A tower of brick coils upward into the sky. Its tip draws in and tapers to a sharp point, calling to mind the husks of ripening corn — this is the
prang. That silhouette was not born here by chance. It is a form of prayer that traveled from Angkor, far to the east, from the sacred towers of the
Khmer Empire. The will of those who sought to recreate Mount Meru — the mountain of the gods — upon the earth journeyed upriver and across the caravan roads, until it came to rest within the brick and plaster of this city of
Ayutthaya. Where the Khmer carved the heavens from the weight of stone, the craftsmen of Siam honed that form into something slimmer, sharper — a line driven like a blade into the sky.
Then, from the north, another line flows in from the ancient city of
Sukhothai. The chedis of Sukhothai bear a crown swelled like the bud of a lotus, their outlines gentle, tracing curves of unbroken softness. The vertical thrust of Khmer power, and the graceful flowering of Sukhothai elegance — two aesthetic visions that by rights should never have met now stand side by side within the same temple precinct. Why did such different things come to share a single place? The answer is inscribed in the very nature of this city.
From its founding,
Ayutthaya was connected to the world by rivers and canals, and merchants, monks, and craftsmen arrived here carrying the architectural traditions of their homelands. The bell-shaped stupa
[chedi](https://woud.io/ayutthaya/en/ayutthaya_8), which made its way from Sri Lanka, joined them as well — and so the memory of stone, the sensibility of line, and the forms of faith slowly dissolved into one another in this city of water. Rather than submitting to a single style, the city absorbed everything it encountered and forged it into something new. That was the pride of the Siamese kings, and the very breath of this city itself.
In the silhouettes of these towers, the roads of all Southeast Asia are etched. In every line that shaped those contours, the hands of craftsmen who traveled across many kingdoms are unmistakably present.
Styles:
Khmer style (prang) /
Sukhothai style /
Sri Lankan style (chedi)
Building materials: Brick and plaster (adapted from Khmer stone construction)
Dynasty: Ayutthaya Kingdom (founded 1350)
Related cities: Angkor (Khmer Empire), Sukhothai, Sri Lanka
Location:
Ayutthaya Historical Park
Official Site:
Ayutthaya Historical Park (Fine Arts Department, Thailand)
Photo: Tang2bar /
Wikimedia Commons (CC-BY-SA-4.0)
