| WAT SURINTHARAM (วัดสุรินท์ธาราม) |
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| Wat Surintharam was situated off the city island in the southern area of Ayutthaya in Samphao Lom Sub-district. The temple was commonly known as Wat Surin and probably named after its sponsor. The suffix 'tharam' is used in Sanskrit for a comparative and superlative form (great - greater, strong - stronger). [1] The monastery was located between Wat Tha Sak and Wat Chi Tham along the south bank of the old Lopburi River, at present the Chao Phraya River. One of the six southern ferries shuttled between the landing at Wat Surintharam and Tha Dan Chi (?) (ท่าด่านชีย) on the city island. (1) (2) [2] There are no traces of the monastery is situ and as thus Wat Surintharam is considered as defunct. Its historical background and period of construction are unknown. The monastery is mentioned on a mid-19th century map, but not on Phraya Boran Rachathanin's map drafted in 1926. Wat Surintharam must have been approximately located in geographical coordinates: 14° 20' 41.18" N, 100° 34' 2.54" E. Footnotes: (1) Author cannot translate the word (ชีย) as it is misspelled in the old text. The word could refer to a small village in that area as for example the village Bang Ian on the east side of the city island and Ban Khamin near Hua Ro in the northeast. These were villages which in the beginning of the 16th century remained outside the city walls. This remains though a guess. (2) In Ayutthayan times there were twenty-two ferry routes between the main land and the city island. The southern area had six ferries. The five other crossings were: the crossing to Wat Phanan Choeng, Tha Hoi to Wat Pa Jak, Tha Phra Rachawangsan to Wat Khun Phrom, Tha Chakrai Noi to Wat Tha Rap and Tha Wang Chai to Wat Nak. [1] See "The Boat & Ferry Landings of Ayutthaya". References: [1] A Sanskrit grammar; including both the classical language, and the older dialects, of Veda and Brahmana - William Dwight Whitney (1979) - Leipzig, Breitkopf and Härtel - page 159 #473. [2] Athibai Phaenthi Phra Nakhon Sri Ayutthaya kap khamwinitjai khong Phraya Boran Racha Thanin - Explanation of the map of the Capital of Ayutthaya with a ruling of Phraya Boran Rachathanin - Revised 2nd edition and Geography of the Ayutthaya Kingdom - Ton Chabab print office - Nonthaburi (2007) - page 91. |
| Text & maps by Tricky Vandenberg - April 2011 Updated August 2015 |
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| (Detail of a 19th century map - map is orientated S-N) |
