AYUTTHAYA HISTORICAL RESEARCH



WAT TAMNAK





Wat Tamnak, or the Monastery of the Royal Residence, was situated off the city island in the southern area of Ayutthaya, west of the Khu Cham (1) and south of the Chao Phraya River in the Samphao Lom Sub-district (2).


The monastery was situated just southwest of Wat Phutthaisawan and northwest of Wat Kratoe.


Except for some traces of shattered bricks, nothing of the monastic structure remains at ground level.


Its historical background and period of construction are unknown.


The temple could have been related to Wat Phutthaisawan. As the translation of the word 'Tamnak' literally means 'Pavilion', the structure was maybe a kind of Royal Residence for the Ayutthayan Kings when visiting Wat Phutthaisawan, or the location where the king stayed when following the construction of Wat Phutthaisawan. Such pavilions were found, for example, near Wat Maheyong, Wat Kudi Dao and Wat Chai Watthanaram.


Wat Tamnak is indicated on Phraya Boran Ratchathain's map drafted in 1926 CE and later on Fine Arts Department maps.


The site was in geographical coordinates: 14° 20' 16.89" N, 100° 33' 24.13" E.



Footnotes:


(1) 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.

(2) 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."



MAPS



Map 1 - Detail of Phraya Boran Rachathanin's map 1926 CE. Wat Suwandararam, Ayutthaya.
Map 2 - Detail of a 1974 CE Fine Arts Department map. Courtesy Dr Surat Lertlum, Chulachomklao Royal Military Academy.
Map 3 - Detail of a 1993 CE Fine Arts Department map. Courtesy Khun Supot Prommanot, Director of the 3rd Regional Office of Fine Arts.



Map 4 - Detail of a 2007 CE Fine Arts Department GIS map. Courtesy of the Fine Arts Department 3rd Region.
Map 5 - 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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