Exploring Sukhothai Historical Park - West Zone With Drone Footage - UNESCO World Heritage Thailand

The West zone of the Sukhothai Historical Park is a hilly and forested area that contains over a dozen little visited monuments. The area is located West of the walled old town between the road to Tak (Route 12) and the road through the Or gate in the ancient Western city wall.

Spread out over an area of several kilometers, it contains mostly small monuments in the forest and on hill tops, most of them a single stupa or other structure.

In the days of the Sukhothai empire the area was known as Aranyika. Monks studied the Tripitaka and practised meditation in forest temples. An ancient stone inscription mentions that Ramkhamhaeng, the third King of Sukhothai, visited the area regularly to pay his respects to a Buddha image, believed to be the standing Buddha image of Wat Saphan Hin.

A few of the temples in the west zone include:

Wat Tuk

Wat Tuk is located near the Or gate in the Western wall of old Sukhothai town. The temple consists of a mandapa, a viharn and a dozen small chedis.

Its most important building is a large, square mandapa with an entrance to the East. The other three walls are decorated with stuccoed reliefs that depict the descend of the Buddha from Tavatimsa Heaven. Unfortunately, the reliefs have largely disappeared.

Inside the structure are the remains of a seated Buddha image. In front of the mandapa stood a viharn, of which the base, pillars and a pedestal for the principal Buddha image remain today.

Thewalai Mahakaset

Thewalai Mahakaset is a brick, square temple found West of the Or gate near Wat Tuk. Its large brick columns that supported the roof are still standing. An ancient stone inscription states that images of the Hindu Gods Shiva and Vishnu were enshrined in the temple by King Li Thai in 1349.

This zone is nice for anyone that wants to see the lessor known temples in the World Heritage Park. There are several dozen that you can explore at your own pace, probably without anyone else in the area.

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