AYUTTHAYA HISTORICAL RESEARCH



WAT SANAM CHAI





Wat Sanam Chai, or the Monastery of the Field of Victory, is an active temple located off the city island in the western area of Ayutthaya, in the Ban Pom Sub-district. Wat Chai Watthanaram (restored ruin) is to the north, while Wat Kuti (mound) is to the south.


The monastery features an ordination hall with a single porch supported by four pillars. It has a double-tiered roof. The porch also has a second, lower double-tiered roof to maintain visual balance, the west side of the ubosot, though without a porch, was lowered and given a double-tiered roof. Some Chinese ceramic ware decorates the front gable. Two entry doors are on the east side, and the sidewalls have three windows. A low wall surrounds the hall.


Behind the ubosot, but slightly south, stands a four-tiered pyramidal square chedi, built of brick and mortar, reflecting the Mon style. A small bell-shaped dome tops the structure. The stupa is hollow inside and contains old Buddha images in perfect condition.


Simon de La Loubère's 1693 CE map indicates that 'Peguans' (Mons) settled in the area between Khlong Takhian (1) and Khlong Klaep (2). Wat Sanam Chai was likely a temple of the Mon community in the late Ayutthaya period.

Based on the Temple Registration System of the National Office of Buddhism, Wat Sanam Chai was established around 1557 CE in the reign of King Chakkraphat (1548-1569 CE). It is thus an Ayutthaya-era temple. It received its Wisung Kham Sima in 1567 CE.


Wat Sanam Chai does not figure in the Royal Chronicles of Ayutthaya. The temple's history is unknown.


The site is at the geographical coordinates: 14° 20' 29.92" N, 100° 32' 36.66" E.





(The pagoda at Wat Sanam Chai – February 2019 CE)



Noh Na Paknam

Noh Na Paknam was a prolific writer, art historian, and preservationist who worked closely with Silpakorn University and the Fine Arts Department, and who wrote extensively on Thai temples, antiques, and murals. From November 1966 to March 1967 CE, he spent five months in the Ayutthaya area, visiting known temples and ruins. He visited Wat Sanam Chai on 28 November 1966 CE. The following is a report on his site visit.

"Wat Sanam Chai has evidence worth studying in the large pagoda behind the ordination hall, which is stacked in layers, similar to the pagodas in Lopburi. The fourth layer is a bell-shaped pagoda in the Sri Lankan style, with a twelve-sided base. In front of the pagoda, an archway leads inside, with pointed spires on all sides of the walls that meet like a dome. Faint traces of ancient paintings show flower bouquets and a glass house in black and red ochre, but they are so damaged that their form is impossible to discern. The base of the boundary markers clearly shows that it is from the late Ayutthaya period, with a lotus on top below it are an inverted lotus and twelve-sided lion's legs. Behind the temple is a forest of acacia trees."

On 29 November 1966 CE, he continued his writings: "The pagoda behind Wat Sanam Chai has only some complete parts left. We rebuilt it according to the original, combining the remaining parts to create a complete form. The shape is very beautiful and unique. The pagoda's style is Lopburi, characterised by multiple superimposed rectangular layers, reaching a height similar to that of a tall tower like Wat Manichonlakan in Lopburi." [1]

The site is at the geographical coordinates: 14° 20' 29.92" N, 100° 32' 36.66" E.





(The Mon settlement on de La Loubère's map - English version 1693 CE)



Footnotes:


(1) Khlong Takhian is a still existing canal south of Ayutthaya's city island, running mainly through Pak Kran and Khlong Takhian sub-districts. The canal is named after the Malabar Ironwood, a tree often used for making boats and ship masts. The canal originates at the Chao Phraya River near the St Joseph Church in the former Cochin Chinese Settlement. It opens further south, back in the Chao Phraya River, below the former Portuguese settlement and opposite the northern tip of Rian Island (Ko Rian). The canal was a man-made shortcut, or 'Khlong lat', between two stretches of the old Lopburi River at a time when the waterway surrounded Ayutthaya, used by boats to avoid the river's heavy current and the turbulent waters near the Bang Kaja confluence. Takhian is likely a corruption of the name of a former village called Ban Tha Khia near the canal mouth. The canal is also known as Khu Lakhon Chai. A floating market was held at the mouth of this canal.

(2) Khlong Klaep, or the Paddy Husk Canal, is a defunct canal situated off the city island in the western area of Ayutthaya, of which some stretches can still be seen today. The 1.5 km-long canal opened at the old Lopburi River, now the Chao Phraya River. The canal continued under the same name on the opposite side of Ayutthaya's city island until Khlong Chakrai Yai. Khlong Klaep ran south of Wat Lot Chong, passed by Tamnak Jao Phraya Kalahom (also called Tamnak Phra Jao Prasat Thong) and continued until the moat of Wat Suren, south of Wat Worachet.


References:


[1] Uluchada, Prayoon aka Noh Na Paknam (2527). Five Months in the Midst of Ayutthaya's Brick Rubble. (Hā Dư̄an Klāng Sākʻit Pūn Thī ʻAyutthayā). Bangkok.



Selected PICTURES



Pictures taken October 2008 CE



Pictures taken February 2019 CE



MAPS



Map 1 - Detail of a 19th-century map. Courtesy of the Sam Chao Phraya Museum. Remark: The map is oriented south.
Map 2 - Detail of a 1916 CE Monthon Krung Kao map.
Map 3 - Detail of Phraya Boran Ratchathanin's map, 1926 CE. Wat Suwandararam, Ayutthaya.
Map 4 - Detail of a 1957 CE Fine Arts Department map. Amatyakul, Tri (1957). Guide to Ayudhya and Bang-Pa-In. Bangkok, Prachandra Press.



Map 5 - Detail of a 1974 CE Fine Arts Department map. Courtesy Dr Surat Lertlum, Chulachomklao Royal Military Academy.
Map 6 - Detail of a 1993 CE Fine Arts Department map. Courtesy Khun Supot Prommanot, Director of the 3rd Regional Office of Fine Arts.
Map 7 - Detail of a 2007 CE Fine Arts Department GIS map. Courtesy of the Fine Arts Department 3rd Region.
Map 8 - Google Earth.



When the past no longer illuminates the future, the spirit walks in darkness.
(Alexis de Tocqueville)





HISTORY OF AYUTTHAYA



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