Wat Phra Mahathat Woramahawihan วัดพระมหาธาตุวรมหาวิหาร , Ayutthaya, Thailand

Wat Phra Mahathat Woramahawihan, Ayutthaya (30 December, 2002)


[an error occurred while processing this directive] Wat Mahathat (GPS: 14.35694, 100.56751; วัดพระมหาธาตุวรมหาวิหาร ) is the ruins of the biggest Thai Buddhist temple in Ayutthaya, Thailand. Today, it is all in ruins, having been destroyed by the Burmese. When I visited Wat Mahathat, I saw it to be a jumbled pile of rocks and bricks. No doubt, it was badly ruined. The Burmese torched it when they destroyed the city of Ayutthaya back in 1767. Nevertheless, its main chedi was still standing, way up till the time of King Chulalongkorn. Then on 25 May 1904, at 5:00 am, the main chedi fell to the ground and was left lying there in ruins since.

Wat Mahathat was built by King Borom Ratchathirat I in 1374, to serve as the sacred centre of the capital city. That's because the crypt within is supposed to enshrine the Buddha's relics (hence the name Mahathat, which means Great Relic). The crypt was unearthed in 1956, along with a recovery of a horde of gold dedication items. These are now on display at the Chao Sam Phraya National Museum.

Wat Mahathat is open from 08:30 am to 04:30 pm.

[an error occurred while processing this directive] Headless Buddha statues in the inner courtyard of Wat Phra Mahathat Woramahawihan, Ayutthaya (30 December, 2002)


One of the many chedis at Wat Phra Mahathat Woramahawihan, Ayutthaya (30 December, 2002)


Ruins of various chedis and one prang at Wat Phra Mahathat Woramahawihan. (30 December, 2002)


Here I am, exploring the ruins of Wat Phra Mahathat Woramahawihan, with a small booklet on Ayutthaya which I managed to obtain during that time. Larger books were to follow! (30 December, 2002)


[an error occurred while processing this directive] Various stupas of Wat Phra Mahathat Woramahawihan (30 December, 2002)


Various stupas of Wat Phra Mahathat Woramahawihan (30 December, 2002)

Wat Phra Mahathat Woramahawihan on Google Street View

Inner courtyard of Wat Phra Mahathat Woramahawihan (Apr 2015) [an error occurred while processing this directive]

Wat Phra Mahathat Woramahwihan is on the map of Ayutthaya

List of Wats in Ayutthaya and Wats in Thailand

 Latest updates on Penang Travel Tips

 Share your travels and/or ask a travel-related question

Join the Penang Travel Tips Facebook Group to share photos, tips and anything related to your travels, or ask travel-related questions.

Map of Roads in Penang

Looking for information on Penang? Use this Map of Roads in Penang to zoom in on information about Penang, brought to you road by road.

Discover with Timothy

Let me take you to explore and discover Penang through my series of walking tours on YouTube. You may use these videos as your virtual tour guide. At the beginning of each video, I provide the starting point coordinates which you may key into your GPS, Google Maps or Waze, to be navigated to where I start the walk, and use the video as your virtual tour guide.

Disclaimer

Please use the information on this page as guidance only. The author endeavours to update the information on this page from time to time, but regrets any inaccuracies if there be any.

Songs about Penang

About this website

Hello and thanks for reading this page. My name is Timothy and my hobby is in describing places so that I can share the information with the general public. My website has become the go to site for a lot of people including students, teachers, journalists, etc. whenever they seek information on places, particularly those in Malaysia and Singapore. I have been doing this since 5 January 2003, for over twenty years already. You can read about me at Discover Timothy. By now I have compiled information on thousands of places, mostly in Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore, and I continue to add more almost every day. My goal is to describe every street in every town in Malaysia and Singapore.