Ayutthaya, King Chakkraphat (reign 1548-1569 CE) established Nakhon Chai Sri by joining some parts of Rat Buri and Suphan Buri (2006, p. 41)

(4) A market in the Samphanthawong District of Bangkok, popularly known as the 'Thieves Market' as formerly mostly stolen goods were sold there.


References:


[1] Thompson, Peter Anthony (1910). Siam, an account of the country and the people. J. B. Millet, The Plimpton Press, Norwood, Mass., USA. pp. 291-2.

[2] Cushman, Richard D. & Wyatt, David K. (2006). The Royal Chronicles of Ayutthaya. Bangkok: The Siam Society. p. 15.

[3] Interview of 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.

[4] Revire, Nicolas (2010). Iconographical Issues in the Archeology of Wat Phra Men Nakhon Pathom. JSS Vol 98. pp. 83-4.



Selected PICTURES



Pictures taken July 2010 CE



Pictures taken February 2019 CE



MAPS



Map 1 - Detail of Phraya Boran Rachathanin's map 1926 CE. Wat Suwandararam, Ayutthaya.
Map 2 - Detail of Pic BN 114 (058) - 24 January 1944. Williams-Hunt Aerial Photo Collection.
Map 3 - Detail of a 1974 CE Fine Arts Department map. Courtesy Dr Surat Lertlum, Chulachomklao Royal Military Academy.



Map 4 - Detail of a 1993 CE Fine Arts Department map. Courtesy Khun Supot Prommanot, Director of the 3rd Regional Office of Fine Arts.
Map 5 - Detail of a 2007 CE Fine Arts Department GIS map. Courtesy of the Fine Arts Department 3rd Region.
Map 6 - Google Earth.



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(Alexis de Tocqueville)





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