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Wat Chaiyo Worawihan or Wat Ket Chaiyo is located on the west bank of the Chao Phraya
River, approximately 18 kilometers away from Amphoe Mueang Ang Thong,
on Ang Thong Sing Buri route. This is the second-class royal monastery.
Formerly it was a small ordinary temple constructed in the Ayutthaya
period with the unknown building date. Later in the reign of King Rama
IV, this temple was noted when Somdet Phra Phutthachan (To Phromrangsi)
a revered monk of Wat Rakhangkhositaram in Thonburi constructed a large
seated Buddha image in the posture of meditation made of white
plaster.
In the reign of King Rama V, His Majesty the King went to
worship the image and had Wat Chaiyo renovated in 1887 but the
vibration from ramming piles of the wihan caused the large Buddha image
to collapse. The king then commanded to build a new large Buddha image
following the pattern of the large Buddha image at Wat Kalayanamit. The
new one has the lap width of 16.10 meters and the height (from radiance
to feet) of 22.65 meters and was graciously named Phra Mahaphutthaphim.
There was the biggest celebration for the image ever held in Ang Thong
at that time. The molded statue of Somdet Phra Phutthachan (To
Phromrangsi) constructed in 1894, having the lap width of 5 meters and
the height of 7 meters, has been enshrined in the wihan facing the
Chao Phraya River.
The large Buddha image housed in this wihan is larger, more elegant,
and more remarkable wihan than any other, therefore, Buddhists from
various parts of the country have continuously paid homage to this
image. In front of the wihan, the ubosot facing the Chao Phraya River
was constructed using the magnificent Thai architectural design. Inside
the ubosot, there are mural paintings depicting scenes of the Lord
Buddhas chronicles painted by the artisan in the reign of King Rama V,
and the molded statue of Somdet Phra Phutthachan (To Phromrangsi) from
Thonburi. At present, Wat Chaiyo Worawihan has been renovated to
exhibit its distinctive beauty.
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