Wat Chakkrawadrajawas
Woramahavihara (Wat Sam Pleum)
is located on Chakkrawad Road and Soi Wanich (Sampeng). An ancient
temple dating from the Ayutthaya Period called Wat Nang Pleum ,
its name was changed to Wat Sam Pleum.
In approximately 1819, Chao Phraya
Bodin Decha (Sing Singhaseni) , the leading general in the reign
of King Rama III, began rebuilding the temple. Upon completion he
presented the temple to King Rama III as a royal temple and it was
given the name that is bears to this day. The temple has many interesting
structures such as the large phra prang, the Mondop Phra Buddhabat,
the crocodile pond, and Khao Phra Buddha Chai.
The phra vihara once housed the Phra
Bang, an important Buddha image that was brought from Vientiane.
At present this image resides in Luang Prabang, Laos, King IV having
returned it to Laos in 1866.
Besides the usual buildings that are
found in a temple such as the phra ubosot, the phra vihara, of which
there are three, the tripitaka tower, and the Mondop Phra Buddhabat,
there is also a shrine houses a statue of Chao Phraya Bodin Decha.
In front of and slightly to one side of the phra ubosot there is
a pond where crocodiles were kept, the origin of the expression
the "crocodiles of Wat Sam Pleum".
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