Wat Phra Mahathat Woramahawihan is the main Buddhist temple of Nakhon Si Thammarat Province, the largest province in Southern Thailand. It is located on the main sand bar of Nakhon Si Thammarat on which the ancient town and the present town of Nakhon Si Thammarat were built.
The ancient town of Nakhon Si Thammarat developed from the early state of Thailand called Tambralinga and the name of which is mentioned in the Pali canon of the Buddhism as one of the prosperous port towns of the Eastern world, and thereby archaeological evidence found at many sites in Nakhon Si Thammarat supports the literary evidence. Tambralinga became a flourishing port town and was ruled independently since the 5th century CE. and continued onwards. At some points of times it joined a union with Sri Vijaya, the Mahayana Buddhist Kingdom, which was famous for the world maritime trade networks during the 8th to the 12th century CE.