Wat Maha Saman

Wat Maha Saman (Monastery of the Great Deer) stands out due to its large bell-shaped chedi. In situ, there is also a restored ruin of an ubosot (ordination hall) with sema stones still visible. There are also traces of an inner wall. The temple is named after a deer endemic in Thailand. This monastery's name refers to the Jataka of the "Deer King", in which Buddha takes the form of a deer in a previous life and leads his herd in the Isipatanamarukatiyawan Forest. This forest is the Deer Park in Sarnath (North India) where Gautama Buddha first taught the Dharma to the group of five companions and where the Buddhist Sangha came into existence through the enlightenment of Kaundinya.

The temple's name could also be translated as "the rising morning", referring to the guardian deity of the Theravada Buddhist religion and Sri Lanka. Sumana Saman invited Lord Buddha to the Samanalakanda. On request, Gautama Buddha left his footprint on the rock at the top of the Sri Pada mountain (Adam's Peak) as a token of symbolic worship 2,580 years ago. Prince Sumana Saman later became a god named God Maha Sumana Saman.

Ayutthaya Historical Research