Oral PresentationReligious Buildings around the world

WAT MAHA THATวดัมหาธาตุ

Name: Ong Jie EnStudent ID: 0323835

Module: Effective Public Communication [COM30103]

Lecturer: Persis RodriguesIntake : September 2015

About WAT MAHATHAT

• registered as a national historic site by the Fine Arts Department on 8 March 1935

• part of the Ayutthaya World Heritage Historical Park.

•located on the city island in the central part of Ayutthaya in Tha Wasukri sub-district

MAP of AYUTTHAYA HISTORICAL PARK

Wat MahathatTemple

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND• This ancient temple was built during the 14th

century • At the fall of Ayutthaya in 1767, the monastery was

set on fire in the Burmese attack.

Before After

BUDDHA HEAD IN TREE ROOTS

1.the tree simply grew around the Buddha head during the period when the temple lay abandoned and overgrown

2. a thief moved the Buddha head away from the main temple to hide it

THEORY :

LAYOUT

Most of the Khmer temples were built with the entrance to the east

Squared-Base

STRUCTUREKHMER-STYLED• large central prang • surrounded by four subsidiary prangs at

the four inter-cardinal points

• The quincunx was surrounded by a courtyard and a roofed gallery, lined with a row of Buddha images.

raised square platform

ORNAMENTATION

• The northwestern prang of the temple is one of the few structures that still contain mural paintings from the Early Ayutthaya period

• the side walls were divided into bays decorated with false windows, identical as the exterior of the gallery.

MATERIAL USED

The principal prang of Wat Mahathat was constructed of laterite at the base.

The top part of the stupa was of brick and mortar. Brick work at the four sides of the base indicates that the prang had porches in the cardinal directions.

• http://www.ayutthaya-history.com/Temples_Ruins_MahaThat.html• http://www.thaizer.com/tourist-attractions/buddha-head-in-tree-

roots-wat-mahathat-ayutthaya/• http://adventurepeople.net/exploring-ayutthaya/• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ayuthistparkmap.svg• http://www.tourismthailand.org/Attraction/Wat-Maha-That--6077

REFERENCE LISTS

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