Wat Phra Si Iriyabot

Wat Phra Si Iriyabot or Wat Phra Yuen is similar to Wat Phra Non, features a well and bathing place in front. It is surrounded on all four sides by a wall of upright laterite slabs. Inside the wall in the front, there is a massive vihara on a 2 metre high base with low railings of rectangular laterite balustrades and a lintel over its front porch. The temple’s principal monument is a cruciform mondop facing four directions, each of which is met by a Buddha image of 4 different gestures; namely, walking, sitting, standing and reclining. Only the immense standing Buddha image remains at present. The image features a face of the Kamphaeng Phet school of Sukhothai art, i.e. having a broad forehead and tapering chin.

Situated in the Aranyik area of Kamphaeng Phet to the north of Wat Phra Non, this temple, facing east, was laid out in rectangular shape. Significant buildings in the temple stand aligned in an east-west axis. Like Wat Phra Non, there is a well, a washroom and a shelter in front of the temple. Located at the front, a vihara was built on a two-levelled base. The lower level is a tiered base in the form of overturned and upturned lotus of great height and width for a ritual walk in a clockwise direction with rows of balusters made of laterite to imitate wooden ones on both sides. The front part of this large base was decorated with eight stuccoed sculptures of lions and gate guardians on pedestals. The upper level was built in a rectangular shape with front and back porches. Inside the vihara, a structure remains raised above floor level for monks to sit on, a pedestal of the principal Buddha image and laterite pillars supporting the structure of a roof.

Behind the vihara is a mandapa of large size situated within a boundary wall. This mandapa serving as the principal chedi of the temple, was built with porches on four sides. The square structure in the middle was designed to support a roof. Niches on four sides of the mandapa wall were built to enshrine stuccoed Buddha images in four different postures, namely a walking Buddha image in the east, a reclining Buddha image in the north, a sitting Buddha image in the south and a standing Buddha image in the west. Compared with the other three, the standing Buddha image is in a better condition. The wall was set back to make the Buddha statues in deep recesses. This mandapa type was earlier built in Sukhothai as found in Wat Chetuphon outside the town wall towards the south.

Within the boundary wall, there are many chedi bases. Each subordinate chedi near the corners of the wall was built in a square shape (Prasat style) topped with a bell-shaped structure in Sukhothai style. Niches for Buddha imaged were constructed on four sides of the square body of the chedi. Adjacent to the temple wall in the south, there is a small ordination hall enclosed with sema stones. At the back is a monastic precinct where bases of a hall, houses for monks, toilets and wells were found. [Source: Guide to Sukhothai, Si Satchanalai and Kamphaeng Phet Historical Parks (2542 BE)]

Ayutthaya Historical Research