A small compound on Thanon Cha Kan Bun with two Royal Gazette announcements, a measured land area, no ubosot — and no established history at all. It is famous instead for what came out of the ground here in B.E. 2444: the Phra Nang Phaya, one of the five great amulets of Thailand.
วัดนางพญา · Wat Nang Phaya
| Official name | วัดนางพญา — Wat Nang Phaya |
|---|---|
| Where | Nai Mueang, Mueang Phitsanulok, Phitsanulok |
| Royal temple class | Not established from an official register. |
| Monastic order | Not recorded in any register we could read. |
| Ancient monument | Registered national ancient monument Registration: Royal Gazette vol. 53, part 34, 27 September B.E. 2479. Monument land boundary: announcement of the Director-General of the Fine Arts Department signed 29 June B.E. 2544, published in Royal Gazette vol. 118, special part 124 ง, 17 December B.E. 2544, p. 2, fixing the monument land at approximately 4 rai 3 ngan 35 square wa. Both citations were read from the Royal Gazette itself in this run — the first time in seven runs of this guide that the gazette has been opened rather than quoted at second hand. The boundary announcement names the temple วัดนางพญา and states in a parenthesis that it was formerly called วัดนางพระยา, which is the spelling under which the B.E. 2479 registration was made. The Fine Arts Department's own register carries the site as monument id 0004627 at register status 5, registered with the land boundary determined, which is exactly what the two announcements together describe. |
| Coordinates | 16.822474, 100.261941 Fine Arts Department, FADGIS monument layer, monument id 0004627, read in WGS84 in this run |
Thai temple histories mix two different kinds of statement, and this guide keeps them apart. What a register, a gazette entry, an inscription or a dated royal act shows is one thing. What the chronicles and the temple itself hold is another, and it is worth telling as what it is.
This is the clearest example in the province of a temple that is thoroughly documented as a legal object and undocumented as a historical one. Two Royal Gazette announcements, a register entry, a survey and a land area — and not one dated sentence about who built it or when. The tourism authority gets as far as saying its architecture is of the same period as Wat Ratchaburana next door, which pushes the question one temple sideways rather than answering it.
Wat Nang Phaya sits on Thanon Cha Kan Bun in Tambon Nai Mueang, immediately east of Wat Ratchaburana and across the road from it. The National Office of Buddhism records that the two were a single contiguous holding until Mittraphap Road was cut through the ground between them, which is why they read as one place in older writing and as two temples today.
The legal record here is unusually complete. The Fine Arts Department registered the monument in the Royal Gazette of 27 September B.E. 2479 — under the older spelling of the name, Wat Nang Phraya — in the same announcement, vol. 53 part 34, that took in Wat Yot Thong and Wat Mai Aphaiyaram. Sixty-five years later, on 29 June B.E. 2544, the Director-General signed an announcement under section 7 of the Act on Ancient Monuments, Antiques, Objects of Art and National Museums of B.E. 2504 fixing the monument's land at approximately 4 rai 3 ngan 35 square wa, and that announcement was published in the gazette on 17 December B.E. 2544 with a survey plan attached. Both were read in this run from the gazette itself.
Against that, the historical record is empty. No state source consulted names a founder, a reign or a date. The tourism authority says the architecture belongs to the same period as Wat Ratchaburana and notes the one structural peculiarity worth knowing: the compound has no ubosot at all, only a wihan. Since Wat Ratchaburana's own date is three competing suppositions, that comparison moves the question rather than settling it.
What people actually come for is an amulet. The Phra Nang Phaya is one of the Benjaphakhi, the five most sought-after amulets in Thailand, and the tourism authority records the first find of the hoard here in B.E. 2444 and a second in B.E. 2497. The reputation attached to it is for metta mahaniyom, loving-kindness and standing, and it is associated particularly with women in positions of authority. Genuine examples are now extremely scarce, which is worth knowing before anyone is offered one.
There is a naming point that matters for anyone searching. The Royal Gazette's own text says วัดนางพญา and adds in brackets that the former name was วัดนางพระยา — two spellings of the same compound, one of which is what the 1936 registration was made under. And there is a second Wat Nang Phaya inside the Si Satchanalai historical park in Sukhothai, which the Fine Arts Department's register distinguishes as Wat Nang Phaya AC.4. They are different temples in different provinces.
A wihan and no ubosot. The tourism authority states this plainly and it is the compound's most unusual feature: what functions as the principal hall here is a wihan, and the temple has never had an ordination hall of its own.
Architecture the tourism authority reads as contemporary with Wat Ratchaburana across the road — the same period, the same kind of building, minus the ordination hall.
The site of the amulet hoard. The finds of B.E. 2444 and B.E. 2497 came out of the ruined ground of the compound rather than from a sealed crypt in a standing chedi, which is why the temple's fame and its fabric have so little to do with each other.
The boundary the gazette drew: approximately 4 rai 3 ngan 35 square wa, surveyed and mapped in the plan attached to the announcement of 17 December B.E. 2544.
This is a working place of worship for millions of people rather than an attraction, and it is treated as one at the gate. Where a figure below is blank, no source we are prepared to cite states it.
| Hours | Not established from an official source. |
|---|---|
| Admission | Not established from an official source. |
| Dress | Not established from an official source. |
| Photography | No source we found states a rule, so we print none. |
| Getting there | Thanon Cha Kan Bun, Tambon Nai Mueang, Mueang Phitsanulok 65000, immediately east of Wat Ratchaburana and a short walk south of Wat Phra Si Rattana Mahathat. The tourism authority lists parking on site and a telephone number of 0 5525 8972. |
Every temple reference repeats claims nobody has checked. These are the ones we went looking for and could not stand up, listed so you know exactly where this page stops.
Nobody official says. This is one of the better-documented monuments in the province as a legal object — two Royal Gazette announcements, a register entry and a surveyed land area of about 4 rai 3 ngan 35 square wa — and one of the least documented as a history. No state source read for this guide names a founder, a reign or a date. The tourism authority goes as far as saying the architecture is of the same period as Wat Ratchaburana next door, whose own date is itself three competing suppositions.
Yes, and both citations here were read from the Royal Gazette itself rather than quoted from a research database. The Fine Arts Department registered the monument in vol. 53, part 34 of 27 September B.E. 2479, under the older spelling of the name, Wat Nang Phraya. The Director-General's announcement fixing the monument land at about 4 rai 3 ngan 35 square wa was signed on 29 June B.E. 2544 and published in vol. 118, special part 124 ง on 17 December B.E. 2544.
One of the Benjaphakhi, the five most sought-after amulets in Thailand. The Tourism Authority of Thailand records that the hoard at this temple was first uncovered in B.E. 2444 and again in B.E. 2497. Its reputation is for metta mahaniyom — loving-kindness and standing — and it is particularly associated with women who hold authority over others. Genuine pieces are now very scarce. Note that the National Office of Buddhism records the amulets being offered at Wat Ratchaburana next door, not here.
The tourism authority states the fact and not the reason: Wat Nang Phaya has no ordination hall, only a wihan, and that is the difference it draws between this compound and Wat Ratchaburana across the road, which it otherwise treats as contemporary. Nothing consulted explains why. It is the kind of detail worth carrying into the compound, because a visitor expecting the usual pair of buildings will otherwise assume something has been lost.
No. There are two, in different provinces, and the Fine Arts Department's register distinguishes them: this one is in Tambon Nai Mueang, Mueang Phitsanulok, and the other stands inside the Si Satchanalai historical park in Sukhothai, registered as Wat Nang Phaya AC.4 and part of the World Heritage property there. This guide carries the Si Satchanalai temples under Sukhothai.
Before you go, read the guide to Buddhism and temple etiquette in Thailand — dress, footwear, where photography is not welcome and how to behave around monks. The rest of Phitsanulok’s temples are covered here too.
Every temple here sits in a place worth reading about on its own terms. The nationwide temple guide covers the other provinces to the same documentary standard as this page, and says on each one what the record establishes and what it does not.
If you are thinking about more than a visit: work out which Thai visa route fits your situation, and see what is available to rent and buy in residences across Thailand.
Every fact on this page is drawn from the sources above. Where they disagree, this page says so rather than choosing silently. Registrations, fees, hours and access change; confirm anything you are relying on with the authority concerned. BAANLYY LLC is a Nevada company and a listing portal, does not represent any temple, and offers no legal or religious advice.