Wat Phra Ram - Ayutthaya Historical Park - Khmer Style Temple วัดพระราม

Wat Phra Ram วัดพระราม

Wat Phra Ram is a restored ruin located in the Historical Park of Ayutthaya in Pratu
Chai Sub-district and situated close to the Grand Palace and Wat Phra Sri Sanphet in a
swampy area called Bueng Phra Ram. The monastery was constructed on the cremation
site of the first Ayutthayan monarch, King Ramathibodi I.

The exact time of its construction is not known as the various Chronicles of Ayutthaya
give different timings of its construction. The oldest version, the Luang Prasoet, written
during the Late Ayutthayan era, states its establishment in 1369 . Later versions
written in the post-Ayutthayan era put its construction in the year 1434, after the death of Borommaracha II somehow 65 year later.

The Luang Prasoet version tells us that Wat Phra Ram was the first constructed temple
at the time King Ramathibodi I passed away. The later versions could also be interpreted
as that the monastery was expanded with a Khmer-styled prang and a vihara. Nobody
knows exactly.

The general time line of its construction followed by most scholars is that King Ramesuan ordered the construction of Wat Phra Ram in 1369 at his father’s cremation site. King Ramesuan abdicated after a year while the construction was not yet completed. His successor King Borommaracha I probably carried on Wat Phra Ram’s construction work. Another assumption is that King Ramesuan resumed the work after his return to the throne.

Constructing a temple was regarded as highly meritorious and the deed that brought most merit. By donating the site to the monkhood, the king could acquire merit at the same time as he showed his reverence for his royal ancestor, commemorated in the temple. To deposit the remains of a former king inside a prang or chedi would also ensure his eventual rebirth as a Buddha.

The same concept of merit was applicable to valuables deposed in crypts. It has long
been a funeral custom to deposit valuable and cherished belongings of the deceased together with the ashes of the dead. Relatives made offerings specially fabricated for the occasion in the gesture of making merit. Also close followers donated their treasures to the deceased as a token of their homage and in a gesture of merit making.

In the Early Ayutthaya period it seemed to be a custom to establish a monastery on the
Royal funeral pyre and to erect a funeral monument (chedi/prang) for the deceased in
commemoration. Examples for this period were next to Wat Phra Ram (funeral pyre of
King Ramathibodi I).

Wat Wat Phra Ram as Wat Maha That, Wat Phutthaisawan and the later built Wat Racha Burana follows the Khmer concept of temple construction. We find nearly identical, but earlier built structures at Angkor. Phnom Bakheng, Preah Rup, East Mebon, Baphuon and Ta Keo were all Temple Mountains, consisting of a central tower surrounded by four corner towers, forming a quincunx, the latter also often was surrounded by a courtyard and a gallery.

After the Fall If Ayutthaya It aat in ruins and has recently been restored to the level thst you see now. It is a great site and piece of Thai history.

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