Thailand - Sukhothai
Photo Gallery of Sukhothai in Thailand.
Sukhothai is the first unified kingdom of Thais.
It's located 440km north of Bangkok, around the middle of Chiang Mai and Bangkok.
(It takes half a day by car from Bangkok.)
The Sukhothai kingdom had flourished for about 200 years until it became a vassal state of the Ayutthaya kingdom in 1378.After the Ayutthaya kingdom, Sukhothai was left alone in the jungle and became an abandoned place, but it was restored with the support of UNESCO in 1960's and registered as a World Heritage site.
By the way, " Sukhothai " means " The Dawn of Happiness ".
[Sukhothai] To Sukhothai |
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I went to Sukhothai by car from Phitsanulok.The road to Sukhothai was being paved (?) and the car was enjoying running bounce and jounce at first, then after a while, it turned to be normal (paved). It was a really good day. :D |
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| Scenery along the road (Idyllic scenery.) |
Paved road (Feeling comfortable and great. :) ) |
In a bed (Monks were riding in a bed.) |
Welcome (Finally, entering Sukhothai. :D ) |
[Sukhothai] To Sukhothai Historical Park |
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Here, this is " Sukhothai Historical Park " !Ruins left for some hundred years were restored by the Fine Arts Department of Thailand with help from UNESCO and were opened to the public as a historical park in 1976. It has about 200 (more than 300 if including small ones) ruins are in the area, 70 square Km. (I didn't count how many, though. :D ) I went there by car, and of course, went around by car. If on foot, I guess one day is not enough to see around. |
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| Atmosphere in the park (As I guessed, it was a very wide area.) |
Tram car (You can take it and go see around.) |
Hot Dog (Very hot and a dog is bathing in a pond. He looks alike a Japanese dog.) |
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[Historical Park] Ramkhamhaeng the Great |
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Monument of King Ramkhamhaeng the GreatKing Ramkhamhaeng developed the Sukhothai kingdom ever more prosperous and invented the Thai alphabet. The bronze statue of King Ramkhamhaeng has a scripture in his right hand while the left hand shows teaching people, is 4m high and 2.88m wide and was built in 1975. Some people were praying in front of the statue. There were 4 plates with some images and invented (?) old thai letters behind the statue. (The pictures are below.) |
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| Image and old Thai letters 1 (It seems to say that King Ramkhamhaeng rides on a elephant and fights against Khun Sam Chon.) |
Image and old Thai letters 2 (It seems to say that people in Sukhothai is very religious and devote themselves to Buddha.) |
Image and old Thai letters 3 (It seems to say that King Ramkhamhaeng rides on a white elephant, called Ruchasri, and go see someone in a temple.) |
Image and old Thai letters 4 (It seems to say that you can sell cows or horses when you want to. (This means the start of business.)) |
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| The old Thai letters all together from each plate (Check this if you want to see in a bigger size.) |
The bell of King Ramkhamhaeng (This is a replica. This was not written but people rang this bell when they needed a help from the King long time ago.) |
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[Historical Park] Wat Chanasongkham/Chana Songkhram |
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Wat Chanasongkham(Wat Chana Songkhram)This temple is located to the north of Wat Mahathat (the picture below) and was called Wat Ratcha Burana in old days. |
[Historical Park] Wat Mahathat |
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| Wat Mahathat is the most important royal temple in Sukhothai, located at the center within the city wall of Sukhothai. The temple grounds is 200 square meters wide, and there are 209 chedis (stupa) and 10 viharas. From what I heard, in Ayuttaya era after Sukhothai, extension or reconstruction of buildings was held and the structures of buildings are quite complicated. (Come to think of it, it might be true...) |
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| Distant view 1 (Go on the bridge. There is a moat.) |
Distant view 2 (After the bridge. Big Buddha statue can be seen.) |
Distant view 3 (Scenery around the Buddha statue.) |
Buddha statue 1 (Close-up around the statue.) |
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| Buddha statue 2 (In front of the statue, it looks like a place for praying ?) |
People say that the main chedi is influenced by Khmer and Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and 8 smaller chedis are in a Ceylon (Sri Lanka) or Hariphunchai Lanna style.) |
Huge Chedi 3 (There are stairs. You can tell if you take a look at the picture. When I tried to go up, I hurt my knee (Ouch !) and gave up. Something was telling me not to go up ??? :D ) |
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| The Chedi and a Buddha statue | Standing statue 1 (Buddha statue in a Ceylon (Sri Lanka) style, 9 meters high, called " Phra Attaharot ". You will see how tall the statue is, comparing with the people in the picture.) |
Standing statue 2 (Counterpart of the statues in the pictures left ? This also can be told how tall it is , comparing with the person.) |
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| Around the Chedi 1 (Small Buddha statues) |
Around the Chedi 2 (Small Buddha statues on the wall of the base, too.) |
Around the Chedi 3 (Buddha statues on the opposite side also.) |
Around the Chedi 4 (A lot of small chedis here and there.) |
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| White Buddha Statue (This white statue is said it was build in Ayuttaya era. I was not able to find them well but one hundred and eleven pupils of Buddha carved into the pillars around.) |
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| Scenery around 1 (Chedi btwn the pillars is Wat Chanasongkham mentioned above..., right ? :) ) |
Scenery around 2 (Buddha statues are curved into these pillars also ?) |
Scenery around 3 (Buddha statues are here also.) |
Scenery around 4 (This might be the front entrance. :) ) |
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[Historical Park] Wat Sri Sawai |
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| This temple, " Wat Sri Sawai " or " Wat Si Sawai ",
is 300 meters away to the southwest of Wat Mahathat. The temple, built in the time of Khmer dominance, with three Lopburi-style prangs (stupa), was originally a Hindu sanctuary and was later transformed into a Thai Buddhist temple in Sukhothai era. |
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| Around the entrance (Walls made from laterite.) |
Scenery inside 1 (Columns are in lines in front of the three prangs.) |
Scenery inside 2 (View from the front.) |
Close-up (Close-up shot of the stupas. If you take a careful look, you will see various gods are curved into them.) |
Wat Sri Sawai (From the explanation board)
Wat Si Sawai is situated 300 metres to the southwest of Wat Mahathat. It is surrounded with beautiful scenery. Interesting work of art is the Main Prang that consists of 3 towers in Lopburi style of art. In front, there are 2 bases of Vihara locating next to each others and surrounded with brick/slate boundary wall. The outer wall is built of laterite. From an excavation and renovation, fragments of antiques were found such as lintel showing Vishanu stepping over the ocean, fragments of the bronze Idol and Linga, and the Buddha image in Lopburi style.
King Rama Y of Chakkri dynasty has visited this temple when he held the position of the crown prince. He found the image of Sayumpu ( Siva ) in the Vihara. Hence, it is assumed that Wat Sri Sawai once was the ancient site of Brahman religion before changing into a Buddhist temple.
[Historical Park] Wat Sra Sri |
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" Wat Sra Sri " is on an island in the middle of
the Traphang Trakuan pond in the park.It is said that the temple is Singhalese-style. Some book says the name of this temple is " Wat Sa Si". (I don't know which name is the official name.) There is a large chedi (stupa) in the center and a praying place (?) in the opposite side over the bridge. |
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| Chedi (Two chedis (stupas)) |
Chedi and Buddha statue 1 (In front of the chedi, a Buddha statue sits.) |
Walking Buddha 1 (This is the first time to see this type of Buddha statue. Very tender image.) |
Walking Buddha 2 (Close-up shot of the walking Buddha with a tender atmosphere.) |
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| Chedi and Buddha statue 2 (View from the front.) |
Chedi and Buddha statue 3 (The bridge leading to another island.) |
Opposite side 1 (Praying place ?) |
Opposite side 2 (Close-up) |
[Historical Park] Others: City Pillar, Defense wall, etc. |
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| Photos of something else in the park. I'd like to show more pictures but close Photo Gallery of Sukhothai once with pictures below. :) |
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| Lak Muang (City Pillar) (Looks like this was a city monument or something.) |
Walls (The ruins of walls to protect the city.) |
Nuen Prasat (It is said that this was a royal palace in Sukhothai era.) |
Wat Mai (The ruin near the entrance of the park.) |
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| The Pond (There is a big pond and places to rest here and there in the park. Really good, you can relax and go around. :) ) |
Pla Graai (SPOTTED FEATHERBACK Chitala ornata) (Fish that looks like living in the pond. Someone says it's 48 to 85 metres long and tastes good ??? I'm not sure, though. :D) |
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- Related Links:
- Sukhothai (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)
- Destination Guide > Sukhothai > General Information
(Tourism Authority of Thailand.)
- Sukhothai (Thailand Guidebook.Com)
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