Wat Chaiwatthanaram วัดไชยวัฒนาราม - Khmer Style Temple Built in 1630 - Ayutthaya Thailand 2024

Wat Chaiwatthanaram วัดไชยวัฒนาราม is a Buddhist temple in the city of Ayutthaya Historical Park, Thailand, on the west bank of the Chao Phraya River, outside Ayutthaya island.

It is one of Ayutthaya's best known temples and a major tourist attraction.

The temple was constructed in 1630 by the king, Prasat Thong, as the first temple of his reign, as a memorial of his mother's residence in that area.

The temple's name literally means the Temple of long reign and glorious era. It was designed in the Khmer style to gain Buddhist merit and as a memorial to his mother, however Prince Damrong believed it was built to celebrate Ayutthaya Kingdom's victory over Longvek (the capital of modern day Cambodia at the time).

It has a central 35 meter high (115 ft) prang พระปรางด์ประธาน with four smaller prangs. The whole construction stands on a rectangular platform. About halfway up there are hidden entrances, to which steep stairs lead.

The eight chedi-like chapels are formed in a unique way. They had paintings on the interior walls, the exterior ones decorated by 12 reliefs depicting scenes from the life of Buddha (Jataka), which must be "read" clockwise. Just fragments of the paintings and the reliefs survived. In each of the rectangular chedis were two sitting Buddha statues and in each of the four middle chedis was one big sitting Buddha statue, also lacquered in black and gold. The ceiling over those statues was of wood with golden stars on black lacquer.

After the total destruction of the old capital (กรุงเก่า - Krung Kao) by the Burmese in 1767, from which Wat Chai Watthanaram was not spared, the temple was deserted. Theft, sale of bricks from the ruins and the beheading of the Buddha statues were common. Only in 1987 did the Thai Department of Fine Arts start restoring the site. In 1992 it was opened to the public.

The temple is well worth a visit.

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