Whoever comes within the sight of Ayuddhaya city can clearly see the timelessness of The Great Pagoda Chayamongkol from the far horizon. In the bright sun light, the Great Pagoda Chayamongkol gives an illusion of peace and the glorious victory of King Naresuan the Great over the Burmese four centuries earlier. He is the idol of the Thai army and the hero of all Thailand. King Naresuan the Great’s victory established a supremacy throughout the whole Golden Peninsula land which lasted for centuries. The monastery has always been a safer place for his spiritual retreat. His supreme confidence in the Thai courage, Thai elephant-back combat, and Thai patriot was the legacy of Wat Yai Chaimongkol.
When the Burmese enemy sacked Ayutthaya in 1767, it spelled doom for the Ayutthaya Kingdom. Burma fired innumerable palaces and temples. Black smoke that rolled in red clouds over the city for months was still kept in the whispering winds on the top of the Great Pagoda. Genocide with mass robbery and rapine swept across the central plain of Thailand, especially in Ayutthaya city, filling water ways and rivers with rows of bodies and blood. Wat Yai Chaimongkol was seized and turned into a fortress, then it became a long-lost temple for a hundred years. Phra Ubosot (Ordination Hall) is full of mystery. The holy spirit of the large reclining Buddha with a length of 15 metres witnessed everything that happened in those days.