WHS#69

Just over an hour north of Bangkok lie the ruins of what was once the biggest city in the world - Ayutthaya. I got the opportunity for a short day trip to the site in July 2018. Unfortunately, because I was traveling with my dad's college batch, who weren't very fond of temples, ruins, or off-the-beaten-path travel, I had a private tour organized, and the itinerary definitely wasn't to my liking, but what could I do except try to satisfy the group? We only visited Wat Yai Chai Mongkol, Wat Mahathat, and Bang Pa-in Palace before getting on a river cruise back to Bangkok. Out of these, only Wat Mahathat was located in the WHS, so I can't say I got to explore this site very well, but entering the core area really gave me a good idea of what the site is like as a whole.

The Historic City of Ayutthaya is made up of about half of the riverine island that formed the center of the once great capital of Siam. Many ruined temples stand today as proof of that, and these temples include Wat Phra Si Sanphet, Wat Mahathat, Wat Ratchaburana, Wat Phra Ram, and Wat Thammikarat, among other less preserved or less impressive ones. However, this also includes areas of empty space and of modern buildings, once located at the heart of the great city, but now showing no actual heritage value. It also means that other outstanding sites like Wat Chai Watthanaram and Wat Yai Chai Mongkol aren't included in the site. I see this as a problem first-hand while on the ride to Wat Mahathat when I'm unpleasantly surprised to be greeted by a cityscape that reminded me of provincial towns back in the Philippines. The island of Ayutthaya today simply isn't a contiguous landscape of historic and cultural heritage, unlike the case in the many of the more renowned ruins of Southeast Asia. This shouldn't have stopped surrounding highlights from being inscribed as well, but I ended up being most impressed by Wat Yai Chai Mongkol, which isn't even part of the WHS. It's unfortunate that the choices made during the inscription have created an even more lacking site than what it already is.

I had come into the trip with high expectations for Ayutthaya and its WHS, since it was the one destination that I had chosen for the group myself. And to tell the truth, the visit to Wat Yai Chai Mongkol did really fulfill the expectations for the amazing temples that were there in Ayutthaya, but the actual WHS experience fell flat. This was especially worsened by the time limit my group imposed itself on in Wat Mahathat, the one and only WHS destination that ended up included on the itinerary. I had 36 minutes to explore the huge temple complex, which included the customary group pictures taking up most of the time. What I did see, however, was really interesting. Wat Mahathat is one of the more ruined temples, but what remains is enough to show how great of a site this once was. The central prang is collapsed, but its base is gigantic, as is the flat open space of the vihara. All around the site tower majestic satellite prangs, showing architectural influence of the Khmer. In fact, an even greater prang, Wat Ratchaburana, lies just across the street, and its tip can be seen from Wat Mahathat. There are also the headless Buddha statues surrounding the central prang, while the bodyless Buddha head in the tree roots is the favorite photo stop for tourists. Most of the complex, however, is just brick foundations and walls. Wat Mahathat is a must-see for tourists to Ayutthaya, but to me, it's not the main highlight. It's one of the oldest temples in Ayutthaya, though, so that's a plus point.

So that's it for my Ayutthaya WHS experience. Within the WHS, I think Wat Phra Si Sanphet and Wat Ratchaburana would be the most important sites to see for their well-preserved and distinct architectural styles, as well as the murals in the crypt of Wat Ratchaburana. The best sites to visit, however, are probably Wat Chaiwatthanaram and Wat Yai Chai Mongkol. Wat Chaiwatthanaram is one of the youngest of the ancient temples of Ayutthaya, but that means that it's the pinnacle of Ayutthayan architecture. It's said to be the grandest of all of them, and it makes use of both the Khmer prang and the Indian stupa-influenced Chedi of earlier periods to accentuate the final blossoming of the architectural style. Wat Yai Chai Mongkol was probably my favorite site in my short trip to Thailand. It's from the Middle Period, which is why it takes the form of the chedi, which is the same as Wat Phra Si Sanphet. The difference is that this temple is just a single enormous chedi, which can be climbed by visitors. The experience, I would guess, is like climbing a Mayan pyramid. It's exhilarating, steep, and mindblowing to scale a such a great historic structure. The Buddha statues here are all intact and dressed in bright yellow-orange robes. This color is also used to cover the dome of the chedi. These are just a few examples of the great sites not included in the WHS.

Ultimately, Ayutthaya's mostly ruined state, poor modern layout, and poorly selected WHS area all contribute to its weaknesses as a site, but its historic significance and extensive impressive remains are undeniable. This is a must-visit in Thailand, and it must be explored properly, not the way I got to explore it. In the end, this is still the remains of one of the greatest cities the world has ever seen. Perhaps the remains of international settlements should be included as well, considering that their trade opportunities are directly responsible for the growth of the city. The Historic City of Ayutthaya is home to some very interesting ruins, such as wats Mahathat, Ratchaburana, and Phra Si Sanphet, and their mixing of architectural styles from all around the Buddhist world have resulted in some of the finest masterpieces of Thai architecture that is definitely worth preserving and visiting.