Wat Arun Ratchawararam, formerly known as Wat Makok and later called “Wat Makok Nok”, is an ancient temple that was built in the Ayutthaya period. In 1767 when King Taksin the Great established the city Thon Buri, he arrived at the front of this temple at dawn. He asked that his royal barge docked at the pier of the temple and then went up to worship the Buddha relic kept in the original Prang (Khmer-style tower). The restoration of the current Prang began in the reign of King Rama II. Wat Makok Nok was then restored and its name was changed to “Wat Chaeng*.
King Rama IV during his reign, ordered the royal ashes of King Rama II to be moved under the base of the presiding Buddha image in the Ubosot and renamed the temple “Wat Arun Ratchawararam”. This temple is the royal temple of King Rama II.