Wat Mai

Wat Mai, or the New Monastery, is a restored ruin located off the city island in the northern area, in the Khlong Sra Bua Sub-district. The monastery was located near the confluence of Khlong Sra Bua with Khlong Mueang (the old Lopburi River), opposite respectively Wat Na Phra Men (an active temple) and the Grand Palace (a restored ruin).

Near Wat Mai and east of the Sra Bua Canal was the Sala Trawen Landing (ท่าศาลาตระเวน), which stood in connection with the Khan Landing (ท่าขันธ์) also called noblemen's landing (ท่าขุนนาง). The Trawen Pavilion was a patrol or guard post on the opposite side of the Grand Palace.

The temple complex faces south towards the Lopburi River, as most of the temples along this city canal. It is customary in South and Southeast Asia that the monastic structures are aligned on an east-west axis and that the principal building faces east, the direction of the rising sun and representation of life. In this case, another important consideration played a role which is that a temple should face water, explained by the fact that the Buddha attained enlightenment sitting under a Bo tree facing a river. The temple can face the south, as the south has a neutral value in the cosmological alignment.

Ayutthaya Historical Research