Phra Mongkhon Bophit or the “Buddha of the Holy and Supremely Auspicious
Reverence” was sculpted in 1538 in the reign of King Chairacha (r. 1534-1547) at Wat
Chi Chiang Sai. 1538 is generally accepted as the year that the image was built, based
on the Luang Prasoet version of the Royal Chronicles of Ayutthaya (Most of the other
versions put its construction at 880 of the Chulasakkarat era or somehow 20 years
earlier). [1]
As at the beginning of the reign of King Songtham (r. 1610/1611-1628), Wat Chi
Chiang laid in ruins, hit by lightening, the king had the large bronze cast Buddha image
moved westwards and had a mandapa (mondop or square roofed structure) built over
the structure to house it [2]; Although the timing of the move of the Buddha image Phra
Mongkhon Bophit can be discussed.
The Royal Chronicles of Ayutthaya mention as date of the move of the statue 1603 (965
CS - year of the hare), but this date falls in the reign of King Naresuan. [2] Jeremias
Van Vliet, a Dutch merchant writes in his “Description of the Kingdom of Siam” in 1638
“A few months ago the ruling king demolished the temple to its very base and had
a large copper heathen image which was located there pulled back several rods so
that another temple like the last could be built over the image.” [3] Taken all the
versions above in account, the most plausible is the one from Van Vliet and the move of
the Buddha image has to be situated around 1637.
Later the open the place in front of the mandapa (the vicinity of the present location of
Vihan Klaeb) was leveled and reserved for royal cremation ceremonies, called Sanam
Na Chakkrawat. (The Royal Chronicles of Ayutthaya mention as date of the reservation
1606 (968 CS - year of the horse), but here also the date falls in the reign of King
Naresuan). [3]
During the reign of King Sua (r. 1703-1709) a lightning struck the spire of the mondop.
The building caught fire and the burned roof came down on the Buddha image. The neck
of the image broke and the head came down. King Sua had the mandapa demolished
and ordered the construction of a new tall preaching hall. It took the Siamese artisans
two years to build the vihara. The finalization of its construction was followed by a three
day long festival. (The Royal Chronicles of Ayutthaya mention 1700 (1062 CS) as year
of the fire incident, which is in fact during the reign of King Petracha). [4]
The Royal Chronicles of Ayutthaya mention also that in the reign of King Boromakot (r.
1733-1758) in the year 1742, another restoration took place. [5] Although when
looking closely to the texts of the Royal Chronicles, it seems they describe the same
incident which occurred during the reign of King Sua i.e. the restoration of the Buddha’s
head and the construction of a vihara instead of a mandapa. Two times a same incident
within 40 years let this writer believe that in fact only one restoration took place, and the
latter in the reign of King Borommakot.
The vihara and the image were badly destroyed by fire during the fall of Ayutthaya in
April 1767. The roof of the vihara was damaged and the head and the right arm of the
image were broken.