Wat Maha That, Thailand

1. Oral Presentation
Religious Buildings around the world
WAT MAHA THAT
วัดมหาธาตุุ
Name: Ong Jie En
Student ID: 0323835
Module: Effective Public Communication [COM30103]
Lecturer: Persis Rodrigues
Intake : September 2015

2. About WAT MAHATHAT
• registered as a national historic site by the Fine
Arts Department on 8 March 1935
• part of the Ayutthaya World Heritage Historical
Park.
•located on the city island in the central part of
Ayutthaya in Tha Wasukri sub-district

3. MAP of AYUTTHAYA HISTORICAL PARK
Wat
Mahathat
Temple

4. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
• This ancient temple was built during the 14th century
• At the fall of Ayutthaya in 1767, the monastery was set
on fire in the Burmese attack.
Before After

5. BUDDHA HEAD IN TREE ROOTS
1.the tree simply grew around the
Buddha head during the period when
the temple lay abandoned and
overgrown
2. a thief moved the Buddha head
away from the main temple to
hide it
THEORY :

6. LAYOUT
Most of the Khmer
temples were built
with the entrance to
the east

7. Squared-Base

8. STRUCTURE
KHMER-STYLED
• large central prang
• surrounded by four subsidiary prangs at
the four inter-cardinal points

9. • The quincunx was surrounded by a courtyard and a
roofed gallery, lined with a row of Buddha images.
raised square platform

10. ORNAMENTATION
• The northwestern prang of the
temple is one of the few
structures that still contain
mural paintings from the Early
Ayutthaya period
• the side walls were
divided into bays
decorated with false
windows, identical as the
exterior of the
gallery.

11. MATERIAL USED
The principal prang of
Wat Mahathat was
constructed of laterite
at the base.
The top part of the stupa was of brick
and mortar. Brick work at the four sides
of the base indicates that the prang had
porches in the cardinal directions.

12. • http://www.ayutthaya-history.com/Temples_Ruins_MahaThat.html
• http://www.thaizer.com/tourist-attractions/buddha-head-in-tree-roots-
wat-mahathat-ayutthaya/
• http://adventurepeople.net/exploring-ayutthaya/
• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ayuthistparkmap.svg
• http://www.tourismthailand.org/Attraction/Wat-Maha-That--6077
REFERENCE LISTS

13. THE END