Wat Phra Sri Sanphet, being part of the royal palace, was exclusively used by the
Ayutthayan Kings. No clergy was allowed to reside on the grounds, with exception of an
occasionally invitation to pray and to perform ceremonies such as the taking of an oath of
allegiance for royal officers and for preaching and merit-making by the King. The
expansion of the temple caused the moving of the Buddhist center from Wat Maha That
to Wat Phra Sri Sanphet.
The temple enshrined also the Phra Buddha Lokanat (Protector of the World) and the
Phra Buddha Palelai. Ashes of the members of the royal family were placed in small
chedi constructed at the site.
The third chedi was built by King Boromracha IV (r. 1529-1533) to house the remains
of King Ramathibodi II.
The Greek cross-shaped viharn at the west side of the temple was added during the reign
of King Narai. It is not clear if the square mondop structures adjacent to the chedi were
built around this time or later.
On the eve of the Burmese invasion, the central portion of the temple included three
gilded chedis, three gilded mondops (square buildings adjacent to the chedis that held
objects of worship), and two very large viharns.
When Ayutthaya fell in April 1767, the Burmese sacked and burned the monastery to the
ground. All but the chedis were completely destroyed. Buddha images were taken away
and from the larger ones, the gold was melted. The Buddha image Phra Palelai in the
southern chapel was completely destroyed.
The partially restored ruin includes all the buildings that survived the sack of 1767. In the
early twentieth century only the eastern chedi was still standing. The rest was restored,
although the two main vihara were not reconstructed. Little more but portions of the
base, remain of the mandapas.
The Burmese melted the gold coating from the statue of Phra Sri Sanphetdayan, leaving
the bronze core of the image badly damaged. King Rama I of the Chakri dynasty
removed the statue to Bangkok in pieces for restoration, together with the remaining Phra
Lokanat image which was kept in the northern chapel. The statue was however too
seriously damaged to be recast into its former state. He installed the bronze core of Phra
Sri Sanphetdayan in a chedi at the time of the founding of Wat Phra Chetupon better
known as Wat Pho. The 45 meter high chedi has been called “Phra Chedi Sri
Sanphetdayan”. Phra Buddha Lokanat was placed inside the eastern chapel at the same
temple. Both of them remain in Bangkok up to this day.