This ancient temple is located 9 kms. along the Ang Thong-Pho Thong route and 2 kms. along an access road. There is a large reclining Buddha image 50 metres long, lying in the open area. The wihara housing the image was destroyed during the first fall of Ayutthaya. The statue of Khun Inthapramun was in front of the Buddha image. According to a legend, Khun Inthapramun is a revenue officer who secretly took away official money to enlarge the original 40 metre construction of the image and was subsequently whipped to death.
The temple was left abandoned for more than 100 years until King Borrommakot of Ayutthaya ordered the reconstruction. Records show that King Rama IV visited this temple twice. Wat Khun Inthra Pramun is regarded as the most important temple in Ang Thong Province.
This temple is situated on the west bank of the Bang Pakong River, 2 Kms. south of the city hall. Enshrined in a new gigantic hall is Phra Phutthasothon, or "Luang Pho Sothon" regarded as one of the most revered Buddha images in Thailand. The image, in the attitude of meditation, measuring 1.65 metres wide at the lap and 1.98 metres high, is always seen entirely pasted with gold leaves by worshipers. Two annual fairs celebrating the image fall in the 5th and the 12th lunar months (around April and November).
The new tall ubosoth of Sothorn Wararam Waravihan temple never fails to attract the attention of visitors. After 15 years in construction, the graceful and huge ubosoth is nearly complete. It mirrors the strong faith of the local people in Buddhism. The peak is 84 metres high. It is decorated with five golden umbrellas weighing a total of 77 kilogrammes. This is probably the world's largest ubosoth.
Worshippers come from far around to pay homage to Luang Pho Sathorn and a large group of 20 other Buddha images. Thai dancers are on hand every day to perform for a small donation.
According to legend, Luang Pho Sothon (left picture) floated down the Bang Pakong River to the site of the temple. Efforts to retrieve it were unsuccessful until a villager had a small shrine erected on the site and performed a ceremony welcoming the image to the community.
Buddhamonthon is an important religious site built by the government and the people to commemorate the 2500th year of the existence of the Buddha. Accessible by Puttha-Monthon lV Road, it occupies a large area with beautiful landscape and contains many interesting structures. A huge standing Buddha image cast in bronze gold measuring 15.8 metres marks the centre of the area. It is surrounded by Four commemorative sites concerning Lord Buddha's birth, enlightenment, the first preaching sermon, and Nirvana. Other interesting places include a Buddhist museum, a hall keeping marble Pali canon and meditation halls.
Wat Bang Phli Yai Klang is in Bang Phli district in Samut Prakan. It houses the longest Reclining Buddha in Thailand at 53 metres long. In comparison, the famous Recling Buddha at Wat Pho in Bangkok is only 46 metres long. In addition, this Buddha image is unusual in that you can actually go inside. On the third floor there are paintings on the walls depicting moments from the Buddha's life as well as scenes depicting a Buddhist hell. A rather special shrine inside is for the Buddha's heart.
The Buddha's Footprint is found at Wat Phra Buddhabat in Saraburi Province, 20 kms. from the town of Lop Buri on the Saraburi - Lopburi route. It is a very important shrine for Buddhist people, for the Footprint appears on a natural rock surface while the Buddha's footprints commonly found in many temples are imitations executed in various materials ranging from wood to metal. Wat Phra Buddhabat is a royal temple of the first class rank, the same as Wat Phra Pathom Chedi in Nakhon Pathom province.
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.
The Buddha's Footprint is a natural impression in limestone rock that resembles a very large footprint. It is 50 cms. wide, 150 cms. long and 30 cms. deep. The present mondop covering the Footprint was built by King Rama I. It was built to replace the one of the Ayutthaya time that was destroyed by fire when some Chinese brigands, seizing the opportunity while Ayutthaya was under siege to rob the temple of valuable objects, set fire to the mondop in order to melt down the gold in the canopy over the Footprint.
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