Thailand For Visitors

Wat Phra Non

Wat Phra Non is the first large temple you come to if entering the Aranyik area from the south. The temple probably dates from the fifteenth or sixteenth century. The principle ruins include a large raised platform where the ordination hall (ubosot) once stood, a very solid prayer hall (wiharn), and a bell-shaped pagoda (chedi).

The ruins of Wat Phra Non's ordination hall
The ruins of Wat Phra Non's ordination hall

Both the ordination hall and the chapel display the remains of large columns fashioned from a single block of stone. Somewhat curiously, in the ubosot you can see some columns that are a single piece, while others are made up of small blocks.

The chapel, with its huge solid stone columns
The chapel, with its huge solid stone columns

The chapel is quite solid-looking, with large square columns that would probably have supported a wooden roof. The space is divided by a very solid wall. On the side of the wall facing the ordination hall is a multi-level platform that would have once supported many Buddha images (or monks, according to one source), while on the other side of the wall was a reclining Buddha image that gave the temple its name.

The pagoda of the temple, right behind the chapel
The pagoda of the temple, right behind the chapel

The temple must have been quite large in its day, with a sizable number of monks. Around the main buildings you can see the remains of several living quarters, privies, chapels and other buildings of a large monastery.