Lonely Planet India - August 2016

GREAT FROM

India

GREAT FOR

Ruin-hopping

GO NOW

For an epic monsoon escape.

TURN OVER FOR ALL YOU NEED TO GET THERE

1. The Wat Chai
   Wattanaram
   makes for an
   impressive sight


2. Pay your respects
   (and pose for the
   camera) at Wat
   Phanan Choeng


3. The riverfront
   restaurant at
   Sala Ayutthaya
   offers a stunning
   view of the Wat
   Phutthaisawan


4. Cool or just
   plain weird?
   The Wat Niwet
   Thammaprawat
   is a Buddhist temple
   designed to look
   like a church

Ayutthaya-style temple which

surprisingly wasn’t destroyed in the

18th-century siege (8am – 6pm; ` 40).

It survived because the Burmese used

it as a base from which to attack the

nearby Royal Palace. Today the towering

structure continues to stand strong

as if expressing its worth.

The city may no longer be as illustrious

as it once was but it still calls out

to people from far and wide. Pervading

its ruins are memories dreams and stories

of a fallen realm stories that want

to be told. Soak it all in.

words shraddha uchil

photographs hashim badani

the boat ride glimpsing ruins silhouetted
in the evening light rows of stilt houses
and villagers out fishing. Your final
destination is the Wat Chai Wattanaram
with its 35m-tall central structure (8am –
5pm; ` 95). Built in the Khmer style
by King Prasat Thong in 1630 this temple’s

architecture is vaguely reminiscent

of Cambodia’s Angkor Wat.

Take a break from all the temple-

hopping and head to Roti Street

to be treated to an interesting Thai

dessert – roti sai mai – which is a reflection

of Ayutthaya’s very old Muslim community

and as much a part of its history as its

monuments (near Ayutthaya Hospital

U Thong Rd; from ` 70). You’ll find men

at work stretching and pulling at a pliable

glob of melted palm sugar until it

resembles strands of hair. This resultant

candy floss is rolled up inside savoury

crêpe-like rotis.

When you’ve had your fill move

on to Wat Na Phra Men a rare early

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