Thailand For Visitors

Wat Chang Rop

Wat Chang Rop
The ruins of the main pagoda of Wat Chang Rop

Wat Chang Rop sits at the highest point of the small hill of Aranyik. It features the remains of what must have been a massive pagoda (chedi). The bell-shaped chedi is almost completely gone, but the high base it sat on still remains. The base is more than twice the height of a man and is decorated with 68 elephant sculptures which protrude out of the wall. Stairs lead up each of the four sides, and at the top of each stairway is a gateway arch, topped by a small pagoda.

To the east of the pagoda is the platform which once supported the main prayer hall of the temple, and directly in front of that is a large deep well. The temple is thought to date from the fifteenth or sixteenth centuries.