8 Wat Traphang Thong Lang
Wat Traphang Thong Lang
Wat Traphang Thong Lang David Goetz
You'll find Wat Traphang Thong Lang, with its remarkable stucco relief, on the road to Sukhothai. The flat relief on the southern side is the best of its type in the Sukhothai style; it shows Buddha, striding over steps, coming down from heaven Tavatimsa. Protected by two parasols, Buddha is accompanied by the Hindu goddesses Indra and Brahma as well as by worshippers. This is assumed to be the first visual representation of the stepping Buddha from the Sukhothai period.
Another flat relief on the north side of the bot depicts, less artistically, Buddha taming the elephant Nalagiri, which his cousin Devadatta had set upon him. The relief on the west wall shows Buddha under a mango tree at the miracle of Sravasti.