History of Wat Chulamanee

Wat Chulamanee stands at No. 93, Village No. 9, Bang Chang Subdistrict, Amphawa District, Samut Songkhram Province, on the Samut Songkhram–Bang Phae road. The front of the temple adjoins the Amphawa Canal, which connects to the Bang Phi Lok Canal, about 7 kilometres from the town of Samut Songkhram and only about 2 kilometres from the Amphawa District Office. It is an ancient temple long and intimately bound up with the history of the Chakri dynasty.

Aerial views of Wat Chulamanee

Bird's-eye views of Wat Chulamanee beside Khlong Amphawa, in Bang Chang subdistrict, Amphawa district, Samut Songkhram province.

Origins — from "Wat Mae Chao Thip" to "Chulamanee"

This temple was originally known as "Wat Mae Chao Thip." According to traditional accounts, it was built as far back as the reign of King Prasat Thong, when Ayutthaya was still the capital. Its builder was Thao Kaeo Phaluek (Noi), daughter of Than Phlai, the headman of the Bang Chang market who was responsible for collecting market toll duties, until she became wealthy enough to rank as a millionaire. She built this temple and maintained it ever after, supported by an important great lay devotee and great lay devotee-ess who later became the progenitors of the Chakri dynasty — for this very land is the birthplace of the Thai monarchs who have succeeded one another in royal lineage.

As for the name "Chulamanee" used today, it corresponds to the name of the Chulamani Chedi in Tavatimsa Heaven, the enshrinement place of the Buddha's hair relic (the topknot of his hair) according to Buddhist belief — an auspicious name befitting this ancient temple.

The cradle of the Bang Chang royal lineage

Historical evidence indicates clearly that this area is the cradle of the Bang Chang royal lineage. The former dwelling of the millionaire Thong and the millionaire San — the parents of Queen Amarindra — stood behind Wat Chulamanee, only about 5 sen (roughly 5 minutes' walk) away. At that spot stood three great sandalwood trees, each about two arm-spans around, set about 4 wa apart, said to have been planted beside the house of the two millionaires. Sadly, the sandalwood trees later fell, leaving only rotting stumps, which remained until around the year B.E. 2510 (1967).

Once, the district education officer of Amphawa at that time, wishing to learn the history and evidence — both geographical and historical — of this ancestral dwelling of the royal lineage, travelled out to survey it. But the orchard tenant or landowner, not realizing its significance, had burned the fallen stumps until nothing was left, leaving no trace at all. It is understood that the landowner feared the government would come to reclaim the land, and so destroyed the evidence — even though these three sandalwood trees were likely near the dwelling that was the birthplace and residence of the royalty of later times.

The auspicious land of the Chakri dynasty

Queen Amarindra (Nak) was the beautiful daughter of the Bang Chang millionaire, until the fame of her beauty spread far, reaching even Ayutthaya. At that time the king of Ayutthaya was seeking beautiful women to take as consorts. When a court official informed him of the daughter of the Bang Chang millionaire, her parents, on learning of it, hastily gave their daughter in marriage to a royal page named "Thongduang." This page later became the Yokkrabat deputy-governor of Ratchaburi. After their marriage, the two settled and made their home here in Bang Chang Subdistrict.

It was here in Bang Chang Subdistrict that Than Nak — who would later become Queen Amarindra, royal consort of King Rama I (Phra Phutthayotfa Chulalok the Great) — gave birth to Than Chim, who in later times became King Rama II (Phra Phutthaloetla Naphalai), on 24 February B.E. 2310 (1767), a Wednesday, the 7th day of the waxing moon of the third month, the Year of the Pig — only about two months before Ayutthaya fell to the Burmese in April of the same year, as the people of Bang Chang have passed down. The birthplace was within the dwelling near the sandalwood trees behind Wat Chulamanee, which had been the dwelling of the millionaire Thong and the millionaire San.

When Ayutthaya fell to the Burmese in B.E. 2310 (1767), the Yokkrabat deputy-governor Thongduang fled with his family to take refuge from the Burmese in the dense forest behind Wat Chulamanee, before going to enter royal service under King Taksin the Great of Thonburi. And when the Thonburi kingdom came to its end, he acceded to the throne as the first king of the Chakri dynasty. During that time of taking refuge in the forest behind the temple, Princess Sri Sudarak (Kaeo), the second elder sister of King Rama I (Phra Phutthayotfa Chulalok the Great), who was heavily pregnant, also gave birth to a daughter in the forest behind Wat Chulamanee, on 21 September B.E. 2310 (1767), a Sunday, the 12th day of the waning moon of the twelfth month, the Year of the Pig, named Princess Bunrot — taken as an omen of having survived the Burmese enemy. Princess Bunrot later married as royal consort of King Rama II (Phra Phutthaloetla Naphalai) and was elevated as Queen Sri Suriyendra, the second royal queen of the Chakri dynasty. It is most remarkable that both royal queens were born in Bang Chang Subdistrict, behind the very same Wat Chulamanee.

For this reason, the land of Bang Chang Subdistrict, in Samut Songkhram, in the area behind Wat Chulamanee, is reckoned a most auspicious land for five reasons, namely:

The legend of the millionaires steadfast in the precepts

The elders have passed down that the millionaire Thong and the millionaire San were generous millionaires, fond of making merit and listening to the Dhamma, and steadfast in observing the Uposatha precepts on the 8th-day and 15th-day holy days. One day, which was a holy day, the husband and wife went to observe the Uposatha precepts at Wat Chulamanee and made a solemn vow to hold firmly to meditation and keep the precepts throughout the night and day, not to return home until the dawn of the new day. At that time the abbot of Wat Chulamanee was Phra Athikan In, a member of the Bang Chang millionaire family who had been ordained until he became the abbot.

When night fell, the servants hurried to report that fire was burning their house and to beg them to return at once. But out of their steadfastness in Buddhism, the two millionaires were unshaken and undistracted. They reflected that wealth and possessions are bound to perish one day, and that even life and body have their arising and ceasing as a matter of course; while wealth remains, one may use it, and when wealth or life ceases, the wealth is no longer ours, for it is external to the body; so long as life remains, more can be found anew. They therefore merely ordered the servants to take whatever wealth could be grabbed and throw it into the canal in the orchard — however much could be saved, so it would be. The two of them remained firm in cultivating meditation and keeping the Uposatha, until the dawn of the new day, when they returned home to find that the fire had burned their house down entirely. This story reflects the steadfast faith that has been handed down in the Bang Chang family since the time of Ayutthaya.

The age of the temple and the evidence

The years appearing in various documents are several, because they draw on different sources. That is to say, the temple register of the National Office of Buddhism officially records the year of the temple's "establishment" as B.E. 2293 (1750), while evidence and oral tradition indicate that the temple was likely "actually built" around B.E. 2172–2190 (1629–1647) in the reign of King Prasat Thong, several decades before the registration.

This estimate is made because the millionaire San, the mother of Queen Amarindra, who had come to keep the precepts and observe the Uposatha at this temple, lived on into the reign of King Rama I and passed away around B.E. 2344 (1801) at the age of more than 90, so she was likely born around B.E. 2250 (1707); and the temple was probably built about 70 years before her birth, because Thao Kaeo Phaluek (Noi), who built the temple, was a person of the reign of King Prasat Thong, a daughter of Than Phlai, and a younger sister of Than Chi, who was the mother of the millionaire Thong.

Wat Chulamanee (Wat Mae Chao Thip) is thus a genuinely ancient temple worthy of study and research, although it is rather difficult to do, because the temple's original condition has been all but destroyed and reduced to ruins by time and nature. The ancient ubosot, believed to be where the millionaire Thong and the millionaire San once came to keep the precepts and observe the Uposatha, collapsed until only the lower base remained, and had to be torn down; and in the time of Phra Khru Kowitsamutkhun (Luang Pho Nuang) a new ubosot was built on that very site.