Wat Phra Sri Sanphet and the story that is still debated. Which Ayutthaya King's relics are contained in the three pagodas or stupas? Is it true that the Burmese army stole 700 million worth of gold from the Viharn of Phra Sri Sanphet during the fall of Ayutthaya?
📸 Traveling to Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya is called traveling to a World Heritage City. You must visit Wat Phra Sri Sanphet first. Once you arrive, you must take pictures with the three large, outstanding pagodas that have become a symbol of the World Heritage City of Ayutthaya. Or you can take pictures with Phra Thinang Chom Thong, which has remnants of red brick walls, and you will get beautiful photos as well.
When King U Thong (the first king of the Ayutthaya Kingdom) established the Grand Palace, the Grand Palace at that time probably had the same area as Wat Phra Sri Sanphet today, because at that time there were only 5 Phra Thinang listed.
Hypothetical image of the Grand Viharn of Wat Phra Sri Sanphet from the book Wat Phra Sri Sanphet by the Fine Arts Department, published in 2003.
Hypothetical image of the enshrinement of Phra Sri Sanphet from the book Wat Phra Sri Sanphet by the Fine Arts Department, published in 2003.
During the reign of King Borommatrailokkanat (the 8th king of the Suphanphumi Dynasty), he ordered the Grand Palace to be moved north next to the river (city canal). The original palace area was given to be a temple, used as a place to hold royal ceremonies such as the Royal Ceremony of Holding the Water of Allegiance. At that time, there was a Buddha image enshrined in the Grand Viharn, in front of the three bell-shaped pagodas, named Phra Sri Sanphet. It was a Buddha image cast during the reign of King Ramathibodi II, with a height of 8 wa (normally 1 wa equals 2 meters, so the height should be 16 meters, but some documents state that Phra Sri Sanphet was 11 meters high), covered with gold throughout the entire image, weighing 286 chang.
The ancient currency rate was 1 chang equal to 80 baht. The price of gold covering Phra Sri Sanphet was therefore worth approximately 22,880 baht at that time (possibly meaning baht of gold as well). Therefore, if calculated using the price of 99.99% gold jewelry, which is sold at 30,380 baht today, the value of the gold covering Phra Sri Sanphet has increased to almost 700 million baht.
During the reign of King Rama IV, Nine Nua Gold or Chomphunut Gold was the purest gold, with the most beautiful texture. 1 baht of weight was sold for only 9 baht. In the Ayutthaya period, it was probably cheaper than this.
The History of Ayutthaya: Five Centuries to the New World states that the gold covering Phra Sri Sanphet weighed 350 kilograms (1 baht of gold bar = 15.24 grams), which is worth approximately 1,000 million baht according to the current gold price (44,500 baht per 1 baht of gold).
Unfortunately, when the second fall of Ayutthaya occurred, the Burmese army invaded and plundered the city, setting fire to melt the gold of the large Buddha image in the Grand Viharn of Wat Phra Sri Sanphet, taking all the gold away.
During the reign of King Rama I, Phra Sri Sanphet was brought to Bangkok. He had the idea to restore it, but the image was severely damaged, so he ordered the construction of a pagoda at Wat Phra Chetuphon, enshrining the pieces of Phra Sri Sanphet, and named it Sri Sanphetdayan Pagoda. Therefore, there is no evidence left of what Phra Sri Sanphet looked like.
📸 From the east, the 3 large bell-shaped pagodas are arranged to the west, containing the relics of King Borommatrailokkanat, King Borom Ratchathirat III, and King Ramathibodi II, respectively. Wat Phra Sri Sanphet is therefore the location of the relics of 3 ancestral kings. It is still debated whether the three pagodas or stupas may have been built at the same time, or two were built first, and then the third was built during the reign of King Borom Ratchathirat IV (Nor Phutthangkun). Later scholars suggest that one of the three pagodas may contain the relics of King Chao Sam Phraya.
Map of the ancient palace and Wat Phra Sri Sanphet (during the reign of King Phetracha). This map appears in Kaempfer's Archives, copied from the book Ayutthaya: History and Politics, Social Science and Humanities Textbook Project Foundation, published in 1999.
Although it is an important temple built in the early Ayutthaya period, the plan of Wat Phra Sri Sanphet is different from other temples in the early Ayutthaya period. That is, the Ubosot of Wat Phra Sri Sanphet was moved from the back of the cloister to the side of the Grand Viharn, which is considered the front of the temple. The relocation of the Ubosot probably occurred later in order to create symmetry with Phra Thinang Chom Thong (some scholars do not call it Phra Thinang, but call it Phra Viharn Rai).
Map of Ayutthaya, Phraya Boran Ratchathanin Edition, 1926
During the reign of King Chulalongkorn, King Rama V, Phraya Boran Ratchathanin, the superintendent of the Krung Kao Province, was appointed to excavate the ancient palace. The conservation and restoration of the palace, including other ancient sites, began at the same time as the preparation of the map of Krung Kao City. Phraya Boran Ratchathanin used his free time from his duties as superintendent to search for the names of houses and cities that matched the names of places in old documents, both in the royal chronicles and even in the poems written in the Ayutthaya period. Hundreds of prisoners from the prison were divided to help excavate the ancient sites until they were successful.
Wat Monthop, Ko Loi, opposite Hua Ro Market, in front of Chandrakasem National Museum
King Chulalongkorn traveled to Ko Loi (opposite Hua Ro Market) to perform royal merit-making at Phra Thinang Sanphet Prasat, offering sacrifices to the Great King, and holding a 3-day, 3-night celebration, organizing performances of Khon, puppets, Lakon, Rabeng, Mong Khrum, sleeping on spears, sleeping on swords, tightrope walking, and others. Fireworks were set off to celebrate throughout the 3 nights. He had the idea to use Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya as a tourist destination to welcome foreign guests.
Field Marshal P. Pibulsongkram during a visit to ancient sites in Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya (Phu Khao Thong Pagoda). Image from the book Picture Book of Krung Kao, Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya Province, before 1957 by Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya Province
The Ministry of Culture was first established during the time of Field Marshal P. Pibulsongkram as Prime Minister (elevated from the National Culture Council). At that time, a resolution was approved to excavate ancient sites in many provinces of Thailand (some say it was for political reasons, that the government wanted to divert public attention to culture, history, and Thai traditions). The Thai government received financial support from the Union of Burma to restore Phra Mongkol Bophit (the Prime Minister of the Union of Burma even traveled to apologize for the ruins in Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya Province in person). A project worth tens of millions was created to restore many ancient sites in Ayutthaya, including Wat Phra Sri Sanphet. The major restoration of ancient sites during the time of Field Marshal P. Pibulsongkram continued until 1957, when it ended with a coup d'état by Field Marshal Sarit Thanarat.
Wat Phra Sri Sanphet is another temple that has been secretly robbed, like many temples in Ayutthaya. Until now, there has never been any information about what assets or artifacts the robbers took.
