Ayutthaya Part III: Wat Mahathat

The ruins of Wat Mahathat.

Our first stop of the day was at one of the famous ruined temples of Ayutthaya. According to royal annals, Wat Mahathat was built by King Boram Racathrat I in the mid-fourteenth century to honor Buddha.

The day was somewhat overcast, which moved the temperature
from truly unbearable into just really, really, really hot.

After collapse of the main prang (a type of Southeast Asian temple spire) in the seventeenth century, reconstruction was undertaken during the reign of King Prasat Thang. Although much of the temple actually survived the raids by Burmese invaders during the fall of Ayutthaya, an earthquake in 1907 wrought further damage on key structures of the temple grounds during the reign of King Rama VI (of the current dynasty).

Nearly every statue of Buddha in the place had been decapitated.
(The darker gray stone in the left background is a head).

Although there was a certain loveliness about the derelict ruins -- a reminder that, as Sam points out in one of my favorite passages from LOTR, beauty can often be found in the most unlikely places -- the overwhelming impression this place left was one of sadness. The temple had been defaced by invading Burmese armies, with statues toppled and places of worship torched and sacked.

Bottom view of one of the main stupas.

Still, I am enough of an architecture geek to have been excited even by the thought of what had once been, and I loved seeing the distinct influence of Hindu temple structures on the Thai building style, different from the more modern Siamese style adopted in the new capital city of Bangkok. I took more pictures here than anywhere else in Ayutthaya -- here are just a few.

Me in front of one of the still-standing prangs.

Another shot of the ruins.

From left to right: [back row] Liz, Shirin, Maja,
Donna, Alex, Chan, Melissa, Jen, Oak; [middle row] Me, Risa,
Jen, Janice, Margarita, Tasha; [front row] Nini.

One of the few Buddhas who survived with head intact.

One of the decapitated Buddha's heads finds solace in an embrace of tree roots.

From left to right: Risa, Jen, Janice, Angie, Me, Pantee.