Sunday 3 February 2013

Recommended temples to visit in Ayutthaya: Wat Khunsan

Wat Khunsan

This is the home town area of the first king of the Rattanakosin Kingdom, Somdet - Phraputthayodfaa - Chulalook-mahaarat or as we know, the founder King of Bangkok. He was originally of Mon (Rman) race. Rman or Mon are one of the earliest ethnic groups to inhabit the area of which we know as Burma nowadays.


The story of this temple goes back to the mid 16th century. King Naresuan was adopted by the Mon’s king, Hongswadee, when he was 9 years old due to the loss of the Ayutthaya Kingdom. By time, king Hongsawadee became afraid that king Naresuan would betray Burma. So he asked the knights Phraya Kiat and Phraya Raam to trap and arrested him. However, during that time both of them were students of the monk Mahaathen kan chong. As the monk was fond of King Naresuan, he brought the knights with him to the King Naresuan and informed him about the plan. King Naresuan saw that the Hongsawadee king was not a good person, because he did not follow the Buddhist principles as a good king should. So he announced a liberty in order to be free from the Hongsawadee king and Burma.

King Naresuan brought the knight with him to do civil service work in the Ayutthaya Kingdom. Other of the knights, Phraya Kiat, established his home and family around the Wat Khunsan area. Time passed, the children and the heirs of him became also respected civil servants. One of them was the Phraputthayodfaa Chulalok, or the first king of the Rattanakosin Kingdom.

The pagoda is in bended position and outer layer of bricks has been built to protect the pagoda. Small Buddha statues crafted from sand stone have been damaged and only the lower body parts are left.






Renovation history

During the King Rama IV period, this temple had an on-going renovation. Before the renovation was nearly completed, the King Rama IV passed away and the renovation was suspended. Even though this temple has been registered as one of the ancient sights to be preserved, it is not taken care of anymore.  The villagers have invaded the area and established a small community. Once, it was a sex trade area in Ayutthaya also. Though nowadays there is no such thing anymore, the Fine Arts Institution of Thailand (Krom Silpaakorn) decided in 1993 to give up renovating the temple.




Interest in this tour? Visit www.ThailandSecretTour.com or email at info@thailandsecrettour.com for more information.

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