In the times when the Kingdom of Thailand was the Kingdom of Siam, and the capital was Ayutthaya, the world-famous temple Wat Mahathat or the Temple of the Great Relic appeared in the very heart of this Asian country. Today, the ancient capital is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is located 70 kilometers far from the current capital, Bangkok. Its territory has more than 300 old temples, including the popular Mahathat.

The construction of the famous Buddhist shrine designed by the architect Mahathera Thammakanlayan started in 1374 during the reign of the third King Borommaracha I. For more than two centuries, the temple had served well until the main prang was destroyed by King Songtham. Fortunately, all subsequent rulers of Siam aspired to increase the wealth of the Temple of the Great Relic, restored prangs and added galleries. From the moment of its foundation to the fall of Ayutthaya, the temple remained the Buddhist abode of the Kamavasi monks. After that, it was burned down by the Burmese without remorse. It is what the majestic temple looks like at present.

The first relic of the Wat Mahathat was a statue of Buddha, sitting on a stone throne made of jade. It adorned the shrine until the reign of King Rama III who moved the unusual statue to Wat Neframera. Other ancient relics remained hidden from people for a long time until they were found in a stupa during the excavations in 1956. Numerous statues of Buddha, precious boxes and golden plaques – today, all these treasures are in the Chao Sam Phraya National Museum. The hallmark of the temple is the symbol of Ayutthaya – the head of Buddha entwined with the roots of an ancient tree. According to some sources, the tree pulled the sacred head to the surface with the roots, while the temple remained abandoned. Others claim that the head was thrown at this place by a robber and then entangled by the tree.