Ayutthaya - Wat Na Phra Men

Wat Na Phra Men is one of the very few temples to have escaped destruction by the Burmese. It is not known when the temple was built, existing records showing merely that it was restored under King Boromakot (1732-58) and again during the Early Bangkok period. The bot is a large, imposing building with beautiful wood-carvings on the gable and door panels. The triple-tiered roof and large portico, the latter flanked by two graceful little porches, are fine examples of Thai artistry. Inside the bot two rows of octagonal columns supporting the richly carved ceiling add to the impression of height. Most unusually the large figure of Buddha appears in royal garb. The small but beautifully proportioned wiharn houses a stone Buddha seated in European style, one of the best-preserved statues from the Dvaravati era (6th-10th/11th c.). An inscription in the wiharn claims, almost certainly incorrectly, that the statue came originally from Wat Phra Mahathat in Ayutthaya. Most of the evidence points, on the contrary, to this particular Buddha having stood, together with three others identical to it, in Nakhon Pathom's Wat Phra Men, where its richly ornamented stone base has been found. Parts of the base are displayed in the National Museum in Bangkok.