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Wihan Phra Mongkhon Bophit Ayutthaya

Wihan Phra Mongkhon Bophit temple

Wat Mongkhon Bophit is an 'active' temple compound, and throughout the day many people visit and worship the Buddha image. Interestingly it lies adjacent to Wat Phra Si Sanphet, and therefore both the ruins of Wat Phra Si Sanphet and the more
contemporary Wat Mongkhon Bophit can be visited the same morning or afternoon.
The main feature at Wat Mongkhon Bophit is the large bronze (gilded) Buddha image, named Phra Mongkhon Bophit, which is close to 17 meters high (when including the 4,5 meters high base).
Historical Notes
In the early Ayutthaya period there was no particular place set aside for royal cremation ceremonies. When a king died an area would be chosen for the ritual. After the ceremonies had been performed the location where the cremation took place became the site of a new monastery.
From available evidence we know that King Chairachathirat ordered the building of Wat Chichiang and a chedi in the vicinity of a cremation spot, and the casting of an image. Phra Mongkhonbophit has been identified as the image which King Chairachathirat had sculpted in 1538 A.D. at Wat Chichiang.
The chronicles mention that in 1610 AD. King Songtham ordered the Buddha image known as Phra Mongkhonbophit to be moved from the east to the west and commanded the construction of a mandapa (square roofed structure) to house this image of the Buddha. In 1612 AD.