| WAT KLANG RAMAN |
Wat Klang Raman or the “Monastery in the Midst of the Mon” is an active
monastery located off the city island in the northern area at Suan Prik sub-district. It is
situated on the east bank of Khlong Bang Khoat, the old Lopburi River in earlier times.
The temple can be reached by Rd No 2003 at Km 5. Wat Pom Raman lies in its vicinity.
In 1584 internal troubles arose in Burma. Prince Naresuan, at that time Governor of
Phitsanulok, was ordered to assist the Burmese in an expedition against Ava. Nanda
Bhureng, King of Burma, thought the occasion favorable to get rid of the Naresuan and
instructed two Peguan (Mon) noblemen - Phraya Khiat and Phraya Ram - to ambush
him and his army. The plot although was revealed to Naresuan by the head monk Thera
Khan Chong of the City of Khraeng and the Black Prince proceeded to Hongsawadi
with a considerable force. Most of the population along the border joined him. Learning
however that Nanda Bhureng conquered Ava and was returning with his army, he
decided to return to Siam, taking with him a large number of prisoners, mostly Siamese
captured by the Burmese in previous wars. After the Battle of the Sittaung River, Prince
Naresuan moved back to Ayutthaya [1]. Mon families - the relatives of the two Peguan
nobleman and the head monk as well as about 10.000 forcibly removed Raman (Mon)
inhabitants of the provincial cities along the way - migrated to Thailand (1) [2] and
settled in the outskirts of Ayutthaya. The group of Mons who migrated to Siam during
King Maha Thammaracha's reign (r. 1569-1590), was very skilled in working with
elephants, especially training elephants for warfare. Many Mons were mahouts (Th: Mae
Thap Na), and fought actively and successfully along the Siamese against the Burmese in
the wars of 1584-1586, 1587, 1590 and 1592.
After the successive wars with Burma ended in 1592, the Mon immigrants built Wat
Klang Raman in the location of Thung Makham Yong, in the middle of their community;
thus the name of the temple "Klang Raman" - Temple in the Midst of the Mon.
With the siege of Pegu and the fall of the city on 8 May 1757 AD to the Burmese King
Alaungpaya, the last independent Mon kingdom fell to the Burmese. Many Mon were
slaughtered, while others escaped to Siam and settled in the vicinity of the City of
Ayutthaya. The Klang Raman monastery was thus rebuilt in 1757 on top of the old ruins.
References:
[1] A History of Siam - W.A.R. Wood (1924) - Chalermnit Press - page 131-132.
monastery located off the city island in the northern area at Suan Prik sub-district. It is
situated on the east bank of Khlong Bang Khoat, the old Lopburi River in earlier times.
The temple can be reached by Rd No 2003 at Km 5. Wat Pom Raman lies in its vicinity.
In 1584 internal troubles arose in Burma. Prince Naresuan, at that time Governor of
Phitsanulok, was ordered to assist the Burmese in an expedition against Ava. Nanda
Bhureng, King of Burma, thought the occasion favorable to get rid of the Naresuan and
instructed two Peguan (Mon) noblemen - Phraya Khiat and Phraya Ram - to ambush
him and his army. The plot although was revealed to Naresuan by the head monk Thera
Khan Chong of the City of Khraeng and the Black Prince proceeded to Hongsawadi
with a considerable force. Most of the population along the border joined him. Learning
however that Nanda Bhureng conquered Ava and was returning with his army, he
decided to return to Siam, taking with him a large number of prisoners, mostly Siamese
captured by the Burmese in previous wars. After the Battle of the Sittaung River, Prince
Naresuan moved back to Ayutthaya [1]. Mon families - the relatives of the two Peguan
nobleman and the head monk as well as about 10.000 forcibly removed Raman (Mon)
inhabitants of the provincial cities along the way - migrated to Thailand (1) [2] and
settled in the outskirts of Ayutthaya. The group of Mons who migrated to Siam during
King Maha Thammaracha's reign (r. 1569-1590), was very skilled in working with
elephants, especially training elephants for warfare. Many Mons were mahouts (Th: Mae
Thap Na), and fought actively and successfully along the Siamese against the Burmese in
the wars of 1584-1586, 1587, 1590 and 1592.
After the successive wars with Burma ended in 1592, the Mon immigrants built Wat
Klang Raman in the location of Thung Makham Yong, in the middle of their community;
thus the name of the temple "Klang Raman" - Temple in the Midst of the Mon.
With the siege of Pegu and the fall of the city on 8 May 1757 AD to the Burmese King
Alaungpaya, the last independent Mon kingdom fell to the Burmese. Many Mon were
slaughtered, while others escaped to Siam and settled in the vicinity of the City of
Ayutthaya. The Klang Raman monastery was thus rebuilt in 1757 on top of the old ruins.
References:
[1] A History of Siam - W.A.R. Wood (1924) - Chalermnit Press - page 131-132.
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| Text & photographs by Tricky Vandenberg - December 2009 |