The history of Wat Suwan Dararam Ratchaworawihan (Wat Thong) is located in Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya Province. It is an ancient temple from the Ayutthaya period. Somdej Phra Pathom Borom Maha Chanok (Mr. Thongdi), the father of King Buddha Yodfa Chulalok Maharaj, King Rama I of the Chakri Dynasty, while serving as Phra Aksorn Sunthornsart, had a house near Pom Phet. Therefore, it is considered an important temple of the Chakri dynasty that every monarch has faithfully restored in sequence.
During the Rattanakosin period, King Buddha Yodfa Chulalok Maharaj ordered a major renovation and gave it a new name, "Wat Suwan Dararam," after the original names of his father (Thongdi) and mother (Daoreung). The word "Suwan" means gold, and "Dara" means star. This temple is therefore like "a memory of Ayutthaya during the Rattanakosin period."
The meaning of the temple's name is thus.
The Ubosot was built in the Rattanakosin period. The exterior shape is like a boat's belly, which is a unique feature of the Ubosot in the Ayutthaya period. Buddhism is compared to a Dharma boat. The gable is made of carved teak wood in the shape of Narayana riding Garuda.
Inside the temple, there are invaluable and famous mural paintings, especially in the Ubosot and Viharn. For the Ubosot, the lower part is a painting telling the story of Phra Maha Chanok Jataka, surrounded by hundreds of Theppanom images on the top.
In the Viharn, there is a mural painting of the elephant battle of King Naresuan the Great, a familiar original image in textbooks, painted by Phraya Anusas Chitrakorn (Chan Chitrakorn), a prominent painter during the reign of King Vajiravudh (Rama VI), written during the reign of King Rama VII. It is believed to be the first oil painting on a plaster wall in Thailand that was influenced by the West.
The picture "The First Ceremony of Phraya Lawaek" is also located in the Viharn. It is part of a series of paintings of the royal biography of King Naresuan, conveying the events after he conquered and arrested Phraya Lawaek, the Khmer king. This ceremony shows King Naresuan standing on a high place, then letting water wash his feet and flow onto the head of Phraya Lawaek below. It is a symbol of the display of his power and victory over the enemy in the Ayutthaya period.
It can be said that Wat Suwan Dararam is a collection of Thai art and architecture that beautifully connects the history of both eras completely.
