Wat Chang Yai วัดช้างใหญ่ - Monastery of the Great Elephant Historic Murals Ayutthaya Thailand 2025

Wat Chang Yai วัดช้างใหญ่ or the Great Monastery of the Elephant is an active temple located off the city island in the northwestern area.

On site is an old ordination hall in the Early Ayutthaya style (1351 - 1491) and other more recent temple buildings. The ubosot has one elevated front porch with a single entry door - likely none in earlier times. Initially the hall had five square windows on the sides, but due to the bad condition of the building, two of them on each side have been filled, while at the same time the whole structure was fortified by installing concrete support beams around the hall.

The old hall has mural paintings from the Ratanakosin period, painted during the reign of
King Rama IV. The mural paintings are damaged and slowly fading away. There are also some traces of old faded paintings on the outside wall at the entry of the ubosot. The main Buddha image in the ordination hall is in U-Thong style, depicted in sitting posture and in the Bhumisparsa mudra also called Maravijaya or Victory over Mara hand gesture.

On the temple premises is a monument erected to a war elephant of King Naresuan.

The vicinities around Wat Tha Khlong, Wat Chang Yai, Wat Chang Noi and Wat Chumphon were all related to elephants and warfare. It is in this area that army practiced battle formations to prepare for wat prior to moveing out on campaign.

It was also here that different pre-battle rites were performed such as Cutting the wood which
corresponds with the name of the enemy and where the Siamese King underwent the Brahmin rite of Anointing the Head.

Royal ceremony known as Phra Ratcha Phithi Tat Mai Khom Nam. Phraratcha is equivalent to the Burmese Daw, Phithi means ceremony, Tat means to cut, Mai means wood, Khom means to press down or subdue, and Nam means name.

According to ancient principles and methods of warfare, before an army leaves the capital of a kingdom to meet the enemy's forces, a ceremony has to be performed to ensure success, and this ceremony is what is known as Phithi Tat Mai Khom Nam, cutting the wood.

This is a small temple but interesting for history buffs. It’s worth a half hour to an hour of your time if you are in the area.

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