Wat Asokaram (Sukhothai)

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Wat Asokārām ( Thai วัด อ โศกา ราม , also: Wat Salat Dai - วัด สลัดได ) is the ruin of a Buddhist temple complex ( Wat ) in Sukhothai , Sukhothai Province in the northern region of Thailand .

location

Wat Asokārām is located about 2.5 kilometers southeast of the southern city gate ( ประตู น โม - Pratu Namo) outside the Old City (Mueang Kao - เมือง เก่า ) of Sukhothai.

Wat Asokārām is part of the Sukhothai Historical Park .

history

Wat Asokārām was founded in the time of the Sukhothai Kingdom during the reign of King Sai Lüthai in 1399.

The name Asokārām was long forgotten. Locals called the temple “Wat Salat Dai” because the area of Euphorbia antiquorum (from the milkweed family , Thai: สลัดได - Salat Dai) was overgrown.

When treasure hunters were digging at the chedi in 1958 , they found a stone inscription, which they carelessly put aside. Locals informed the Fine Arts Department , which secured the inscription. Today it can be seen in the Ramkhamhaeng National Museum .

The stone inscription informs about the establishment of Wat Asokārām in 1399 by the widow of Maha Thammaracha II , the queen mother, who is called here "Saṃtec Braḥ Rājavebī Śrī Cuḷālakṣaṇa Agrarājamahesī Devadharaṇī Tilakaratana". She was the daughter of King Maha Thammaracha I ( Li Thai ). With her husband Maha Thammaracha II. She had two sons, Maha Thammaracha III. (Sai Lüthai), king at the time the temple was founded, and a prince named Asoka, of whom nothing is known today.

In the year of the hare 761 CS (1399 AD ) on the seventh day of the first half of the month Phagguṇā ( Pali , ผ คฺ คุณา , February – March), according to the Queen Mother in the stone inscription, the chedi was finished. Inside was a relic chamber in which she deposited two relics that supposedly came from Tambapannipura ( Sri Lanka ). Four months later she donated a Buddha statue , a meeting hall ( Wihan ) , a mondop , kutis , a wall, a bridge, a road and various trees, including a "Śrī Mahābodhi" ( ศรี มหา โพธิ ), the so-called Bodhi -Tree under which the Buddha got his enlightenment. She then invited the well-known Mahathera (high-ranking monk) Sarabhaṅga as abbot of the temple.

etymology

From the stone inscription found in 1958 it is not clear why the Queen Mother named the temple Asokārām. One possible reason is the transfer of the merits she received from the foundation to her spouse, whose personal name - although unknown - could have been Asoka. Because the founder describes in the stone inscription that she transfers all merits to various deceased. Another reason could have been the name of an ancestor or even the Indian ruler Aśoka himself. The possibility cannot be ruled out that the founder created a grove of "Asoka trees" ( Saraca asoca ) , which are common here, on the temple grounds.

Attractions

The following attractions are located on the temple grounds:

  • A large chedi, which is built up like a 5-step pyramid ,
  • Foundations of a meeting hall ( Wihan ) and a Mondop , as well
  • Foundations of some smaller chedis.
  • A moat surrounds the area.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Griswold: Towards A History Of Sukhothai Art. 1967, p. 52
  2. ↑ Griswold, na Nagara: The Asokārāma Inscription of 1399 AD 1961, p. 31, fn. 1.
  3. ↑ Griswold, na Nagara: The Asokārāma Inscription of 1399 AD 1961, p. 31.
  4. ↑ Griswold, na Nagara: The Asokārāma Inscription of 1399 AD 1961, p. 37.
  5. ^ Pali: Days, Months, and Seasons. PDF file, 400 kB
  6. ↑ Notes on Tambapanni
  7. ^ Griswold, na Nagara: The Asokārāma Inscription of 1399 AD 1961, p. 45.
  8. ^ Griswold, na Nagara: The Asokārāma Inscription of 1399 AD 1961, p. 46.
  9. ↑ see also: Tham bun
  10. ↑ Griswold & na Nagara: Asokarama Inscription

Coordinates: 17 ° 0 ′ 21.5 ″  N , 99 ° 42 ′ 48.3 ″  E