How little do we know of our neighboring countries and
the impact exerted by Indian culture there. Our knowledge is generally
limited to our Ayodhya in India - the birthplace of Lord Rama and we may
not be aware of how powerful an impact Ayodhya has had on Thailand.
The
Empire of Ayutthaya was a Siamese kingdom that existed in Southeast
Asia from 1351 to 1767, centred around the city of Ayutthaya, in Siam,
or present-day Thailand. It was considered one of the three great powers
of Asia, alongside Vijayanagar of India and China, and is seen as the
precursor of modern Thailand.
The Historic City of Ayutthaya, founded in 1350, was the second
capital of the Siamese Kingdom. While discussing the history of
Ayutthaya, one has broadly the Ayutthaya kingdom, and Ayutthaya town in
mind of, say around 1540 AD.
86 kilometres north of Bangkok, once the capital of the Thai Empire,
Ayutthaya was an impressive city; with three palaces and over 400
temples. The ruins that now remain, many of which have been
painstakingly restored, have been granted World Heritage status by
UNESCO. The architecture of Ayutthaya is an interesting mix of Khmer and
early Sukhothai styles. Some obelisks, called prangs, denote Khmer
influence and look something like the towers of Angkor Wat. The more
pointed stupas are believed to have been influenced by Sukhothai
constructions.
This is an attempt to introduce Ayutthaya to Indian readers.
About the Author
K.J.S.Chatrath joined the Indian Administrative Service
in Odisha in 1967 and retired in 2003. He holds a Ph.D. from the
University of Paris–South, France for his thesis on ‘Indo-French
Diplomatic Relations‘.
He has authored/edited 38 books - primarily on the Indo-French
interface. Out of these, ‘India in the Debates of the French Parliament’
carried a Foreword by His Excellency the French Ambassador in India and
the first copy was received by the Hon’ble President of India. First
copy of his book, ‘Vers La Lumiere: A Study of the French School System’
was received by the Hon’ble Vice President of India. ‘Reminiscences:
Lal Bahadur National Academy of Administration’, of which he was the
co-editor, was released in September 2010 by the Hon’ble Prime Minister
of India. Another of his books ‘Homage to the Brave Labour Force members
of World War-I from Odisha commemorated in Mazargues Military Cemetery,
France’ was released by the Hon’ble Chief Minister of Odisha.
The first copy of another publication ‘Go Greenland,’ was received by
His Excellency the Danish Ambassador in India in 2022. Recently he had
the privilege of being granted an audience with the Hon’ble President of
India to present copies of his four new books on temples of
Bhubaneswar.
Besides France, his other interests are travel and trekking. He has
travelled to 66 countries including Greenland and Iceland and has
visited Antarctica and the Arctic Circle. He stays in Panchkula where
he is busy working on his blog allo.chatrath@blogspot.com. Presently he
is working on two books - on the Indian non-combatants who died in
France during World War-I and a second one about the great contributions
made by some little known Frenchmen in India.
He has visited Thailand twice. All photos in this album were clicked by him. He can be contacted at chatrath@gmail.com.
Book Details
ISBN: 9781637548547
Publisher: Self published
Available on pothi.com, Amazon and Flipkart.
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