Wat Mahathat

Wat Mahathat is a royal temple and also a living place for patriarchs as it became the main temple or city center in Ayutthaya period. A historic chronicle of Ayutthaya in the version of Luang Prasert Aksorn Nit has mentioned that Wat Phra Sri Rattana Mahathat was started to build in King Borommarachathirat I (Khun Luang Pha Ngua)’s reign or 1917 BE but it was not yet finished. The construction finally got done by King Ra May Suan. In the reign of King Song Tham, the finial on the main prang was fallen apart; however, the whole prang was then rebuilt in King Prasart Thong’s reign. After Ayutthaya Kingdom was lost in the second war in 2310 BE, Wat Mahathat has been deserted by times. Until the reign of King Chulalongkorn or King Rama V, only the base has been left due to collapse on the main prang.

In the temple area, the principal prang was settled there and holding the relics and also other 4 prangs of the directions were in this area as well. The cloister was built to encircle in all directions while a big royal vihara houses on the east side of the temple. The chapel is on the west behind the temple in the same area. In addition, many small buildings like viharas, prangs and pagoda are scattering around the temple. These were additionally created and restored in the later times as there was a discovery that vihara replacements were created 3 times from an archeological excavation in 2499 BE.