History of Phitsanulok Province - Sukhothai Period

Sukhothai Period

During the Sukhothai period, Phitsanulok emerged as the major city in the east of the Sukhothai Kingdom. It is during the Sukhothai period that Theravada Buddhism was first adopted as a unifying religion throughout the kingdom (although Buddhism in general was popular throughout Southeast Asia, including Thailand, throughout the era of the Khmer Empire). As such, the Sukhothai period witnessed the construction of Wat Chula Manee and the subsequent construction of Wat Aranyik and Wat Chedi Yod Thong. The renowned Wat Phra Sri Rattana Mahathat was constructed in 1357, during the reign of King Maha Thammaradscha I of Sukhothai. Wat Phra Sri Rattana Mahathat, more commonly known as Wat Yai, is famous throughout Thailand for its golden sculpture of the Buddha called the Phra Buddha Chinnarat (Thai: พระพุทธชินราช). Many Thai people consider the Chinnarat, which depicts the Buddha in the posture of submission, to be the most beautiful Buddha image in Thailand. The Chinnarat is the subject of the official seal of the present-day Phitsanulok Province. While the Ayutthaya period of Thailand had already begun in 1351, Phitsanulok remained part of the Sukhothai Kingdom for some time afterward. Sukhothai became a tributary state of Ayutthaya between 1365 and 1378, and in 1412, King Thammaracha IV was installed on the throne of Sukhothai by Ayutthaya. Around 1430, Thammaracha IV moved his capital to Phitsanulok, although after his death in 1438, the Sukhothai Kingdom was reduced in status to a mere province of Ayutthaya. By then, Phitsanulok can be said to have completed its gradual transition into the Ayutthaya period. Throughout the Sukhothai era, most of the land within Phitsanulok Province, aside from the city of Phitsanulok, remained sparsely populated virgin rainforest.