Sa Morakot Archaeological Site

The Sa Morakot archaeological site is situated near Wat Morakot at Khok Pip of Si Mahosot district in Prachinburi province. The site features structures dating back to the Dvaravati era (6th-11th centuries) as well as structures of the later subsequent Khmer period (12th-13th centuries).

The first group of buildings belongs to the Dvaravati culture and dates back to the 7th-8th centuries. The most important building housed a pair of the Buddha's Footprints in a rectangular-shaped brick congregation hall with wooden roof parts covered with tiles. The hall was surrounded by a courtyard. To the east, there was another smaller hall made of brick and further east was another small square laterite building. This group of structures was surrounded by a low laterite wall.
Another ancient monument of the Dvaravati civilization was a round mound with a diameter of 10-15 meters known as Noen Phra Chedi. Pieces of brick and laterite are scattered on this mound.

The second group of ancient buildings belongs to ancient Khmer culture. Dating back to the 12th century, they were built on top of buildings in the first group. Its plan was similar to the distinct layout of the chapels of the arogayasala (hospital or a place for healing) built during the reign of King Jayavarman VII (1181–1218 CE) in the Bayon style of the late 12th to early 13th centuries. According to an inscription discovered at Ta Prohm (Siem Reap, Cambodia), King Jayavarman VII built 102 arogayasalas, hospitals spread throughout the Khmer empire along the main roads. The chapels were part of the ancient Khmer hospital built which was built of wood and were dedicated to Mahayana Buddhism.

The structure here has the same standardized design featuring an east-facing single-tower shrine with a bannalai to its southeast, both surrounded by an enclosure with a single eastern gopura or entrance pavilion. All known arogayasala were built mostly of laterite with sandstone used for windows and doorways and the decoration on the towers. Pedestals with three holes for holding images have been found in the hospital temples and it is assumed they held a Buddha sheltered by a Naga in the middle with Avalokitesvara and Prajnaparamita, male and female bodhisattvas of compassion, on the sides. Pieces of an Avalokitesvara bodhisattva and Prajnaparamita Goddess were found during excavations. At the Archaeological Site No 11 of Mueang Boran Sri Mahosot a bronze mirror (P.Ch. 21) and a bronze candle holder (P.Ch. 23) with an inscription in Old Khmer stating that these were offered by Kamrateṅ Añ Śrī Jayavarman (Jayavarman VII) to this Arogayasala in the year 1115 of the Śaka era (1193 CE).

To the north-east, we find traces of a small rectangular pond used for ceremonial purposes. A laterite path from on an east-west axis led to the entry of the arogayasala. From the Gopura there was a laterite path leading to the west.

The remains of the structure 70 meters to the east of the arogayasala look like an earthen mound measuring 22 x 42 meters and 1.6 m high. Excavations reveal traces of a laterite foundation together with terracotta roof tiles and pieces of potsherds (roofed elevated gangway?).

Further east lays a Khmer baray or large reservoir called Sa Morakot (Lit. Emerald Pool). This reservoir of 115 x 214 m and 3.5 m deep was constructed by cutting out the laterite stones which were used for the construction of the arogayasala and the structure east of it.

To the west of the main tower was a round well with a diameter of 1.20 meters and a depth of 10 meters with the edge lined with laterite. It was probably used in rituals. Next to the well was a hall (vihara) made of laterite with wooden roof pans covered with tiles and decorated with ornamental ridges and fascia. The hall was bordered by a row of columns and the courtyard was covered with laterite.

To the north of the ancient buildings lay Sa Bua La, a pond the size of Sra Morakot. The name may have been derived from the Khmer word “baray”. It was on an earth mound near this pond that the Noen Sra Bua Inscription (No. 56 / (P.Ch. 14), a Bai Sema (boundary stone) in green sandstone was found. The inscription in the Post-Pallava script talks about the praise for the Triple Gem, merit-making, and the installation of a holy sculpture. It is dated 761 CE and related to the first group.

Ayutthaya Historical Research