WAT BOT RATCHA DECHA





Wat Bot Ratcha Decha, or the Monastery of the Ordination Hall of Ratcha Decha, is a ruin located off the city island in the eastern area of Ayutthaya, in the Hantra Sub-district, south of Wat Ayothya. Wat Bot Ratcha Decha was situated along the west bank of today's defunct Khlong Ayothya (1) at present parallel with Road # 3058). The ruin has a Buddhist memorial built on top of the site.


There was a vihara in front of the main pagoda, which was very large. Only a part of the throne and the bridge remain. A broken chedi with its prominent toppled 9-tiered spire and foundations of a monastic structure can be found in situ. The rebuilt structure has a sitting Buddha image with an elephant and a monkey bowing in reverence (Phra Palelai or the Parileyyaka Buddha) (1).


Its historical background and construction period are unknown, but an information board in situ states that the site dates to the early or middle Ayutthaya period.


Wat Bot Ratcha Decha likely has a link with an element of the military administration under the Kalahom or the Minister of the Military Division. One of his two subordinate Commanding Officers based in the city was the Phraya Decho (or Decha), with a sakdina of 10,000 Rai. His official denomination was Phraya Siharat Decho Chai. [1]





(The vihara of Wat Ratcha Decha)



Nicolas Gervaise (ca.1662-1729 CE), a young French theological student of the “Société des Missions Etrangères” residing in Ayutthaya in the late 17th century, wrote in his work on Ayutthaya [2]: "The second office is that of the captain of the king’s bodyguard, known as the oya rytcho. Its functions are not comparable to those of the office with the same name in France. The captain’s duties do not demand that he follow the king everywhere nor always remain at his side. He is, in reality, the first official of the Royal Household and in this capacity, he takes precedence over all others at court."


The site is in geographical coordinates: 14° 21' 59.84" N, 100° 35' 24.13" E.


Footnotes:


(1) Khlong Ayothya, and in its extension, Khlong Kudi Dao, was an artificial short-cut canal running north-south and dug in a loop of the Pa Sak River, which riverbed later became Khlong Hantra. The canal is defunct today, but some small stretches can still be seen parallel with Road No 3058.

(2) The name Palelai is derived from the Pāli word Pārileyyaka. The Buddha went into retreat in the Pārileyyaka Forest in search of solitude after the monks in Kosambi did not take his advice in settling a quarrel among themselves. Kosambi (Pali) or Kaushambi (Sanskrit) was the capital of the Vatsa Kingdom of Uttarapatha, one of the sixteen mahajanapadas in ancient India


References:


[1] Reynolds, Craig J. Thai radical discourse: the real face of Thai feudalism today. SEAP Publications, 1987. p 92. [

[2] Gervaise, Nicolas (Paris - 1688). The Natural and Political History of the Kingdom of Siam. Translated and edited by John Villiers (1998). White Lotus Press, Bangkok.