Wat Maha That was one of the most important monasteries of the Ayutthaya kingdom,
not only because it was the religious centre and enshrined relics of the Buddha, but also
because of its proximity to the Grand Palace. It was a royal monastery and the seat of
the Supreme Patriarch of the City Dwelling sect till the end of the Ayutthaya period - at
par with the Supreme Patriarch of the Forest Dwelling sect, which had its seat at Wat
Yai Chai Mongkhon (called Wat Pa Kaeo in earlier times). Van Vliet wrote in 1638 in
his “Description of the Kingdom of Siam” that from the highest ecclesiastic regents,
namely the four bishops of the principal temples of Judia, “The bishop of the Nappetat
(2) has the supreme dignity” [5]