AYUTTHAYA HISTORICAL RESEARCH



WAT PRADU SONGTHAM





Wat Pradu Songtham (1), is located off the city island in the northeastern part of Ayutthaya, in a part of the city earlier known as Ayothaya. The area of Ayothya was probably already populated at the end of the Dvaravati era (6th to 11th centuries). There is evidence that a community settled in this area much earlier than 1351 CE, the date of establishment of the city of Ayutthaya. Sources mention that during the reign of Suryavarman I (1002-1050 CE) of Angkor, the Khmers occupied the area and established a stronghold here as an appendage of Lopburi, naming it Ayothya after the ancient and one of the holiest Hindu cities of India, the old capital of Awadh, in the Faizabad district of Uttar Pradesh.


Wat Pradu Songtham was established on the site of Wat Rong Tham (defunct), which stood on the south bank of Khlong Wat Pradu (2). Wat Pradu (defunct) stood north of the canal, opposite Wat Rong Tham. The names of Wat Pradu and Wat Rong Tham merged, and the site of the last was renamed Wat Pradu Song Tham (3). The monastery is on a small road leading to the Wat Pradu Songtham School and running west between Wat Kudi Dao and Wat Jakkrawan.


Khlong Wat Pradu was probably partially filled up when the new monastery Wat Pradu Songtham was established in 1862 CE. We can trace back Khlong Wat Pradu on the aerial pictures of the Williams-Hunt Aerial Photos Collection until the canal suddenly stops when reaching Wat Pradu Songtham. On a ground plan of Wat Pradu Songtham drawn by Lt Col Jarun Phowetchakun and dated 16 March 2000, we read north of the outer wall 'Lam Rang', which must have been Khlong Wat Pradu. The above led me to conclude that Wat Pradu Songtham was built on the old site of Wat Rong Tham.


As an active temple, Wat Pradu Songtham has most of the usual structures found at a Buddhist monastery. The vihara, chedi and ubosot are constructed on an east-west axis and surrounded by a low outer wall. Most of the structures are designed in a style reflecting the Rattanakosin period. The main feature of this monastery is its mural-decorated sermon hall.





(View of the premises of Wat Pradu Songtham)



Murals


Mural paintings inside the vihara of Wat Pradu Songtham were tempera paintings, a permanent, fast-drying painting medium consisting of pigments mixed with a water-soluble binder medium, usually glutinous material such as egg yolk. The 'Cremation of the Buddha', a scene from the Buddha’s life, was depicted on the eastern wall. 'Traiphum or the so-called three-world system" was presented on the western wall. The paintings on the northern and the southern walls were divided into two parts. In the upper section, gathering Devas were portrayed, while the "Ten Previous Lives of the Buddha" was shown in the lower one. The murals date to the reign of King Rama IV, according to the inscription on the wall, which mentioned the date of the temple’s construction in 1862 CE. The murals, thus, must date from a year later (1863 CE).


The murals have considerably deteriorated, but they still provide remarkable images of the lives of Buddha (Jataka) and Siamese culture during the Ayutthaya period. Scenes graphically depict Chinese acrobats, tightrope walkers, ascetics sleeping on a bed of knives, sinners being tortured, and the fashions during the Ayutthaya period. However, the most remarkable murals in the ordination hall portray Royal processions with many elephants. Derick Garnier points out that murals at Wat Pradu probably show the delivery of robes to the clergy during the Kathin ceremony and that King Uthumphon probably presented robes to monks at this monastery since he had been ordained here. [1]





(Mural at Wat Pradu Songtham)



In 1985 CE, the Muang Boran Publishing House released books about the murals at Wat Pradu Songtham and Wat Yom (a nearby monastery). The murals at both monasteries are viewed as artistically connected due to execution techniques, including the linear depiction and colour application. Phraya Boran Ratchathanin had the murals at Wat Yom copied on a Khoi manuscript in 1897 CE. Prince Damrong made another copy of the royal processions from the murals in 1918 CE, which is preserved in Thailand’s National Archives. There is evidence that Wat Pradu Songtham’s murals have several layers (as many as ten). New paintings were drawn over previous murals as they had deteriorated. The renovations in later times might have caused some damage to the older paintings. The murals at Wat Yom are no longer available, but the ones at Wat Pradu Songtham are still accessible to anyone visiting the monastery. The Fine Arts Department closely followed these mural paintings to revive the procession for the 1984 CE Ayutthaya Festival.





The National Museum of Thailand


The National Museum of Thailand, located in Bangkok, has an ancient Buddha image on display that was taken from this monastery. The exquisitely carved sandstone image dates to the 9th-10th century Dvaravati period. Seven Naga shelters the Buddha as he sits on a pedestal above the sun-eating Rahu. He is flanked by human-like images on each side. [10]





Wat Pradu Songtham on the maps


Wat Pradu Songtham was established in the early Rattanakosin era in the reign of King Rama IV on the site of Wat Rong Tham. The addition “Songtham” seems to be used only at the end of the 20th century. A1916 CE Monthon Krung Kao map indicates Wat Pradu, while Phraya Boran Ratchathanin shows Wat Pradu and Wat Rong Tham. A 1974 Fine Arts Department (FAD) map still specifies Wat Pradu, and it is only on a 1993 FAD map that we find the denomination of Wat Pradu Songtham.


Wat Pradu Songtham is in geographical coordinates: 14° 21' 51.80" N, 100° 35' 15.51" E.



Footnotes:

(1) The names of two large trees in the Pterocarpus genus, Papilionaceae family, are P. indicus Willd. The grey bark is cracked into shallow grooves along the length. The branches droop low. The fruit is a round, flat pod with wings surrounding it and one seed bulging out. Planted as a shade tree along the road. and public parks Padauk Ban, Padauk Lai, or Indian Padauk is also called type P. Macrocarpus Kurz. The bark is grey-brown, roughly cracked into deep grooves, and the branches are slightly raised. The fruit is a round, flat pod with wings surrounding it. It contains 1-4 seeds. It grows in mixed forests. The wood is popularly used to make furniture, called padauk pa or padauksen. Pterocarpus indicus is a species of Pterocarpus native to southeastern Asia, northern Australasia, and the western Pacific Ocean islands, in Cambodia, southernmost China, East Timor, Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, the Ryukyu Islands, the Solomon Islands, Thailand, and Vietnam. Pterocarpus indicus was one of two species (the other being Eysenhardtia polystachya) used as a source for the 16th- to 18th-century traditional diuretic known as lignum nephriticum. Many populations of Pterocarpus indicus are seriously threatened. [Wikipedia]
(2) Khlong Wat Pradu is a defunct canal once situated off the city island in the northeastern area of Ayutthaya in the Phai Ling Sub-district. The canal was named after the temple Wat Pradu along its bank. Khlong Wat Pradu linked up with an important north-south canal, Khlong Ayodhya - Khlong Kudi Dao, which started north at Khlong Hantra (a former stretch of the old Pa Sak River) and ran passing by Wat Kudi Dao, where further south the waterway joined Khlong Kramang. Temples on its north bank (or vicinity) were from West to East: Wat Krajom, Wat Khian, Wat Pradu and Wat Jakrawan on its south bank: Wat Nang Chi, Wat Khok Pradu, Wat Rong Tham and Wat Kudi Dao. Khlong Wat Pradu has been buried for the most part to create a road for motor vehicles and to build tracks for the railway.
(3) The renaming of 'Rong' by 'Song' seems to come from the following: 'rong', which means 'building', sounds like a coffin (Th: long). The word 'Rong' was not felt as a very auspicious name for a temple, hence the name change. The same occurred to Wat Wong Khong, before known as Wat Rong Khong and later changed into Wat Wong Khong. Other Ayutthayan temples merged at a certain stage are Wat Sri Pho (Wat Sri Pho & Wat Kalayaram) and Wat Tha Ka Rong (Wat Tha & Wat Ka Rong).



References:


[1] Garnier, Derick (2004). Ayutthaya: Venice of the East. Bangkok, River Books. p. 51.

[2] Buddha seated on naga from Wat Pradu Songtham, Ayutthaya 7 - 8th C AD at Bangkok National Museum. Dupont, Pierre (2006) The Archaeology of the Mons of Dvāravatī: Plates - White Lotus Press.



Selected PICTURES



MURALS OF WAT PRADU SONGTHAM



MAPS



Map 1 - Detail of a 1916 CE Monthon Krung Kao map.
Map 2 - Detail of Phraya Boran Rachathanin's map 1926 CE. Wat Suwandararam, Ayutthaya.
Map 3 - Detail of a 2007 CE Fine Arts Department GIS map. Courtesy of the Fine Arts Department 3rd Region.
Map 4 - Google Earth.



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HISTORY OF AYUTTHAYA



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