Structures of the Wat Mahathat
The Wat Mahathat is a busy, crowded complex containing a large number of buildings. Surrounding the temple’s courtyard are the galleries that are lined with a large number of tall Buddha images on very ornately decorated pedestals. The base contains memorials to deceased people whose ashes are interred in niches.
The Wat Mahathat’s ubosot is one of the largest in the country. In this building new monks are ordained into monkhood. The principal Buddha image of the ubosot is gold plated. Other structures include a large viharn, several smaller viharns, a mondop, the kuti or monks living quarters, a drum tower and several Khmer style prang towers, with Buddha images enshrined in its niches.