Wat Phra Si Iriyabot
The Wat Phra Si Iriyabot is a large temple located in a tranquil, forested setting in the Aranyik area a few hundred meters North of the old walled town. Its name translates to “temple of the four postures of the Buddha”.
The large 15th or 16th century temple is enclosed by a laterite wall. Its main structures, the imposing viharn and a mondop, are aligned on an East West axis. In front of the temple are a well and ancient bathroom facilities as well as a sala, an open pavilion used for shelter and resting.
The Buddhavasa area where the temple’s resident monks lived is at the back of the temple.
Viharn
In front of the mondop is an imposing, well preserved two meter high laterite base with balusters. Its East end was decorated with statues of lions and guardians.
A stairway on all four sides leads to the platform that supports the temple’s viharn, a large hall with a porch at the front and back. Little more remains than sections of its walls and the lower part of the pillars that supported the wooden roof. To the back of the hall is a pedestal that supported the principal Buddha image, of which only the outline of the lower part if left. Buddhist devotees would walk on the base circling the viharn in a clockwise direction to make merit.
Mondop enshrining four large images of the Buddha
Directly behind the viharn stands a roofless mondop that served as the Wat Phra Si Iriyabot’s principal chedi. The large, square structure is enclosed by its own boundary wall with entrance porches facing the four cardinal directions and subsidiary chedis at the four corners.
A niche in each side contained a large stuccoed image of the Buddha. Each of the Sukhothai style images is in a different posture, namely walking, standing, sitting and reclining. The nine meter tall standing Buddha (West) is in good condition. The outline of the walking Buddha (East) is still visible, while little is left of the other two.
Mondops with four large statues of the Buddha in different postures were often built in the Sukhothai period. Other examples can be found at the Wat Mahathat, the Wat Chetuphon and the Wat Phra Phai Luang in Sukhothai Historical Park.
Ubosot and Buddhavasa area
Near the South enclosure wall is a small ubosot, the hall were monks get ordained. Very little remains of the buildings in the Buddhavasa area where the residences of the temple’s resident monks were.