The story of Phra Phutthabat dates from the early seventeenth century, when King Songtham of Ayutthaya (r. 1611-1628) sent monks to Sri Lanka to worship the Sumankut Buddha footprint. The Sri Lankans told the monks that according to ancient scriptures the Buddha had also left a footprint in central Siam. On hearing this, King Songtham ordered a search for the footprint, which was subsequently discovered in 1623 by a hunter, after a wounded deer he was following emerged from some bushes miraculously healed.