Wat Yai Chai Mongkhon (วัดใหญ่ชัยมงคล)

Thai. ‘Great Temple of the Auspicious Victory’. Name of a temple in Ayutthaya, which was presumably built in the reign of King U-Thong, not so long after the founding of the capital in 1351 AD, and was initially named Wat Pah Kaew, but was also known as Wat Chao Phraya Thai and Wat Phraya Thai, as it was built to hold the ashes of Chao Kaew and Chao Thai, who both had died of cholera. Its name was changed in 1593 AD after King Naresuan in 1592 had a bell-shaped chedi (fig.) built by royal command, in order to commemorate his victory over the viceroy of Burma, whom he had defeated in a duel fought on the backs of war elephants in Nong Sarai (fig.), near Suphanburi (fig.). The scene of this battle is depicted in a mural (fig.) of the temple's ubosot and is reminiscent of a similar mural in the wihaan of Wat Suwandararam, which is depicted on a Thai postage stamp issued in 1992 (fig.). With 2 sen, 6 wah and 1 keub (ca. 92 meter), the chedi of Wat Yai Chai Mongkon is the tallest in Ayutthaya province and is enclosed within a boundary wall that on the inside has a gallery with rows of Buddha images, all seated in the bhumisparsa pose. The chedi can be entered by climbing a steep staircase that leads to the inner sanctum, which has several niches with Buddha images. In the center of the chamber is a burial chamber, that consist of a deep dungeon-like pit with at the bottom a small stupa. Underneath it, in a vault in the base of the stupa a partial sila jahreuk, i.e. a stone slab with a carved inscription, was found by workers of the Fine Arts Department. The stele bears a Pali incantation known as Phra Phutta Chai Sitthi Mongkon Kata or [Phra] Kata Pha Hung (คาถาพาหุง). It is an incantation to conquer evil and is the spell chanted by King Naresuan each time he went into battle. Another attraction is the temple's ruined vihaan, which houses a 17 meter long reclining Buddha image (fig.), which is positioned with the head to the South and the face to the East. Like the vihaan, the original built in the reign of King Naresuan was destroyed and the one seen today is a reconstruction from 1965 AD. Worshippers come here to pray and to enhance success they leave a coin at the foot soles of this reclining Buddha image trying to make it stay put without falling off (fig.). The principal Buddha image of Wat Yai Chai Mongkon is made of sandstone and is seated in the bhumisparsa pose. It was discovered underneath the base of the original ubosot and lay in ruins when it was found, yet has undergone major renovations in 1987 AD when it was restored and partly covered with gold leaf, making it into the eye-catching image of today (fig.). See PANORAMA PICTURE, POSTAGE STAMP and MAP, and WATCH VIDEO. 回