Wat Phraya Kong วัดพรญากง - Abandoned Ruin Converted Into a Meditation Center - Ayutthaya Thailand

Wat Phraya Kong วัดพรญากง is located off the main island in the southern area. It is hidden in a
dense jungle-like forest and surrounded by rice fields. Its remote and not known to tourists. The abandoned ruin has slowly been converted into a forest monastery and meditstion center. There are several monks in residence now.

The history or this monastery is unknown. Old maps suggest that Wat Phraya Kong might predated the establishment of the city in 1350. The evidence for this claim is uncertain, but the presence of laterite blocks point to a possible Khmer background. It is generally believed that a small military outpost from Lopburi settled in this city prior to King U-Thong’s arrival.

There are at least two distinct structures and a large number of Buddha images at rhis site. The temple might have had a gallery hall. Some of these images are large, and most of them
have been carved from stone by hand. Most images from this era were a brick and mortar style used at other temples. Some heads are still intact. A few have had their faces sliced off leaving only a portion of the head.

More excavation is necessary to understand the layout of Wat Phraya Kong. The monastery has an east/west alignment. Boundary walls can be seen in a few places in the dense underbrush. Many of these brick have a different color and density than the ones normally found at other temples in Ayutthaya.

One mystery is why this monastery was constructed at this remote location. The Chao Phraya River is several kilometers away. There isn't any clear evidence of an ancient canal leading to the temple. To the north is a small lake that may have provided access in the past.

The monastery is named after one of the main people in the legend of the building of Phra
Pathom Chedi in Nakhon Pathom. The legend goes back to the Dvaravati period 7th-11th
century. During this time Nakhon Pathom was still a coastal city on the Gulf of Thailand.

The link between the two temples is from some Buddha images. Two stone Buddha heads were found at an antique dealer's shop in 1958. The heads were dug up from Wat Phraya Kong. The two heads belonged to two of the four large Buddha images from around the stupa (in an original arrangement four Buddhas were seated around a central structure) of Wat Phra Men in Nakhon Pathom.

The two large Buddhas of Wat Phra Men (ancient Nakhon Chaisri) were moved from Nakhon Pathom to Ayutthaya, during the reign of either King Ramathibodi I or King Ramathibodi II.

During the establishment of Ayutthaya and the construction of many new temples, there was a need for more Buddha statues. The Royal Chronicles of Ayutthaya say that in 1431 King
Borommaracha II seized Nakhon Luang (Angkor) and brought all of the images to Ayutthaya.

One of the Buddha images is today on display
in the Chao Sam Phraya Museum, while the others are respectively in the Bangkok
National Museum and at Phra Pathom Chedi (one at the southern entrance and the
second in the ubosot).

The temple is known to the local Thais and they will come here to meditate and make merit. The primitive condition makes it a difficult site to visit. If you have a limited amount of time you should skip this site.

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