Saipradist states that the tradition of building pagodas to enshrine relics of the Buddha
spread widely in time and that apparently there was a Royal decree issued to establish in
each important city, a temple being the most important religious focal point for that area.
As thus we see Wat Maha That or Wat Phra Sri Rattana Mahathat established in
Lopburi, Phitsanulok, Kamphaeng Phet etc.
Johannes Vingboons (c.1616 - 1670), a Dutch cartographer, created a painting named
Afbeldinge der stadt Iudiad Hooft des Choonincrick Siam published in Vingboons
Atlas around 1665. In this painting, Wat Maha That can clearly be discerned. Historians
believe that the information to make this painting was collected during Van Vliet's time
(1640) in Ayutthaya. On Vingboons map we see a large Khmer prang surrounded by
four subsidiary stupa (the one behind the main prang is not visible) and a gallery; the
Royal vihara and multiple satellite chedis. The kutis or lodging for the monks seems to be
located behind the monastery walls. It was although not customary for the monks to be
housed in stone structures, but the latter could have been the Residence of the Supreme
Patriarch.