WAT JULA MANI





Wat Jula Mani, or the Monastery of the Crest-Jewel, was located off the city island in the eastern area of Ayutthaya, in Phai Ling Sub-district. The monastery was situated on the south bank of Khlong Kramang (1) near the confluence with Khlong Dusit (2) and Khlong Ban Bat (3).


Wat Khok Makluea (defunct) stood north opposite Khlong Kramang, Wat Sam Plum, of which only the chedi remains, was south, and Wat Jao Fa Ratsami (defunct) was west opposite Khlong Dusit.


No visible traces remain of this monastery at ground level.


The site is indicated on a 1993 and 2007 CE Fine Arts Department map and was in geographical coordinates: 14° 21' 19.03" N, 100° 35' 26.85" E.


Footnotes:


(1) Khlong Kramang flows on the border between Hantra and Phai Ling sub-districts. It covers the stretch between Khlong Hantra and Khlong Ban Bat. Like Khlong Hantra, Khlong Dusit and Khlong Khao San, this canal was once a stretch of the Pa Sak River. The canal is named after a common fish in the Siamese waters, the Smith's Barb (ปลากระมัง). [1]

(2) Khlong Dusit flows through the Phai Ling Sub-district. Like Khlong Hantra, Khlong Kramang and Khlong Khao San, this canal was likely once a stretch of the Pa Sak River.

(3) Khlong Ban Bat, or the Canal of the Village of the Monk's Alms-Bowl, is in Ho Rattanachai and Phai Ling sub-districts of Ayutthaya. The waterway links the Pa Sak River with Khlong Kramang in the Phai Ling Sub-district and Khlong Khao Mao in the Hantra Sub-district. Given its rectilinearity and east-west orientation, this canal was man-made.


References:


[1] Rajanubhap, Damrong (Prince) (1917). Our Wars with the Burmese. White Lotus, Bangkok (2000).