Wat Phra Men

Wat Phra Men was an important temple site at Nakhon Pathom from around the 7th to 8th centuries. Four large images, seated in the so-called "European fashion", are thought to have been installed against the central core at the four cardinal directions. Today these four Buddha images are displayed on different locations. Two images are at Wat Phra Pathom Chedi (on the south side and in the ubosot), one at the Chao Sam Phraya National Museum in Ayutthaya and the fourth in the Bangkok National Museum. Wat Phra Men was excavated by Pierre Dupont and his team during two missions in 1939 and 1940. The monument of Wat Phra Men is built out of bricks and consists primarily of a full square central core made of bricks; a square gallery surrounding the central core; an intermediate space located between the gallery and the external enclosure, corresponding to a part of the building perhaps occupied by a terrace and an external facing which comprises three successive stages, of square plan, supported by a broad plinth and one or two platforms. Three different stages of construction or renovation were noticed at Wat Phra Men. Today almost nothing remains of Wat Phra Men except a mass of bricks as the superstructure since long time collapsed and its original appearance is unknown. Clay tablets were found on site with the "ye dhamma" verse in Pali hence clearly attesting their production in a Theravada community. [Ref: Iconographical Issues in the Archaeology of Wat Phra Men, Nakhon Pathom - Nicolas Revire - Journal of the Siam Society, Vol. 98, 2010]

Ayutthaya Historical Research