The 13th Century fortified city of Sukhothai is a World Heritage Site as nominated by UNESCO. This together with the adjoining ancient wiang cities of Si Satchanalai and Kamphaeng Phet are major tourist attractions in Thailand.
Today what remains of these three cities are the remains of city moats and walls, ruins [ monuments ] in brick and laterite of palaces and monasteries, lakes and waterways and military ramparts.
Sukhothai Historical Park covers 70 square Kilometers with 193 ruins.
The major Sukhothai monuments are detailed has allocated them according to their location as being, within the walled City moat, North of Sukhothai city walls, South of the walls, East of the walls and West of the city walls.
Wat Mahathat Seated Buddha Statue Inside The Walled City Of Sukhothai
The ancient Sukhothai City walls consist of three concentric earthen banks, the in between spaces from which the earth was dug were originally moats. The eastern and western walls are 1,400 meters long and the southern and northern walls are 1,810 meters long. Each of the four walls has a gateway. These are made of laterite. The moats were supplied with water from the nearby Mae Ramphan Canal. Inside the walls are the ruins of 21 different monasteries and other buildings and 4 reservoirs. The art and architecture styles reflect the original Khmer, Mon, Sinhalese and finally Tai influences.
Inside the city walls the major Sukhothai monuments are:
Wat Mahathat
Wat Traphang Ngon
Wat Si Sawai
Wat Traphang Thong
Wat Sorasak
Wat Si Chum: Situated outside the town wall at the northwest corner, this ancient monument is well known for a sitting Buddha Image of large size. The Buddha Image with its lap of 11.30 metres wide occupies the total space of the building.
Mentioned in Stone Inscription No. 1; Phra Achana, the name of this Buddha Image, means one who is not frightened. It is believed that Phra Achana was originally carved in the attitude of subduing Mara. The present one in sitting posture was renovated from 1953 to 1956 AD.
Stone Inscription No. 2 known as Wat Si Chum Inscription was found in a recess in the mandapa wall of this temple. Regarded as historical evidence of great value, this stone inscription deals with the founding of Sukhothai dynasty. Moreover, drawings on the ceiling of the mandapa tell stories of former incarnations of Lord Buddha (Jataka) with a title written in the Sukhothai alphabet for each picture. Some of these pictures were drawn in the style of art similar to the characteristics of Sri Lankan art.
source: http://www.su.ac.th/sukhothai/
Mpathy photo 