Ayutthaya

[khiemtran]

The city of Ayutthaya was once one of the largest, if not the largest, cities in the world, the great capital of the Ayutthaya Kingdom that dominated South-East Asia and a vital trading hub to which traders from all across the known world journeyed up the Chao Praya River, past an insignificant settlement known as Bangkok...





Ayutthaya was the greatest achievement, up until that time, of the Tai people, who had come originally from somewhere in southern China and encountered the Indian-influenced kingdoms of South-East Asia. They became Indianized themselves, learning from what was then arguably the world's most sophisticated civilisation, outlasted the Khmer Empire, and eventually carved out a dominion of their own, the forerunner of modern Thailand.



In 1767 however, after decades of war, the city was finally sacked and razed by the Burmese and the Ayutthaya Kingdom collapsed. When King Taksin reunited the Thais and drove back the Burmese, he founded a new capital at Thonburi (where we visited Wat Arun) further downriver, at the site that foreigners already knew as Bangkok. The original city of Ayutthaya was left in ruins, although a more modern city was later built at the same site.

These are some of the ruins. This reclining Buddha was once inside a large temple, now destroyed.







Climbing up to see one of the stupas. This would have been a spectacular building once.



As with Wat Arun, it's a long way up. Plus hot and humid...



You can see how the steps have worn away.



Looking down on more ruined stupas. You can see the modern city in the background.



Cats and dogs are only interested in lying still in weather like this.



Here's the famous Buddha head embraced by a banyan tree in Wat Mahathat.



We were lucky to see this, because there was flooding the week before and this part of the park was closed. You can see still water around the base of the tree.



More destroyed temples. Countless treasures were looted or destroyed and statues burned so that the gold that covered them could be collected.



I wonder if all those statues on the side would once have been golden, like the ones in Wat Pho.



One of the largest ruins. This must have been an amazing structure once.











More prangs. Note that in the background, you can see one that's being restored, thanks to a grant from Germany.



Here we are getting closer...



Note the Garudas on the corners...





Statues near the base...





And, in the chamber at the top, bats!

Comments

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

The worn steps are really something--you get such a sense of how many feet must have walked down them. And the Buddha in the banyan! It may be famous, but I'd never seen it before. Wow! What an image!

Are there any ruins of buildings that you can actually enter, or do you just move around the outside of them? It looks as if the last is from inside, yes? And the buildings were originally brick, yes? So the somewhat more modern brick is right in keeping with the ancient structures, it seems, correct?

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

There are only a handful of buildings you can enter. We went inside one stupa and one prang. The last photo was form inside the prang. Not much else still has a roof on it, and there are signs warning against climbing on the ruins. And yes, the original buildings were all brick. You can see in some of the pictures that the bricks are a thinner and less regular than modern housing bricks.

[heleninwales.livejournal.com]

Fascinating! I love the way they've given the reclining Buddha a blanket. Also interesting to see that it's made of brick. I'm so used to ancient structures being built of stone. Presumably there wasn't any good building stone available.

It's all rather more spectacular than the little ruined abbey I visited today.

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

Yes, it's important to remember that even though the temples are in ruins (and hence normal temple dress codes don't apply), the Buddha images are still sacred and should be treated with respect. There were lots of signs warning about not climbing on the statues or posing with them in a disrespectful manner (for example, but standing over them).

That was also one of the spiritually endearing aspects of Thailand - the veneration shown to monks and Buddha images on a daily basis.

[lethargic-man.livejournal.com]

Fascinating view. Looking at these immediately after the termination of a Jewish festival, I am reminded once again how my religion does sacred time rather than sacred space...

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

I think sacred time is an equally important idea.

[88greenthumb.livejournal.com]

So glad to read this and your previous posts on the temples in Bangkok. Fascinating, including the photos. It makes me realize that it's been too long since I visited these temples and that I should go back again when I visit Bangkok next month. Was the tour you took specially arranged for your group or was it a regular, commecial tour.

Ayutthaya seems to be in a better shape now than I can remember. I used to live near there and went there several times. That was before it got the UNESCO designation. Many of the structures were closed to the public, including that one that you climbed. I also read that last year there were huge floods that affected the area. Was there mention of structures being ruined in that big flood?

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

For Ayutthaya, we just booked a taxi for a day tour from Bangkok (2450 Baht, but you could probably get it a lot cheaper) and the driver took us anywhere we wanted. He had a big book with pictures of the most popular tourist sights, so we could choose which of them we wanted to visit. Certainly not the cheapest way to see Ayutthaya, but we did appreciate the airconditioning as we drove from place to place!

Yes, there were some ruins which were damaged in the flooding, and I believe some of the sites were still closed. There was also some minor flooding the week before we went there and apparently Wat Mahathat was also closed that week.

[endlessrarities.livejournal.com]

Wow. Wow. A thousand wows....

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

It's amazing, isn't it? I'm so glad I got the chance to go see it.