Ayutthaya city is the capital of Ayutthaya province in Thailand. Located in the valley of the Chao Phraya River, the city was founded in 1350 by King U Thong, who went there to escape a smallpox outbreak in Lop Buri and proclaimed it the capital of his kingdom, often referred to as the Ayutthaya kingdom or Siam. Here is a folktale about this city.
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| Destroyed Palace |
There was lovely princess who gave birth to a beautiful prince. Instead of happiness, a sorrowfulness propagated among the people in the palace. For this the princess was interrogated by many people in their mind. Because the princess was unmarried. She was so innocent and childish that there was no lover of her. So how is it possible? An investigation committee was created using the best of the secret agents of the state to investigate the matter. After doing through investigation the chief of the investigating committee proposed the truth in the court. The father of the child born from the princess is a very low class people working in the king's garden, actually a hunchback. The man's body was covered with millions of tiny to tiniest lumps from head to toe. Also the chief cleared that there was no meeting happened between the princes and the hunchback ever. How is it possible, this could be a mysterious for general people like us, but for some intelligent officers, it was crystal clear. As it happened actually, that hunchback had once urinated over a berry tree. Once the princess along with her friends went for an evening walk to the garden and ate few of the tasty berries from that tree. So she got impregnated with that man.
So the princess and her son along with that lumps bearing man was exiled by the court of law. She was walking behind that man along with her child. Being handicapped, the man was able to walk slowly and so the princess had to follow. People around the palace started to taunt them in many ways. Being unable to bear those taunts, the man entered the forest, followed by the princess. Being in their mind, the wild animals would eat them and finish the intolerable pain. But it animals seemed to be hating them to eat. Finally that man tried to talk the princess gathering some courage: "perhaps our fate is playing a mischievous game with us. To live or die, what to do? Probably the god might show some way to us, Lets pray the God." After some time the God appeared before them and granted them any three wishes.
The hunchback asked "Dear God, it might be by the grace of you or by our fate, if I were to marry a princess, then is it suitable for a mere man like me having millions of lumps covering my entire body to be with the beautiful princess?" With the blink of his eyes, he became a handsome without any lumps over his body. Then he asked, the princess should live in a palace not in a forest and without a kingdom there is no question of a palace. Instantly the God granted him a kingdom with full of beautiful palaces. Finally, he mentioned "due to this innocent child, I got this wonderful fate, be it passively. So I need a golden hammock for the baby." A golden hammock appeared suddenly before them. After disappearance of God, he converted that forest into a beautiful city called Ayutthaya (in the name of Ayodhya).
But history says different thing, like the King Fyaan U Thong shifted his capital to this city. Inspired by Ramayan, he renamed himself to Ramatibodi and renamed his capital Ayutthaya with reference to Ayodhya. With the time being passed through many generation, it was established as a center of Buddhism in south-east Asia. But in 1767 Burmese armies invaded this. Ayutthaya's art treasures, the libraries containing its literature and the archives housing its historic records were almost destroyed, and city was left in ruins. Though Burmese people are follower of Buddhism, they did not hesitate to slit the heads of hundreds of Buddha idols. They might be thinking their Buddha was different from Thai Buddha. The city was destroyed and robbed by them. Whatever left from these barbaric, the time has tried to keep them alive today.
A slashed Buddha head is still hanging by the prop roots of an old banyan tree. It might be giving a message "today's idol mafias are not less than the barbaric who looted the city during that period.".
So the princess and her son along with that lumps bearing man was exiled by the court of law. She was walking behind that man along with her child. Being handicapped, the man was able to walk slowly and so the princess had to follow. People around the palace started to taunt them in many ways. Being unable to bear those taunts, the man entered the forest, followed by the princess. Being in their mind, the wild animals would eat them and finish the intolerable pain. But it animals seemed to be hating them to eat. Finally that man tried to talk the princess gathering some courage: "perhaps our fate is playing a mischievous game with us. To live or die, what to do? Probably the god might show some way to us, Lets pray the God." After some time the God appeared before them and granted them any three wishes.
The hunchback asked "Dear God, it might be by the grace of you or by our fate, if I were to marry a princess, then is it suitable for a mere man like me having millions of lumps covering my entire body to be with the beautiful princess?" With the blink of his eyes, he became a handsome without any lumps over his body. Then he asked, the princess should live in a palace not in a forest and without a kingdom there is no question of a palace. Instantly the God granted him a kingdom with full of beautiful palaces. Finally, he mentioned "due to this innocent child, I got this wonderful fate, be it passively. So I need a golden hammock for the baby." A golden hammock appeared suddenly before them. After disappearance of God, he converted that forest into a beautiful city called Ayutthaya (in the name of Ayodhya).
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| Destroyed temples |
But history says different thing, like the King Fyaan U Thong shifted his capital to this city. Inspired by Ramayan, he renamed himself to Ramatibodi and renamed his capital Ayutthaya with reference to Ayodhya. With the time being passed through many generation, it was established as a center of Buddhism in south-east Asia. But in 1767 Burmese armies invaded this. Ayutthaya's art treasures, the libraries containing its literature and the archives housing its historic records were almost destroyed, and city was left in ruins. Though Burmese people are follower of Buddhism, they did not hesitate to slit the heads of hundreds of Buddha idols. They might be thinking their Buddha was different from Thai Buddha. The city was destroyed and robbed by them. Whatever left from these barbaric, the time has tried to keep them alive today.
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| Buddha head hanging in the banyan tree |
A slashed Buddha head is still hanging by the prop roots of an old banyan tree. It might be giving a message "today's idol mafias are not less than the barbaric who looted the city during that period.".
