Wat Mahathat, Ayutthaya
Wat Mahathat Ayutthaya was one of Ayutthaya's most important royal temples, founded in the fourteenth century and holding relics of the Buddha. Its central prang collapsed long ago, and what remains is a wide field of brick bases, ruined chedis and rows of Buddha images whose heads were struck off during…
Wat Mahathat, Ayutthaya
Wat Mahathat was one of Ayutthaya's most important royal temples, founded in the fourteenth century and holding relics of the Buddha. Its central prang collapsed long ago, and what remains is a wide field of brick bases, ruined chedis and rows of Buddha images whose heads were struck off during and after the sack of 1767.
One of those heads came to rest at the foot of a banyan tree and has been slowly enclosed by its roots. That image is the best-known single sight in Ayutthaya. It sits lower than head height, and visitors are asked to crouch so as not to stand above it - a rule that is enforced, and a reasonable one at a Buddhist site.
The temple is in the central cluster, an easy walk from Wat Ratchaburana across the road.
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