WAT RAK





Wat Rak, or the Monastery of the Crown Flower, was situated on the city island in the Ayutthaya Historical Park in Pratu Chai Sub-district. The temple was located on the east bank of Khlong Chakrai Yai.


The monastery stood south of Wat Jan, north of Wat Chana Man (defunct), east of Wat Kao (defunct) opposite Khlong Chakrai and west of Wat Pa Mo (defunct). Its position today is the parking lot of the old Provincial Hall.


There are no traces of foundations or brickwork at ground level, and I classified thus the temple as defunct.


Wat Rak shows on Kaempfer’s map and is marked with two stupas, which presumes a large site. Engelbert Kaempfer was a medical doctor working for the Dutch VOC (Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie) who surveyed the city of Ayutthaya in June 1690 CE.


The monastery is mentioned on a 19th-century map by an unknown surveyor. The site is also found on Phraya Boran Ratchathanin's map drafted in 1926 CE. Phraya Boran (1871-1936 CE) was the Superintendent Commissioner of Monthon Ayutthaya from 1925 till 1929 CE but occupied important functions since 1896 CE in Monthon Ayutthaya. The position of the temple matches both maps.


Historical data about the monastery and its construction is unknown.


Footnotes:


(1) Khlong Chakrai Yai is part of a waterway running through the west of Ayutthaya from north to south. The canal was the extension of Khlong Pak Tho and ran from the Lam Hoei Bridge to the Chakrai Yai Gate opposite Wat Phutthaisawan. The canal was a shortcut through the oxbow of the Lopburi River and connected the old Lopburi River, present Khlong Mueang in the north with - what is today - the Chao Phraya River in the south. Ban Chakrai was a village located on the city island but outside the city walls.





The monastery was likely named after the Calotropis Gigantea or Crown flower, a species of Calotropis native to Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Sri Lanka, India and China. It is a large shrub growing to 4 m tall. Its flowers are strung into garlands to be worn around the necks of criminals on their way to the place of execution. In Thailand, the rak tree grows wild in deserted dry areas. Its trunk and branches have milky sap, and its flowers are used for floral pieces, which are usually seen at cremations. Today it is the fashion for a bride and groom to wear a garland of these flowers, for the name "rak" means "love" in Thai. [1]


John Bowring, the 4th Governor of Hong Kong and on a trade visit to Siam in 1855 CE, had another explanation: "The tree called rak by the Siamese is a species of banana, and furnishes the beautiful varnish so much valued in the lacquer-ware of China. Incisions are made in the bark, from whence exudes a thick, viscid, dirty-white gum, which is passed through a cloth, and put into jars of water, in which it is preserved from drying by contact with the air. This varnish is so caustic that not only does it burn and ulcerate the skin, but its vapours produce inflammation of the eyes and pustules on the face. When exposed to the air, it becomes first brown and then intensely black. It is used for book covers, baskets, furniture, and especially for gilt idols. It is neither affected by sun nor rain. Pallegoix expresses surprise that it has not been employed in Europe as protection for gilded works, which so soon perish when exposed to the fluctuations of the seasons." [2]


Wat Rak must have been approximately located in geographical coordinates: 14° 20' 57.20" N, 100° 33' 24.96" E.





References:


[1] Rajadhon, Anuman (Phya) (1961). Some Siamese Superstitions about Trees and Plants. Journal of the Siam Society Vol 49.1, p. 58.
[2] Bowring, John (1857). The kingdom and people of Siam with a narrative of the mission to that country in 1855 . Volume I. London: John W. Parker and Son, West Strand, p. 207.