The Si Satchanalai Historical ParkThai: อุทยาน ประวัติศาสตร์ ศรีสัชนาลัย, (English: Si Satchanalai Historical Park) is a historical park in Si Satchanalai County, in the thai province Sukhothai. The Si Satchanalai area was protected in 1961 and has undergone major renovation and restoration since 1976. In July 1988, the Si Satchanalai Historical Park was officially opened. Since December 12, 1991 the history park belongs together with the history parks Kamphaeng Phet and Sukhothai to the World Heritage of UNESCO.
historical overview
Si Satchanalai was founded around 1250 as the second royal seat of the Crown Prince. And it was right here where a certain Li Tai wrote the first great work of Thai literature, the Traiphum Phra Ruang wrote in 1340.
The city was laid out in a rectangular shape and in the 16th century was given a 5 m high wall with a moat in front to defend itself against the increasing Burmese attacks. The location of the city was favored by two hills dominating the area.
The first structures in this area date from the time when the (today's district) Chaliang was an outpost of the Khmer- It was rich.
- king Ram Kamhaeng tells us on his "Inscription I." (the stone stele, which in 1833 by King w: Mongkut(Rama IV.)when he was still a monk, was discovered at Wat Mahathat in Sukhothai) in addition to the description of his kingdom, two facts which, judging by the almost incidental formulation, he apparently did not consider to be particularly important: 1.) Im In 1283 he "invented" the Thai script and 2.) in 1285 he dug up the Phra That, the holy relics and displayed them for everyone to see. He adored her for a month and six days. Then he buried them again in the middle of Si Satchanalai and built a chedi over them, which was ready after six years. He made a stone wall around her that was ready in three years. The king did not describe exactly where he excavated the Phra That, but it is widely believed that they were in the foundation of the main Khmer temple in Chaliang, a district of Si Satchanalai. This temple was in the reign of Jayavarman VII (see Angkor's story) was built, it was called Wat Phra Sri Rattana Maha That, whose name too Phra That can be abbreviated.
- So when Ram Khamhaeng had excavated the relics here under the critical scrutiny of the public and paid homage to them for over a month, he brought them to the center of Sri Satchanalai about 3 km west, where he buried them again and built a chedi over them. There can be no doubt that this is the Wat Chang Lom acted. The design of the chedi could be based on a suggestion from the Patriarch of Nakhon Si Thammarat (Southern Thailand), because in his city there is a similar chedi in Wat Phra Mahathat, which in turn is the Mahathupa in Anuradhapura (Sri Lanka) had as a role model.
- But what happened to the Khmer temple in Chaliangnow that he had been stripped of his relics? Well, apparently after 1292 it was rebuilt with a structure similar to the Chang Lom-Chedi. (Ram Kamhaeng does not mention any of this in his inscription.) Later in the 15th century, when Sukhothai became part of the Ayutthaya empire, it was rebuilt again and received the typical Ayutthaya prang as we can still see it today.
- The entire area of the Maha That was enclosed with a wall more than two meters high, which consisted of huge monoliths made of laterite with a diameter of almost one meter. They were placed close together, on top of which there is a roof-like cap made of laterite. This Cyclopean structure is likely to refer to the “stone wall” that Ram Kamhaeng built around the Phra That.
In the Ayutthaya period became Si Satchanalai in Sawankhalok renamed. It became famous far beyond the borders of Thailand for its ceramic workshops, whose products were exported to Indonesia, the Philippines, Borneo and Japan. Finally, Si Satchanalai was conquered and destroyed by the Burmese in the 18th century. The residents were in the nearby Sawankhalok relocated. The fields of ruins in Old Satchanalai have been restored since 1990, initially the city wall, the royal palace and Wat Chang Lom.
Tourist Attractions
- Wat Phra Sri Rattana Mahathat. (The Temple of the Sacred and Precious Relic), a temple on the Maenam Yom River with a laterite wall from the time of King Ram Khamhaeng (13th century).
- Wat Chedi Chet Thaeo (literally Temple with seven types of monuments). Burial site of numerous members of the (vice) royal family from the Sukhothai period. It consists of 32 chedis of various sizes in different architectural styles. In some there are niches in which there are Buddha statues. Remains of stucco decorations can be seen on others.
- Wat Chang Lom. Temple with a laterite chedi, begun in 1286. The name of the temple means surrounded by elephants, because around the square base of his chedi there were 39 standing elephants, of which not much can be seen today. Remarkably, the elephants stand in full size in front of the wall. Usually only the front half of the body is shown. The main sanctuary, a Sri Lankan style chedi, is surrounded by a thick wall of laterite stones. On the “first floor” there are 20 niches that were originally occupied by 1.4 m high Buddha statues. Some can still be seen today.
- Thuriang Kilns (kilns for ceramics). They are located about 5 km north of the "Mueang Kao", the old city of Si Satchanalai. Approximately 200 kilns have been found in an area of approximately 1.5 km². Based on the Chinese model, relatively coarse hard-fired ceramics have been produced here since the 13th century, and are probably the oldest kilns in Thailand.
Sukhothai style Buddha statue, Wat Chedi Chet Thaeo
"Lotus Bud Chedi" in Wat Chedi Chet Thaeo
Wat Phra Sri Rattana Mahathat
The Maenam Yom in the Si Satchanalai district
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- FROM. Griswold: Towards A History Of Sukhothai Art. The Fine Arts Department, Bangkok 1967 (oh. ISBN)
