Prasat Nakhon Luang - 17th Century Ayutthaya Royal Palace With Drone Footage - Thailand

Prasat Nakhon Luang is situated on the east bank of the Pa Sak River in Nakhon Luang District of Ayutthaya province. The former royal residence is situated near the Pa Sak River.

Prasat Nakhon Luang is one of the five royal residences or palaces outside the city of
Ayutthaya cited in the old documents.

The Royal Chronicles of Ayutthaya mention that King Prasat Thong sent a Siamese delegation to Angkor in Cambodia in 1631 AD with the task to bring back plans of the City of Angkor and its palaces. He then ordered a royal palace built, based on these plans, as a resting place half way between Ayutthaya and Tha Ruea. Tha Ruea was the final debarkation point for the royal barges, as from here travel continued on land towards the Buddha’s Footprint in Saraburi.

Prasat Nakhon Luang was erected by King Prasat Thong, being a design copied from the royal Khmer palace at Angkor Thom, to celebrate the event of the renewal of Cambodia's allegiance to Siam. The relations with the vassal-state of Cambodia were troubled after the death of King Srisuphanma of Cambodia in 1618. Although no record can be found in the royal chronicles of an invasion of Cambodia in the reign of King Prasat
Thong, it is assumed that a show of force was sufficient to renew Cambodia’s allegiance.

Prasat Nakhon Luang was used by the Siamese kings for day and overnight stays along the river.

Prasat Nakhon Luang is with Wat Chai Watthanaram and the two chedi of Wat Chumphon Nikayaram, one of the most important monuments of the Third architectural sub-period (1629-1732 AD), which saw the revival of the Khmer style, with the prang as the principal monument of the monastery.

On the site, north of Prasat Nakhon Luang stands a pavilion on a mound, containing an unfinished Dharma Chakra or “Wheel of the Law”, an early representation of the Buddha’s teaching. Wheels of the Law or Doctrine were carved long before the first representation of the image of the Buddha. This unfinished wheel, resembling the moon, is said to have floated to this area along the Pa Sak River, hence called Pra Jan Loi or Floating Moon. The stone was initially kept at Wat Theppa Jan and moved in 1899 AD to be enshrined on the premises of Prasat Nakhon Luang, where it was enshrined in a special hall.

The royal residence and the sanctuary must have been plundered by the Burmese during the Burma – Siamese War of 1766-7. The central prang presumably collapsed during the plunder or in later years. In the reign of King Chulalongkorn a new construction was established on top of the foundations of the old sanctuary. The western-styled building contains four footprints of the Buddha carved in stone, each about two and half meters wide
and five and half meters long. Prasat Nakhon Luang was registered as a national monument in 1935, in which year the restoration of the sanctuary began. The restoration works were finished in 1994.

The whole complex is really amazing. It is free to go and explore and a great piece of Thai history.

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