Ayutthaya - Kingdom of Thailand

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Ayutthaya, Thailand

Click on the pictures to enlarge

Ayutthaya was Thailand's second capital from 1350 until just after the city was sacked by the Burmese in 1765, prompting the move to Bangkok. Located about 50 miles from Bangkok, Ayutthaya is an excellent day trip that can be reached by first class bus (fare about $1) from Bangkok's north station or Don Muang airport. (Look for the bus with "Ayutthaya" written on the side. Take it to the end. It's as easy as falling off a log.) Ayutthaya is small today - only 60,000 residents - but at its zenith the city boasted 1M inhabitants with influence streching into what is now Lao, Burma, and Cambodia. The people built giant temples thoughout the city, many of which were sacked in the Burmese invastion. You can see what remains in the pics below. The city's many ruins have been declared a UNESCO World Heritage site. The ruins, ranging from small and newer Thai-style chedis (stupas) to giant older Khmer-style prangs, are only lightly restored and are open to vistitors to explore as they so chose. At many of the ruins, there is a small table with an old lady or two to collect the entry fees, ranging from a quarter to a dollar (US). The site is particularly relaxed, and there is little better way to spend a February day than to meander around 14th century ruins. The whole day trip can be had for $10 or less.
	Wat Ratburana is a monastery commissioned by King Borom Rachathirat II in 1424 to hold the ashes of his brothers. The location was selected as the site where the brothers killed each other fighting over the throne on the backs of elephants. The prang (main tower) is one of two large Khmer-style prangs located on the Ayutthaya island. The top two pictures are both a large hall that used to house a giant reclining Buddha.

	The prang is decorated with statues and busts of many mythical Thai figures. If someone can explain them to me, I would be happy to post the description here.
	Buddha in a "calming the oceans" pose on the Prang. The statue is approx. the height of a man.
	Detail of the prang.
	Smaller Easter Island-like Buddha figures on the grounds of the wat. Except the heads were cut off from these figures and exported to Europe and the US where they entered the antiquities trade.
	A buddha dressed in a robe sitting among ruins of stupas and another impressive prang at Wat Pra Mahathat, located next to the wat shown above. This is Ayuthaya's oldest wat, started in 1384 by King Ramesuan. The Burmese attacked this temple particulary hard, and a bit more imagination is required to realize that this was the largest monastery in Ayutthaya at one point.
	The stairs leading to nothing attest to a prang that was destroyed quite thoroughly.
	Restoration slowly occurs behind a Buddha figure that survives intact and even has a new saffron robe.
	The most photographed site in Ayutthaya is a Buddha head around which have grown the roots of a large Bodhi tree. The species of tree is significant because it was under this sort of tree that the Buddha meditated to attain enlightenment.
	A small chedi ruin stands next to a pond in the center of Ayutthaya's island. Originally the chedi may have been very brightly decorated with gold, mosiac tiles, and other decorative coverings.