Wat Yai Nakhon Chum

In another Thai Mon community on the east side of the river and opposite Wat Muang, Wat Yai Nakhon Chum is located. Thai Mon there have ancestors who had migrated from Hanthawaddy, Burma, to Siam from 1538 to 1541 in the reign of Ayutthaya's King Maha Chakkraphat, and later during the Thonburi and early Rattanakosin periods. However, there is no evidence to date the establishment of this temple, while locals believe that it was established in the Dvaravati period over 1,000 years ago. According to oral tradition, the Mon immigrants built a new temple on the site of a deserted temple with traces of Dvarati art. All the temples, including the old ordination hall, pagodas, pavilions and monks' living quarters, and are in the genuine Mon art style. The most important place is Vihara Paki, a hall enshrining the reclining and seated Buddha statues, together with the statues of the Lord Buddha's two closest disciples, Phra Moggallana and Phra Sariputra, before their ordinations. The statues depict Phra Moggallana and Phra Sariputra wearing Mon-style clothes.
The new ubosot, which has wall paintings of the Mon way of life, stands side-by-side with the deteriorating old ubosot, which needs a big restoration. The walkway connecting both halls serves as the venue of the "takbat thewo" (almsgiving) ceremony held each year on the last day of Buddhist Lent. The ceremony depicts the Lord Buddha descending from heaven to Earth. A Buddha statue is towed from the hall and followed by monks walking from the hall to receive alms from waiting Buddhists. [Source: Bangkok Post]

Ayutthaya Historical Research