Wat Na Phra Men

About

Wat Na Phra Men rests on the northern edge of the old city moat of Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya, along Khlong Sra Bua — the former course of the Lopburi River — directly opposite the ruins of the royal palace. Its name means roughly 'temple before the royal cremation', a reference to its likely role as a cremation ground for early Ayutthaya kings.

The wat's foundation legend places it in the reign of Ramathibodi II, with Prince In credited as the builder in 1503, though no firm documentary evidence confirms the date. The temple stands as the rare survivor of the catastrophe that befell Ayutthaya in 1767: Burmese forces are thought to have established a military headquarters here, sparing it the destruction visited upon the city's other sanctuaries.

The ubosot follows the Ayutthaya style, its interior columns crowned with closed-lotus capitals. The richly carved gable depicts Vishnu mounted on Garuda above the demon Rahu, framed by two nagas and a court of twenty-six devas.

Inside, the principal Buddha image — a large bronze figure shown in royal attire and in the gesture of subduing Mara — was named Phra Buddha Nimitr Vichit Maramoli by King Rama III. In a side vihara stands Phra Khanthararaj, a green-stone seated Buddha believed to date from the Dvaravati period more than fifteen hundred years ago, one of only five such images preserved in Thailand.

History

Wat Na Phra Men was built during the Ayutthaya period under unknown patronage, though legend names Prince In and a date of 1503. Its location, just beyond the island city, suggests it served as a cremation precinct for nobility and royalty.

In 1767, when the Burmese armies overwhelmed Ayutthaya and reduced the capital to ruin, this temple was uniquely preserved — Burmese forces having occupied the site as a military station. Subsequent restorations in the Rattanakosin era allowed its delicate woodwork and stucco to endure. The Fine Arts Department formally registered the precinct as an ancient monument in 1935.