AYUTTHAYA HISTORICAL RESEARCH



WAT SRA SI LIAM





Wat Sra Si Liam, or the Monastery of the Square Pond, was located off the city island in the southern area of Ayutthaya in the Samphao Lom Sub-district (1).


The monastery stood west of the Khu Cham (2), south of the Chao Phraya River below Wat Phutthaisawan and Wat Tha Rap and west of Wat Noina.


The site is only mentioned on a Fine Arts Department (FAD) map drafted in 1974 CE.


A visit to the area with a request to locals to indicate the site resulted in finding brickwork and pottery shards in geographical coordinates: 14°20' 9.42" N, 100° 33' 39.04" E.


In situ is a brick mound covered with vegetation. In close vicinity of the mound stands a Ficus Religiosa (Bodhi tree) with brickwork nestled in its roots. The site is quite large.


Its historical background and period of construction are unknown. A 2007 FAD CE GIS map positions the site in geographical coordinates: 14° 20' 9.42" N, 100° 33' 39.04" E.


The two locations are about 250 meters from each other. This issue needs further research.





(View of a remnant of Wat Sra Si Liam)



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) Khu Cham, or the Cham Moat, is an existent canal situated off the city island in the southern area of Ayutthaya, running through the Samphao Lom and Khlong Takhian sub-districts. The canal splits off from the present Chao Phraya River about 500 meters east of Wat Phutthaisawan and runs south to join Khlong Takhian, nearly at the latter’s confluence with the Chao Phraya River.



Selected PICTURES



Pictures taken February 2009 CE



MAPS



Map 1 - Detail of a 1974 CE Fine Arts Department map. Courtesy Dr Surat Lertlum, Chulachomklao Royal Military Academy.
Map 2 - Detail of a 2007 CE Fine Arts Department GIS map. Courtesy of the Fine Arts Department 3rd Region.
Map 3 - Google Earth.



When the past no longer illuminates the future, the spirit walks in darkness.
(Alexis de Tocqueville)





HISTORY OF AYUTTHAYA



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