Wat Mahathat's Buddha Head in Roots

Wa Mahathat's Buddha Head Entwined in Tree Roots:




This Buddha head is one of the most recognisable feature of Ayutthaya and Thailand.

It is located in Wat Mahathat in Ayutthaya.

The temple near the Buddha head is believed to have been built around the 14th century but reduced to ruins around 1767 during the invasion of Ayuthaya by the Burmese army.

There are many theories about how he Buddha head became entwined in the roots of this tree. Of these, some are:

1. A thief stole the Buddha head from the temple and hid it near the tree, but never returned to retrieve it. Thieves were common as there were treasure hunters at the site of the temple even after the ruining and abandonment of the temple.

2. The tree simply grew around the head when the temple was left abandoned.

3. A thief stole the Buddha head from the temple but was not able to take it further than the temple walls. So it was left by the wall where a tree grew around it.

The buddha head is now one of the most visited and photographed tourist attraction in Mahathat and also Ayutthaya as a whole. It is intriguing and unusual and definitely one of Ayutthaya's treasures.