Wat Phanan Choeng

The first temple we visited was Wat Phanan Choeng, which has a 19-meter-high Buddha figure that is especially important to Thais of Chinese descent. The temple was built shortly before Ayutthaya was established as the Kingdom’s capital. There are still a lot of locals visiting the temple, and we couldn’t enter completely because there was a service going on. Right next to the temple you can find the Wat Phra Sri Sanphet, here we saw three large stupas. This Temple served as a model for Bangkok’s Temple of the Emerald Buddha.

The second Temple, Wat Mahathat, “The Temple of the Great Relic,” was one of the most important on the island of Ayutthaya. It encased Buddha relics and served as the seat of the Supreme Patriarch of Buddhism, making it the centre of Buddhism in the Ayutthaya Kingdom.
Wat Ratchaburana, or “Temple of the Royal Restoration,” was the third temple we visited. It is the oldest Temple in the province and one of the royal monasteries constructed during the Ayutthaya period. There are still a lot of exquisite bronze Buddha sculptures and gold artefacts that belong to two princes who died at a young age in this enormous temple.
We finished our journey at Wat Yai Chai Mongkhon, which is still a functioning temple with monks who live in kuti on the grounds. Thai people come to temple to pay their respects not just to Buddha, but also to one of Thailand’s most revered rulers, King Naresuan the Great.