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Sukhothai Information |
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CITY ATTRACTIONS
Sukhothai Historical Park
Ruined temples, palaces and irri-gation systems help evoke much
of the former capital's splendour. The ancient city walls measure
2,000 metres by 1,600 metres. Major Historical Park structures include
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The Royal Palace & Wat
Mahathat
The moated 160,000 square metre royal pal-ace area contains Wat
Mahathat, Sukhothai's largest and most important temple. Massive stone
Buddha images preside over a complex of columns, lotus-bud towers and
picturesque pagodas re-flected in lotus ponds.
Wat Si Sawai
Located some 300 metres to the southwest of Wat Mahathat, Wat
Si Sawai was origi-nally a Hindu shrine and contains 3 Lop Buri-style
stupas.
Wat Sa Si
The major features are a Sri Lankan-style chedi and large
seated stone Buddha im-age. The temple is built on an island sur-rounded
by an ornamental pond.
King Ramkhamhaeng the Great
Statue
This bronze statue commemorates the Sukhothai monarch whose
major enduring accomplishment was the creation of the Thai alphabet in
1283.
Ramkhamhaeng National
Museum
The museum contains artifacts unearthed in Sukhothai and nearby
provinces, and is open daily, except Mondays, Tuesdays and government
holidays, from 9.00 AM until 12.00 noon, and 1.00 to 4.00 PM.
Beyond the City Walls Wat
Phra Pai Luang
Located 300 metres north of Sanluang Gate, this second most
important Sukhothai temple was formerly a Khmer Hindu shrine before
being converted into a moated Bud-dhist temple.
Wat Si Chum
Located some 1,500 metres north of Wat Mahathat, this temple
houses a massive seated stone Buddha image which mea-sures more than
eleven metres from knee to knee.
Wat Saphan Hin
This temple enjoys a forest setting on a 200-metre high hill
affording a panoramic view of Sukhothai Historical Park. The complex
is dominated by a 12.50 metre tall standing Buddha image.
Wat Chetuphon
This temple formerly contained particularly fine examples of
Buddha images in sitting, standing, walking and reclining postures.
Wat Chang Lom
This most important of Sukhothai's east-ern structures
comprises a Sri Lankan-style chedi supported by 36 elephantine
but-tresses. |
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OUT OF CITY
ATTRACTIONS
Si Satchanalai
Historical Park
Some 50 kilometres north of Sukhothai, Si Satchanalai was
the seat of Sukhothai's viceroys, and was always regarded as
Sukhothai's twin city. Major ruins within the award-winning
800-acre complex include :
Wat Chang Lom
The complex's Sri Lankan-style chedi is supported by
elephantine buttresses.
Wat Nang Phaya
This 'Temple of the Queen' boasts exce-ptionally fine
16th-century stucco decorations in excellent condition.
Wat Chedi Chet Thaeo
Just south of Wat Chang Lom, this temple contains seven
rows of stupas, some with lotus bud-shaped spires. Some stupas
probably contain the ashes of Sukhothai viceroys.
Ko Noi Thuriang Kilns
Approximately 500 kilns occupy an area perhaps one
kilometre square. The kilns were the major centre of Sukhothai's
famous 14th and 15th-cen-tury Sangkhalok pottery, which was
exported to Indonesia and the Philip-pines.
Wat Phra Si Rattana
Mahathat
This picturesque temple is located outside Si
Satchanalai's city wall, some 3 kilome-tres to the south, and
contains a laterite stupa with a square base measuring some 22
metres on each side.
National Parks
Ramkhamhaeng National Park (Khao Luang)
Park headquarters are 16 kilometres from the Amphoe Khiri
Mat town hall. The park's major peak is 1,200 metres above sea
level. Popular with campers and sightse-ers, the award-winning
park boasts sprawl-ing plains, high cliffs, waterfalls, caves
and colourful wildlife.
Si Satchanalai
National Park (Pa Kha)
Park headquarters are some 47 kilometres from the Amphoe
Si Satchanalai town hall, at Ban Pa Ka. The park contains
pictur-esque scenery, caves, teeming wildlife and waterfalls
near the park headquarters. |
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SPECIAL EVENTS
AND FESTIVALS
Special Buddhist
Ordination Ceremonies
Each April 7 & 8, the people of Ban Hat Siao in Amphoe Si
Satchanalai conduct mass Buddhist ordination ceremonies in which
ordination candidates are borne to temples on colourfully
caparisoned elephants.
Loi Krathong
(Festival of Lights)
Thailand's loveliest festival is celebrated nationwide on
the full moon night of the twelfth lunar month, normally mid-Novem-ber.
The festival is particularly picturesque amid the ruins of
Sukhothai's Historical Park, where the event becomes a 3-day af-fair
of parades, beauty pageants, homage-paying and folk
entertainment. Loi Krathong is believed to have originated in
the royal court of Sukhothai some 700 years ago. Beneath the
full moon, people from all walks of life float away onto the
water small banana -leaf boats bearing a flower, lighted
incense, a lighted candle and a small coin to honour, it is
believed, the water spirits, and to float away the previous
year's mis-fortunes. |
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Information
provided by T.A.T
(Tourism Autority of Thailand) |
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