AYUTTHAYA, 16 September 2014 – Her Royal Highness Princess Soamsawali yesterday went to Proatsat Monastery in Bang Pa-in District, where she laid a foundation stone for the construction of a ‘chaitya’ Hall, a kind of pagoda to commemorate His Royal Highness Krom Luang Wongsa Dhiraj Snid, a half brother of King Rama III and founder of the House of Snidvongs.
The ‘chaitya’ Hall will be built with donations from the people of Ayutthaya and members of the Snidvongs Family. The Princess also presided over, on this occasion, the casting of a Buddha image to be named Phra Phuttha-dhamma Wongsa Dhiraj. The Buddha image will be in the posture of subduing mara, with a width of 32 inches at its lap.
The construction of both the hall and the Buddha image is intended to honor the late Prince on the occasion of his 200th birthday and also to celebrate the occasion that UNESCO in 2008 recognized him as one of the world’s eminent personalities for his high abilities as a scholar and poet.
The Proatsat Monastery is related to the history of Krom Luang Wongsa Dhiraj Snid in that it was the site where the Prince and his army stopped by before going to the North to make war with a group of enemies and vowed to renovate this monastery to beauty forever after his victory.
