The chedi believed to mark the elephant duel of Nong Sarai, inside a far larger modern chedi, with 225 rai of protected ground round it.
ดอนเจดีย์ (พระบรมราชานุสรณ์ดอนเจดีย์) · Don Chedi, Phra Borommaratchanuson Don Chedi
| Official name | ดอนเจดีย์ (พระบรมราชานุสรณ์ดอนเจดีย์) — Don Chedi, Phra Borommaratchanuson Don Chedi |
|---|---|
| Where | Don Chedi, Don Chedi, Suphan Buri |
| 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 Royal Gazette vol. 52, part 75, p. 3711, 8 March B.E. 2478, item 32 of the Suphan Buri section. Boundary determined by Royal Gazette vol. 69, part 60, p. 3291, 30 September B.E. 2495 Both instruments read at source. The 1935 list enters ดอนเจดีย์ under Amphoe Si Prachan, Tambon Bang Ngam, as item 32. The 1952 announcement determines the number and the boundaries of national ancient monuments, and Suphan Buri is province 1 in it with Don Chedi as its only entry, which makes this the first monument in the whole instrument. The boundary is given as a radius round the chedi of 7 sen 10 wa, an area of about 225 rai, and 225 rai is the figure the register carries. Note that the register returns the volume and the part the wrong way round for this record: it gives volume 60 and part 69, while the printed page and the department's own filename both read part 60, volume 69. Volume 69 is the 1952 volume, which settles it. |
| Coordinates | 14.633387, 100.020610 Fine Arts Department national monument register, record 0004916, which places it in Tambon Don Chedi, Amphoe Don Chedi, the district and subdistrict the modern register gives for the 225 rai of protected ground. |
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.
The whole of the record half concerns the twentieth century: a rediscovery, a royal visit, a restoration committee and an opening ceremony. The sixteenth-century half is what the department itself marks as belief. Keeping those two apart is the entire reason this field has two sides.
For most of its life this was a mound in a forest that nobody could find. The Fine Arts Department register tells the rediscovery as a piece of local legwork: in B.E. 2456 the governor of Suphan Buri, Phra Thawi Prachachon, went out to Tambon Nong Sarai and asked people whether there was an old chedi anywhere about. The villagers said yes, there is one in the forest, at the place we call Don Phra Chedi. On 28 January of that same year King Vajiravudh came to look at it and made offerings there. A national monument began as a question asked in a village.
What the chedi commemorates is given by the department as a belief rather than a finding, and the wording matters. The register says the chedi is believed to have been raised in honour of King Naresuan after he defeated the Mahauparaja in single combat on elephant-back at Thung Nong Sarai, on the Monday of the second lunar month, two days after the full moon, in Chula Sakarat 954, which it equates with 25 January B.E. 2135. No excavation report consulted in this run ties the brick core to that battle. The connection is traditional, the site is real, and the two are different claims.
The restoration is the part that changed what you see. A committee was formed in B.E. 2493, the Fine Arts Department was asked to design a covering chedi, and the work was finished in B.E. 2502. The new chedi is Lankan in form, round, 36 metres across at the base and 66 metres from the ground to the tip, and it was modelled on the chedi at Wat Yai Chai Mongkhon in Ayutthaya, which Naresuan himself had restored. The old brick chedi is inside it. The register describes that original as square in plan without indented corners, on a large plain base, with a course of upturned and downturned lotus above and a large ring moulding.
In front of it stands the monument proper: King Naresuan at one and a half life size on the neck of his war elephant, holding the ngao and about to fight, with the mahout at the neck, the rear rider, the howdah and the full ancient equipment, cast in dark-patinated metal. The lower base carries low reliefs of the duel and of the declaration of independence. It was designed and modelled by Professor Silpa Bhirasri, which makes this one of the handful of Thai national monuments whose sculptor is a matter of record rather than of attribution.
The protected ground is unusually large. The 1952 instrument gives a radius round the chedi of 7 sen 10 wa, which is 300 metres, and an area of about 225 rai. Those two figures only agree if the ground is squared off rather than drawn as a circle: 300 metres each way makes a 600-metre square, which is 360,000 square metres, which is exactly 225 rai. A circle of 300-metre radius would be about 177 rai. The department did not show its working and this page does not invent one for it.
The covering chedi: Lankan in form, round, 36 metres across at the base and 66 metres from the ground to the tip, designed by the Fine Arts Department on the model of the chedi at Wat Yai Chai Mongkhon in Ayutthaya.
The original brick chedi inside it, which the register describes as square in plan without indented corners, standing on a large plain base with a course of upturned and downturned lotus above it and a large ring moulding.
The monument of King Naresuan at one and a half life size, on the neck of his war elephant with the ngao raised, the mahout at the neck, the rear rider, the howdah and the full ancient equipment, cast in dark-patinated metal.
Low reliefs on the lower base showing the elephant duel and the declaration of independence, designed and modelled by Professor Silpa Bhirasri.
A permanent exhibition inside the chedi on the life of King Naresuan, which the register lists among the works completed on the monument.
The protected ground: about 225 rai, set by a 1952 instrument as a radius of 7 sen 10 wa round the chedi.
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 | A national monument rather than a working monastery, so ordinary clothing is fine. It is a place of commemoration and people come here to pay respects, so behave accordingly. |
| Photography | No source we found states a rule, so we print none. |
| Getting there | In Tambon Don Chedi, Amphoe Don Chedi, north-west of Suphan Buri town, on open ground with the monument and the chedi set together. |
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.
The Fine Arts Department says it is believed to be. The department uses the word believed, and no excavation report consulted links the brick core to the battle.
The governor of Suphan Buri went to Tambon Nong Sarai in B.E. 2456 and asked after an ancient chedi. Villagers told him of one in the forest at a place called Don Phra Chedi.
A covering chedi designed by the Fine Arts Department, 36 metres across at the base and 66 metres tall, finished in B.E. 2502 and modelled on the chedi at Wat Yai Chai Mongkhon in Ayutthaya.
Professor Silpa Bhirasri designed and modelled it, together with the low reliefs of the duel and the declaration of independence on the base.
About 225 rai, set by the Royal Gazette instrument of 30 September B.E. 2495 as a radius of 7 sen 10 wa round the chedi.
No official source consulted publishes any, for the grounds or for the exhibition inside the chedi.
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 Suphan Buri’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.