Located in Amphoe Phra Phutthabat; 28 kms. north of
the town along Highway No.1; it is one of the most beautiful
religious sites in Thailand. The temple houses the footprint
of Lord Buddha found on a stone panel near Suwan Banpot
Hill. The footprint was found in the reign of King Songtham
of Ayutthaya. A cone-shaped structure or mondop was built
to cover the footprint. The beautiful mondop; which is a
square building has a seven-level castle roof. Each level
is decorated with an arch supported by wood and decorated
with gold and coloured glass. The external walls are also
decorated with gold and coloured glass in the shapes of
mythological gods and rice offering ceremonies. The pearl
inlay artwork on the mondop doors is one of the best samples
of this type of craftsmanship in the country. A five headed
Naga, mythical serpent, cast in bronze flanks the stairs
to the stairs to the mondop entrance. The mondop is surrounded
by bells used by visitors to make merit for other people.
A museum in the temple displays many ancient objects including
King Songtham's attire, old weapons, bronzeware and ceramics.
Annual fairs celebrating the footprint are held twice a
year, in February and March.
History:
The Footprint was first discovered in the
reign of King Song Tham (1610 - 1628). A group of monks went
on a pilgrimage to Ceylon to worship the Buddha's Footprint at
Mount Sumanakut. They were told by the Ceylonese monks that one
of the Lord Buddha's Footprint might be found in Thailand. On
hearing this, the king ordered his officials in all parts of
the kingdom to look for it for the location of the Footprint
had not been identified.
Meantime, in a distant area of Saraburi,
a hunter while trailing a wounded deer to this hilly part found
a large, curiously shaped hollow in a rock with water in the
hollow. The shape of the hollow resembles the footprint of a
very large man. The hunter therefore reported his finding to
the town governor who, having verified it, sent word to the capital.
King Song Tham came himself to examine it and saw the appropriate
signs of a Buddha's Footprint. Thus the site was declared a Buddhist
shrine and a mondop was built over the Footprint while the land
around the Footprint was made into a town named "Parantapa"
or "Muang Khied Khin". The hill on which the Footprint
was found was renamed Mount Suwan Banphot or Mount Satjaphan
Khiri.
 |
