You know that clunk of dread you get when an ATM beeps red and refuses to give you a tenner because it's three days before payday and you don't check your bank balance ever because the reality of it prangs you out?
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The Ayutthaya Buddhist temple falls into one of two broad categories: the stupa-style solid temple and the prang-style (). The prangs can also be found in various forms in Sukhothai, Lopburi, Bangkok (Wat Arun). Sizes may vary, but usually the prangs measure between 15 and 40 meters in height, and resemble a towering corn-cob like structure. Prangs essentially represent Mount Meru.
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Archaeologists suspect that the three prangs originally stood on a common laterite base. All three prangs were open to the east, with doors flanked by columns which carry a richly decorated tympanum depicting scenes from the life of Buddha. The doors on the other three sides were so-called "false doors". The tympanum The complex is enclosed by double moat.
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Wat Si Sawai Wat Si Sawai or Si Sawai Temple () is one of the oldest temples in Sukhothai. The temple was founded in the late-12th or early-13th century as a Hindu Shrine for Vishnu and the place for the Thiruppavai ceremony before the liberation from Lawo and foundation of Sukhothai Kingdom. The temple has three well-preserved laterite prangs, representing the Hindu trinity, enclosed by a double rampart and a moat. The lower parts of prangs are apparently Khmer, while the upper have been expanded or renovated by Thais in brick and stucco.
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Prang Sam Yot, originally a Hindu shrine, has three prangs (Pagoda: The Cambodian art in Cambodia has directly influenced the construction of the pagoda in Ayutthaya art.) that represent Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva (the Hindu trinity). It was later converted to a Buddhist shrine.
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These 143 verses are a part of the 4000 divine hymns of Nalayira Divya Prabandham. The verses are classified into fourteen decads namely, prayer to Kama, not to destroy sand castle, Vastapraharana, securing union with Lord, requesting cuckoo to call her Lord, Kothai's marriage, eulogizing Vishnu's conch, Megha Sandesa, prangs of separation from Lord, seeking help to attain Lord and in praise of Ranganatha.
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The temple was constructed in 1630 by the king Prasat Thong as the first temple of his reign, as a memorial of his mother's residence in that area. The temple's name literally means the Temple of long reign and glorious era. It was designed in Khmer style to gain Buddhist merit and as a memorial to his mother, however Prince Damrong believed it was built to celebrate Ayutthaya Kingdom's victory over Longvek. It has a central prang in Khmer style (Thai: พระปรางด์ประธาน) with four smaller prangs.
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The Wat Chaiwatthanaram structure reflects the Buddhist world view, as it is described already in the Traiphum Phra Ruang, the "three worlds of the King Ruang", of the 14th century: The big "Prang Prathan" that stands in the centre symbolizes the mountain Meru (Thai: เขาพระสุเมรุ - Khao Phra Sumen), which consists the central axis of the traditional world (Kamaphum - กามภูมิ). Around it lie the four continents (the four small Prangs) that swim in the four directions in the world sea (นทีสีทันดร). On one of the continents, the Chomphutawip (ชมพูทวีป), the humans live. The rectangular passage is the outer border of the world, the "Iron Mountains" (กำแพงจักรวาล).
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