A day in Sukhothai Province

Wat Mahathat

We are visiting this large site by bike this morning, the bikes produce a cooling breeze as we ride in the shade of beautiful large trees. Bitumen paths take you from ruin to ruin. The audio tour gives the well maintained ruins a bit of extra colour. Meeting relaxed old ladies sitting on the ground selling bananas at the bike racks was one of the fun surprises of the visit. Bikes 130 B, site 110 B, audio tour 150 B, 4 bananas and a big smile 10 B.

Sukhothai Historical Park is located in Tambon Muang Kao, Ampher Muang Sukhothai. It is twelve kilometers away from town. It is opened daily from 8.30 a.m.-4.30 p.m. Ruins of the royal palaces, Buddhist temples, the city gates, walls,moats, dams, ditches, ponds, canals, and the water dyke control system, which were the magical and spiritual centre of the kingdom, are now preserved and have been restored by the Fine Arts Department with the cooperation of UNESCO. It’s not only with a view of fostering Thailand's national identity, but of safeguarding, a fine example of mankind's cultural heritage.
The park covers the ruins of the ancient Sukhothai Kingdom. UNESCO declared it a World Heritage Site in December 1991. During its golden age, Sukhothai was the centre for administration, religion, and economy. The original city was surrounded by walls with 4 city gates. Today the walls house a number of sites worthy of visiting. They include:

• The Royal Palace

• Wat Mahathat,

• The Ramkhamhaeng National Museum

• The Ramkhamhaeng Monument

• Wat Si Sawai

• Wat Traphang Ngoen

• Wat Traphang Thong

• Wat Chana Songkhram,

• Wat Sa Si

• Wat Mai

• San Ta Pha Daeng (the Deity Shrine)

Wat Mahathat is the largest temple with a customary main Chedi in lotus-bud shape and an eight metre high Buddha image. It is located in the middle of town that reflects to prosperity of the Sukhothai architecture within the monastery are housed Phra Rattana Chedi, the pagoda of the temple, which was erected on the Charot Withithong Rd.^[2] The museum collection includes gifts from the ex-abbot of Wat Ratchathani and art objects unearthed in Sukhothai and nearby provinces, so if everyone is interested in art objects, Monument of Phor Khun Ramkamhaeng museum is a good place to visit.  

Sukhothai Province - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia