Surrounded
by a wall and a moat, Wat Sri Sawai was originally a Khmer Brahmin shrine
but was later converted to a Buddhist monastery. It was built in the 12th
century and was left unfinished when the Khmers were driven out of Sukhothai
in the 13th century. The temple contains three corn cob-like laterite prangs.
The temple was dedicated to Shiva and a bas-relief of Vishnu was discovered
here.
Located
in front of the 20m tall main prang is a viharn, built when the temple
was converted to a Buddhist monastery. Nothing much is left of the viharn
except the walls of the viharn, some ruined columns and a platform.
Here
shown are the walls of the viharn. The walls of the viharn have windows
with narrow slits to keep the interior of the viharn dark and cool. Most
Khmer temples have this feature.
Brahmin
sculpture behind the prangs bear witness to the fact that this was once
a Brahmin temple.
