Traphang Trakuan
| Native Name | ตระพังตระกวน, ត្រពាំងត្រកួន |
|---|---|
| Alternative name | Trapeang Trokuon, Wat Sa Si |
| BA# | T64065 |
| Size | Medium |
| Condition | Intact |
| Type | Ancient Reservoir |
| Location | |
| Commune | Muang Kao |
| District | Muang Sukhothai |
| Province | Sukhothai |
| Country | Thailand |
| Coordinates | 17.01975, 99.70137 |
| History | |
| Material | Brick, Laterite |
| Religion | Buddhist |
| UNESCO Inscription | 1992 |
Traphang Trakuan (ตระพังตระกวน - Pronounced: T'ra-pahng T'ro-koo'an)
One of the Sukhothai Historical Park's most picturesque and photogenic temples sits on a man-made island in a rectangular pond close to the centre of the walled city.
While we're not suggesting the late 14th-century temple itself is of Khmer origin there is some linguistic evidence to believe that the pond or reservoir does predate Sukhothai's mid-13th-century Theravada makeover. The body of water - currently weighing in at some 210m x 420m - is named Traphang Trakuan which would appear to be a Thai transliteration of the Khmer name Trapaeng Tra-kuan meaning Morning Glory Pond or reservoir. The word traphang (ตระพัง) is not known in Thai and is only seen in the Sukhothai area with the Thai word nong (หนอง) being standard elsewhere. Our assumption then is that the term was a locally used loan word and that consequently there is a good chance that this, and similarly named reservoirs (Traphang Ngoen and Traphang Thong for instance), do date from the Khmer era.
The construction of the reservoir and man-made islands (there are in fact 2, with a small square one featuring a shrine connected by a causeway to a larger island housing the main wat and which also extends west to include a smaller reservoir within the island itself) represented a substantial task and if there were pre-existing embankments and pond in the vicinity it's logical to assume that use would have made of them. Whether the original reservoir already featured an artificial island is plausible but speculative.
The site is aligned east-northeast and is presently reached by a bridge from the south which connects to smaller rectangular reservoirs along the southern embankment. (The name Sa Si means 4 ponds.) Further south again is the aforementioned, now partially dry, Traphang Ngoen. What form any original complex may have taken is again speculative and dependant on unlikely, major excavation work at what is today one of the park's most prestigious features.
Map Location
Image Gallery
If you would like to upload additional images to the gallery, please refer to the Upload Instructions guide
Historic Archive
A collection of historic photographs, artist sketches, maps etc. (Please ensure that anything you do upload is free of copyright and/or you have permission from the original photographer/artist/author to share)
Nearby Sites
External Links
Links to additional resources such as articles, websites, videos etc.
References