See Video of Wat Traphang Thong Lang at bottom of page. See larger pictures of Wat Traphang Thong Lang

The Mandapa at Wat Traphang Thong Lang.

 

Wat Traphang Thong Lang is located about 1.5 kilometers east of the Sukhothai Historical Park, along road nr. 12 that connects Sukhothai with the old city. The arched entrance is opposite the Legendha Sukhothai Hotel. You have to walk or cycle a few hundred meters from the main road to reach the temple.

Wat Traphang Thong Lang was constructed during the reign of King Li Thai (1347-1368/74).
When approaching the temple, attention is drawn to the single but impressive still standing mandapa (square temple building). Laterate columns in front of it, denote the assembly hall.

One needs to walk around the mandapa to see the most interesting parts of the temple : stucco decorations on the southern, western and northers walls. The entrance (no stucco there) to the mandapa is from the east. Only some of the stuccos are still present, but was is left gives you a good impression of the skill level of Sukhothai artisans.

Detail of stucco decoration of the southern wall of the mandapa. Wat Traphang Thong Lang, Sukhothai.

 

On the southern wall, we seen the Buddha descending from Tavatimsa heaven, accompanied by the gods Indra and Brahma. The depiction of the garments of the latter two gods is exquisite.

The northern wall shows the Buddha taming the Nalagiri elephant. Stuccos of the Buddha and his disciple Ananda remain. Here the frame of the arch is quite superb.

On the western wall, well, not much is left there to see.

We had a moment of TIT (this is Thailand) when leaving as we passed an impressive garbage dump just some 150 meters from the temple. [Otherwise, as applies to most of the temple compounds in Sukhothai, the grounds of the temple itself are well kept].

Stucco decoration at Wat Traphang Thong Lang. Northern wall of Mandapa.

 

   Wat Chang Lom, Sukhothai

Wat Chang Lom, Sukhothai.

 

You can reach Wat Chang Lom by walking through the grounds of the Legendha Sukhothai Hotel, some 1.5 kilometers each of the old city of Sukhothai.

There are Wat Chang Lom at other locations in Thailand. The temple name denotes that there are sculptures of elephants around the base of its stupa. There are the remains of 32 elephants present at Wat Chang Lom, each showing the head and the front legs.
The temple was built at the end of the 14th century. There are also the remains of other smaller stupas and an assembly hall, but none are 'standing'.

Elephant at the base of the stupa at Wat Chang Lom, Sukhothai.