Wat Som วัดส้ม - 650 Year Old Khmer Style Temple - Ayutthaya Thailand 2024

Wat Som วัดส้ม

Wat Som or the Monastery of the Citrus Fruit. It is situated in the Ayutthaya Historical Park east of Khlong Chakra Yai and Somdet Phra Sri Nakharin Park (grandmothers park).

There is no record of when exactly the monastery was built. Experts do estimate it to be feom the early Ayutthaya era, somewhere around 1350 to 1488 because of the shape of its main Khmer style prang and the decorative stucco.

The prang has some of the best preserved stucco ornaments of any temple in Ayutthaya. There are highly detailed geometric patterns and a number of mythological figures like Rahu eating the moon during an eclipse. Its lintels are especially worth a look.

To the east of the prang lies the foundations of a small wihan that is down to its base. You can see what it would’ve looked like but there are no walls remaining.

According to the study of the principal pagoda, it was made from bricks and decorated with lintel and stucco reliefs. It indicates the structure revolution and design that were derived and developed from 18th century (Buddhist calander) Khmer (ancient Cambodian) architecture. The evidence states that the age of the principal pagoda or Prang at Wat Som must be constructed in the Early Ayutthaya period similar to a small Prang at Wat Maha That (1374) and the principal Prang at Wat Ratchaburana (1424).

The ruin is small and not often visited do to it being away from the main part of the historical park. For anyone that enjoys seeing Khmer style temples it is worth a visit.