Wat Chai Watthanaram

History of Wat Chai Watthanaram

The temple was founded in 1630 by King Prasat Thong (reigned 1629–1656). It was built as a memorial and dedicated to his mother, as well as a monument to his devotion to Buddhism, although some historians believe it was more symbolic of an important victory over the neighboring Khmer kingdom, hence the choice of architecture.

Contrary to what one might believe, it is not the central prang that would have housed the funeral urns but probably the two chedis located on either side of the ubosot, which would have contained the ashes of Prasat Thong's mother and father. What is known is that tablets indicate a duration of 20 years to complete the construction.

During excavations, cannons and cannonballs were unearthed, in addition to the presence of reinforced walls, indicating a possibility that the temple, bordering the Chao Phraya, was used as a fortress during the last war with Burma (the temple would have been reinforced and used by the Burmese themselves). A war to which it would not resist because the monastery, like the entire city, was looted during the Burmese invasion of 1767, the statues of Buddhas were decapitated and the site greatly damaged, remaining abandoned for more than two centuries.

However, compared to other temples considered more important (notably Wat Phra Si Sanphet, the royal temple of the time), it is relatively "spared" and remarkably preserved. This is also due to the major restoration started in the late 80s to early 90s by the Department of Fine Arts. At the time of writing, a new restoration is also underway.

The only buildings that no longer exist today were those built of wood, notably the monks' dwellings, whose existence is known from the stories and writings left by envoys and ambassadors passing through, invited to stay in the city by the kingdom of Siam, which was then very open to foreign powers.

More recently, the site was damaged by the major floods of 2011, hence the presence of a retractable dike along the river.

Architecture of Wat Chai Watthanaram

The plan of Wat Chai Watthanaram follows the concepts of the ancients Khmer temples of Angkor in Cambodia. Temples like Wat Chai Watthanaram are, in fact, symmetrical, with a central tower representing Mount Meru, an important symbol in the universe in Buddhist and Hindu cosmology. The East-West orientation, with the whole facing the sunrise, is also important.

Although it retains all of its visual characteristics, what changes is the use of red bricks as the main building element instead of laterite blocks as was the case at the height of the powerful neighbouring kingdom a few centuries earlier.

There are also traces of a fortified wall (one meter wide) that once surrounded the monastery, accessible via arched doors. The main entrance is the one on the east side, on the Chao Phraya River side. There was once a pier that allowed the king to access the temple by river.

1- The central prang

At its base, it has an architecture similar to many temples from the Ayutthaya period, such as Wat Mahathat in particular. This prang, which here reaches 25 m, symbolizes Mount Meru, the center of the universe in Hindu mythology and is located on a slight promontory, like an island surrounded by oceans.

Stairs lead from each cardinal point to a niche, except the east, which serves as an entrance to the antechamber where the sacred relics and other important artifacts kept in the tower were located.

2- The cloister and the gallery of Buddhas

Surrounding the central prang, one must imagine a cloister that went around it, with a roof supported by wooden beams, which explains their disappearance following the ransacking and the fire that followed. At each corner, a small chapel topped with a chedi-shaped roof, shelters a seated Buddha statue, whose style differs, because the latter have a headdress instead of the frizzy appearance of his hair. The same shelters are also found at each cardinal point, thus bringing the number of secondary towers to eight.

You will notice that these statues were able to "keep their heads", because although they were decapitated at the time of the Burmese troops' relentlessness, they were later able to be put back (the broken nose does, however, attest to a fall, as does the mark on the neck). The smaller statues that are lined up along the cloister were not so lucky, because it was common for the smaller heads, which were easier to transport, to be deliberately taken away precisely to avoid being put back on immediately.
If you go around, you can see only one remaining half-head, a vestige of a failure in this carnage...

The wall behind the remains of statues, which one must imagine were once lacquered in gold and black, is free of any opening. On the outside, there are false windows, typical of this architecture influenced by the Khmers, symbolized by bars, also made of brick.

Under the towers, some are better preserved than others, but for the one in particular in the East (in a central position), it is there that we most notice the remains of the wall paintings that decorated the interior of its structures, with flower motifs. On the exterior face, a niche is attached to each tower, which also housed a statue of Buddha as well as superb bas-reliefs of which we can still admire some traces, mainly on the West face, river side.

3- The Ubosot (ordination room)

Apart from the central structure in staggered rows, on the river bank (west side) we find the remains of the ordination room (no. 3 on the map). This is where novices were ordained as monks in order to join the monastic ranks. The function of this building can be recognized, thanks to the remains of what housed the steles surrounding the building.

Today, only the ground and the altar remain, where the main images of Buddha were located, of which only the remains of two of them remain here, in a seated position, and it is easy to guess that the missing heads have been replaced by more recent versions.

4- The chedis

As mentioned earlier, the two chedis surrounding the ubosot are those believed to contain the ashes (in the present tense, as they are still believed to be there) of the parents of King Prasat Thong, the instigator of Wat Chai Watthanaram.

On the north side, you will notice another chedi, a little smaller, as well as the bases of three other chedis of reduced size. The one still standing in this area is said to contain the ashes of one of the king's sons. At first glance, one might think, what a thoughtful gesture, but the reality is that it was the king himself who sentenced to death the one who was then the crown prince to boot. He was accused of having an affair with one of his father's wives, condemning her to the same fate as well, hence the other chedi remains next door...