Muang Si Mahosot

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Muang Si Mahosot
Native Nameเมืองศรีมโหสถ, មឿងស៊ីមហាសុត
Alternative nameMuang Phra Rot, Muang Boran Si Mahosot, Dong Si Mahosot, Si Mahosot Ancient City, Mueang Si Mahosot
BA#T25016
CISARK#2434, 2787 (?)
TypeAncient City
Location
Part ofMuang Si Mahosot
CommuneKhok Pip
DistrictSi Mahosot
ProvincePrachinburi
CountryThailand
Coordinates13.89563, 101.41371
History
Founded7th Century
BuilderJayavarman I (?)
Year/s RestoredVarious



T25016 Muang Si Mahosot 1.jpg
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Site Size & Condition: Ancient City Muang Si Mahosot (เมืองศรีมโหสถ - Pronounced: Moo-ang See Mar-ho-sot)

Extensive ancient settlement situated in the southwestern region of present-day Prachinburi Province. The site was clearly important from early times and shows signs of probable continual settlement from the proto-Dvaravati period until it was abandoned at some stage in the 13th century.)

The location is a strategic one as it offered access to the Gulf of Thailand to the south as well as the numerous early settlements in the Chao Phraya Valley to the west while providing an easily navigable route east, via Sa Kaeo, into what is today western and central Cambodia. Trade items from the Indian subcontinent, via early ports on the Thai/Malay Peninsula, dating back at least 2 millennia have been unearthed while the site was likely to have been connected to Funan maritime trade routes around the coast of the Gulf of Thailand during the early centuries CE.

Chenla era westward expansion during the post-Funan 7th century was clearly highly significant and many of the vestiges seen today in the Si Mahosot site have been dated to this period and the reign of Jayavarman I. Geographically the site provided a link between the aforementioned Dvaravati settlements further west and Chenla sites such as Purandarapura and Aninditapura to the west of Angkor. This resulted in an eclectic mixture or fusion of Mon/Dvaravati and Khmer/Chenla cultures at the one site reflected in art and architectural styles as well as in the presence of both Hindu and Buddhist religions.

While many vestiges have been dated by the Thai FAD to the 7th century they are generally atypical of contemporary sites in Cambodia itself. As far as we can ascertain, dating has often been determined by sculptures and artefacts unearthed during excavations, however, the finding of, for example, a Prei Khmeng-style Vishnu sculpture merely confirms that the site was used as a Hindu sanctuary at one time and can not serve to date the structure itself.

Sanctuary styles - and importantly alignments - are unusual to say the least and it appears clear that many 7th-century Hindu temples at Si Mahosot were simply constructed by tweaking existing Dvaravati shrines. The latter likely followed the overall settlement layout - a rough rectangular-shaped area orientated southwest-northeast. The moats and embankments seen today, probably pre-date the Chenla presence and, unlike at certain sites, no attempt seems to have been made to indulge the Khmer penchant for rigid geometry and square and rectangular lines.

The region then appears to have fallen off the Khmer radar somewhat until the later expansionist period of Rajendravarman and Suryavarman I during the late 10th and 11th centuries. Along with the important Khmer site of Jyesthapura in present-day Sa Kaeo (see Muang Phai (Aranyaprathet)), Si Mahosot was likely to have been useful for transport and logistics during efforts to exert Khmer control over Lavodayapura, (Lopburi) and other central Thai sites, although no temple sites have been conclusively dated to this period. (1)

Later period Khmer vestiges are also absent with the notable exception of the Jayavarman VII-period arogyasala of Prasat Sra Morakot. This single site nonetheless proves that an Angkorian presence persisted until at least the early 12th century.

The settlement site itself extends some 800m northwest-southeast by 1600m southwest-northeast and is surrounded by still imposing earthen embankments and moat. The irregular form is typical of Dvaravati settlements and, as noted, many of the temples follow this (c. 65-degree) orientation. As well as vestiges within the city walls a large number of sites are found outside of the embankments. The FAD lists several hundred individual sites in and around the city although we have only listed the more important ones or the sites likely to have Khmer connections.

None of the temple sites are particularly impressive in their own right, (relatively speaking when compared to certain other early settlements), but many of the larger ones have been extensively restored by the FAD and the often forested setting is pleasing. Even fully restored sites rarely rise above 1 or 2 metres as the majority consist of laterite platforms upon which were placed shrines constructed from perishable materials. Although interesting and sometimes picturesque, this is not Sambor Prei Kuk.

Mollerup [1] points to the lack of nearby rivers and waterways as a reason for the inordinate number of small ponds found in and around Si Mahosot but this also appears to have precluded the construction of any typically Khmer-style large barays. Several of the former are however elaborately designed, such as Sra Kaeo and Hua Sra.

A Khmer-period road connects Muang Si Mahosot to Prasat Phan Hin located some 15kms to the northeast and itself seemingly constructed within what is an ancient circular settlement site, while the later Jayavarman VII-era sites at Sra Morakot are situated a few kilometres to the south.

Finally, note that several well-preserved artefacts, including life-sized Vishnu images originating from Si Mahosot, are today displayed at the Prachinburi National Museum and the Bangkok National Museum.


(1) The possible exception being the sanctuary at Prasat Ban Prasat (Prachinburi), some 30kms to the east.


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  • 7th century linga from Muang Si Mahosot, now displayed at the Bangkok National Museum

    7th century linga from Muang Si Mahosot, now displayed at the Bangkok National Museum

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References

  1. ↑ Ancient Khmer Sites in Eastern Thailand

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