AYUTTHAYA HISTORICAL RESEARCH



WAT SURINTHARAM





Wat Surintharam was situated off the city island in the southern area of Ayutthaya in the Samphao Lom Sub-district. The temple was commonly known as Wat Surin (วัดสุรินท์) and probably named after its sponsor. The suffix "tharam" is used in Sanskrit for a comparative and superlative form (great - greater, strong - stronger). [1]


The monastery was located between Wat Tha Sak and Wat Chi Tham along the south bank of the old Lopburi River, at present the Chao Phraya River.


One of the six southern ferries shuttled between the landing at Wat Surintharam and Tha Dan Chi (?) (ท่าด่านชีย) on the city island. [2]


There are no traces of the monastery in situ, and as such, Wat Surintharam is considered defunct.


Its historical background and period of construction are unknown.


The monastery is mentioned on a 19th-century map but not on Phraya Boran Ratchathanin's map drafted in 1926 CE.


Wat Surintharam must have been approximately located in geographical coordinates: 14° 20' 41.18" N, 100° 34' 2.54" E.



Footnotes:

(1) The author cannot translate the word ชีย as it is misspelt in the old text. The word could refer to a small village in that area: for example, the village Bang Ian on the east side of the city island and Ban Khamin near Hua Ro in the northeast. These villages, at the beginning of the 16th century, remained outside the city walls. It remains though a guess.
(2) In the Ayutthaya period, twenty-two ferry routes were between the mainland and the city island. The southern area had six ferries. The five other crossings were: the crossing to Wat Phanan Choeng, Tha Hoi to Wat Pa Jak, Tha Phra Rachawangsan to Wat Khun Phrom, Tha Chakrai Noi to Wat Tha Rap and Tha Wang Chai to Wat Nak.

References:

[1] Whitney, William Dwight (1879). A Sanskrit grammar including both the classical language, and the older dialects, of Veda and Brahmana. Leipzig, Breitkopf and Härtel. p. 159 #473.
[2] Ratchathanin, Phraya Boran. Athibai Phaenthi Phra Nakhon Sri Ayutthaya kap khamwinitjai khong Phraya Boran Racha Thanin. Explanation of the map of the Capital of Ayutthaya with a ruling of Phraya Boran Ratchathanin - Revised 2nd edition and Geography of the Ayutthaya Kingdom. Ton Chabab print office. Nonthaburi (2007). p. 91.



MAPS



Map 1 - Detail of a 19th-century map. Courtesy of the Sam Chao Phraya Museum. Remark: the map is orientated south.
Map 2 - Google Earth.



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(Alexis de Tocqueville)





HISTORY OF AYUTTHAYA



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