Ayudhya (city)

Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya ( th, พระนครศรีอยุธยา, ; also spelled "Ayudhya"), or locally and simply Ayutthaya, is the former capital of Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya province in Thailand. Located on an island at the confluence of the Chao Phraya and Pa Sak rivers, Ayutthaya is the birthplace of the founder of Bangkok, King Rama I.

Etymology

Ayutthaya is named after the city of Ayodhya in India, the birthplace of Rama in the ''Ramayana'' (Thai, ''Ramakien''); (from Khmer: ''preah'' ព្រះ ) is a prefix for a noun concerning a royal person; designates an important or capital city (from Sanskrit: ''nagara''); the Thai honorific ''sri'' or ''si'' is from the Indian term of veneration Shri.

History

Prior to Ayutthaya's traditional founding date, archaeological and written evidence has revealed that Ayutthaya may have existed as early as the late 13th century as a water-borne port town. Further evidence of this can be seen with Wat Phanan Choeng, which was founded in 1324, 27 years before Ayutthaya's official foundation.

Ayutthaya was officially founded in 1351 by King U Thong, who went there to escape a smallpox outbreak in Lopburi and proclaimed it the capital of his kingdom, often referred to as the Ayutthaya Kingdom or Siam. It is named after the ancient Indian city of Ayodhya, synonymous with Rama, the 7th incarnation of the Hindu God Vishnu. Ayutthaya became the second Siamese capital after Sukhothai. It is estimated that Ayutthaya by the year 1600 had a population of about 300,000, with the population perhaps reaching 1,000,000 around 1700, making it one of the world's largest cities at that time, when it was sometimes known as the "Venice of the East".

In 1767, the city was destroyed by the Burmese army, resulting in the collapse of the kingdom. The ruins of the old city are preserved in the Ayutthaya historical park, which is recognised internationally as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The ruins, characterised by the ''prang'' (reliquary towers) and gigantic monasteries, give an idea of the city's past splendour. Modern Ayutthaya was refounded a few kilometres to the east.

Population

Since 2005, the population of Ayutthaya has been declining.

Geography

The city is about north of Bangkok.

Climate

Ayutthaya, located in the central plains, is affected by three seasons:
*Hot Season: March – May
*Rainy season: June – October
*Cool season: November – February

Ayutthaya City Sites

Notable cultural sites

Museums

*Ayutthaya Historical Study Centre
* Chao Sam Phraya National Museum: The museum was specially display the objects excavated at Wat Racha Burana and Wat Maha That.

Other tourism sites

*Wang Luang
*Wat Suwan Dararam
*St. Joseph's Church
* Baan Hollanda
The city is located at the junction of the Chao Phraya, Lopburi and Pa Sak rivers, and on the main north–south railway linking Chiang Mai to Bangkok. The old city is on an island formed by a bend of the Chao Phraya on the west and south sides, the Pa Sak on the east side and the Klong Muang canal on the northern side.

The approximate centre of the old city is .

Transport

Ayutthaya is accessible by air and rail.

Air

The closest airport is Bangkok's Don Mueang International Airport, a hub for regional budget carriers. An elevated walkway connects Terminal 1 to the Don Muang Train Station, where Ayutthaya-bound trains regularly roll through.

Rail

Trains to Ayutthaya leave Bangkok's Hua Lamphong Station approximately every hour between 04:20 am. and 10:00 pm. The 3rd class fare is 20 baht for the 1.5 hour trip. Train schedules are available from the information booth at Hua Lamphong Station, Bangkok.

In fiction

*A Thailand-themed town named "Ayothaya" appears in the personal computer MMORPG ''Ragnarok Online''.
*Ayutthaya is a stage in Soul Calibur II.
*The temples in Wat Phra Si Sanphet and Wat Ratchaburana from Ayutthaya appear in Street Fighter II, Kickboxer (as "Stone City"), Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat Annihilation, and throughout Mortal Kombat Conquest.
*The lying Buddha statue from the Ayutthaya ruins appears in Sagat's stage in most of the Street Fighter games.
*It was featured in the 2005 movie "The King Maker".
*The 1630 destruction of the Japanese quarter of Ayutthaya at the orders of Prasat Thong and its consequences is central to one of the stories in the 1632 series anthology '' Ring of Fire III'', "All God's Children in the Burning East" by Garrett W. Vance.
*In the 2010 Nintendo DS game Golden Sun: Dark Dawn, the main characters visit the city of 'Ayuthay', which draws heavily on Thai culture and architecture.
*A Thailand-themed map named "Ayutthaya" appears in the video game Overwatch.

Gallery

File:Ayutthaya, Elephants, Thailand.jpg, Elephants
File:Ayutthaya, Elephant festival, Thailand.jpg, Elephant
File:Ayutthaya, Monk, Thailand.jpg, Buddhist monk in Ayutthaya
File:Templo Phra Si Sanphet, Ayutthaya, Tailandia, 2013-08-23, DD 16.jpg, Wat Phra Si Sanphet
File:Templo Mahathat, Ayutthaya, Tailandia, 2013-08-23, DD 05.jpg, Mahathat, Ayutthaya historical park
File:Mercado flotante, Ayutthaya, Tailandia, 2013-08-23, DD 02.jpg, Floating market of Ayutthaya
Templo Thammikarat, Ayutthaya, Tailandia, 2013-08-23, DD 07.jpg, Thammikarat temple
File:Ayutthaya city at night, Thailand.jpg, Ayutthaya city centre at night

Notes

The city was founded on Friday, the 6th day of the waxing moon of the 5th month, 1893 Buddhist Era, corresponding to Friday, 4 March 1351 Common Era, according to the calculation of the Fine Arts Department of Thailand.

See also

* Ayutthaya Historical Park

References

Further reading

* Stefan Halikowski Smith, ''Creolization and Diaspora in the Portuguese Indies: The Social World of Ayutthaya, 1640-1720'' (Leiden, Brill, 2011) (European Expansion and Indigenous Response, 8).

External links

*http://www.ayutthaya.go.th/eng_travel.htm Website of municipality
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Populated places in Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya province
1350 establishments in Asia
Populated places established in the 1350s
Buddhist pilgrimage sites in Thailand
Cities and towns in Thailand
14th-century establishments in Thailand
Populated places on the Chao Phraya River
River islands of Thailand