Sukhothai - Wat Traphang Thong Lang

East of the city walls

On the road to Sukhothai is the Wat Traphang Thong Lang with remarkable stucco relief on the side. The flat relief on the southern side is the best of its type in Sukhothai style; it shows Buddha, striding over steps, coming down from heaven Tavatimsa. Buddha, protected by two parasols, is accompanied by the Hindu goddesses Indra and Brahma together with worshippers. This is assumed to be the first (from the Sukhothai period) visual representation of the stepping Buddha. Another flat relief on the north side of the bot depicts, less artistically, Buddha taming the elephant Nalagiri, which his cousin Devadatta had set upon him. The relief on the west wall shows Buddha under a mango tree at the miracle of Sravasti. Painted interpretations of this kind are in Polonaruwa (Sri Lanka) and Pagan (Burma).