Wat Ratchaburana ( th, วัดราชบูรณะ) is a

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

temple (''

wat A wat ( km, វត្ត, ; lo, ວັດ, ; th, วัด, ; khb, 「ᩅᨯ᩠ᨰ」(waD+Dha); nod, 「ᩅ᩠ᨯ᩶」（w+Da2)) is a type of Buddhist temple and Hindu temple in Cambodia, Laos, East Shan State, Yunnan, the Southern Provi ...

'') in the

Ayutthaya Historical Park Ayutthaya Historical Park ( th, อุทยานประวัติศาสตร์พระนครศรีอยุธยาPronunciation) covers the ruins of the old city of Ayutthaya, Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya Province, Thailand. The ...

Ayutthaya Ayutthaya, Ayudhya, or Ayuthia may refer to: * Ayutthaya Kingdom, a Thai kingdom that existed from 1350 to 1767 ** Ayutthaya Historical Park, the ruins of the old capital city of the Ayutthaya Kingdom * Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya province (locally ...

, Thailand. The temple's main ''

prang Prang may refer to: Places * Prang, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a town of Charsadda District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan *Prang Besar, an old name for Putrajaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malayasia * Prang Ghar Tehsil or Pran Ghar Subdivision, a subdivisi ...

'' is one of the finest in the city. Located in the island section of Ayutthaya, Wat Ratchaburana is immediately north of Wat Mahathat.

History

Wat Ratchaburana was founded in 1424 by King

Borommarachathirat II Borommarachathirat II or Borom Rachathirat II ( th, บรมราชาธิราชที่ ๒), also known as King Samphraya ( th, เจ้าสามพระยา) (1386–1448), was a king of Ayutthaya. His reign saw its early expan ...

of the

Ayutthaya Kingdom The Ayutthaya Kingdom (; th, อยุธยา, , IAST: or , ) was a Siamese kingdom that existed in Southeast Asia from 1351 to 1767, centered around the city of Ayutthaya, in Siam, or present-day Thailand. The Ayutthaya Kingdom is conside ...

and built on the cremation site of his two elder brothers. The two brothers had fought to their deaths in a duel for the royal succession to their father Intha Racha. In 1957 the temple's crypt was looted of a large number of

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a śramaṇa, wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was ...

images and gold artifacts. The thieves were later caught, but few of the treasures were recovered. Some that were recovered are now housed in the nearby Chao Sam Phraya Museum. Subsequent excavations of the crypt have uncovered many more rare Buddha images.

Architecture and art

The temple's central prang has undergone restoration. Original

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and a ...

work can be seen, for example

Garuda Garuda (Sanskrit: ; Pāli: ; Vedic Sanskrit: गरुळ Garuḷa) is a Hindu demigod and divine creature mentioned in the Hindu, Buddhist and Jain faiths. He is primarily depicted as the mount (''vahana'') of the Hindu god Vishnu. Garuda is a ...

swooping down on

nāga The Nagas (IAST: ''nāga''; Devanāgarī: नाग) are a divine, or semi-divine, race of half-human, half-serpent beings that reside in the netherworld (Patala), and can occasionally take human or part-human form, or are so depicted in art. ...

. Other mythical creatures as well as lotus are featured. Four Sri Lankan

stupas A stupa ( sa, स्तूप, lit=heap, ) is a mound-like or hemispherical structure containing relics (such as ''śarīra'' – typically the remains of Bhikkhu, Buddhist monks or Bhikkhuni, nuns) that is used as a place of meditation. In ...

surround the main prang. The prang's crypt, accessible by steep stairs, houses faded

fresco Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaste ...

es. These comprise some of the rare such examples from the early

period. The crypt's Buddha images, now housed in the Chao Sam Phraya Museum, exhibit both Khmer and Sukhothai influences.

Image gallery

File:Wat Ratchaburana Ayutthaya Thailand 05.jpg, Central prang of Wat Ratchaburana File:Wat Ratchaburana 2014-02-22 (003).jpg, Elaborate mural inside the crypt of Wat Ratchaburana

References

{{Commons category-inline Buddhist temples in Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya Province Tourist attractions in Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya province