Central · Thailand
Phitsanulok · พิษณุโลก
Wat Phra Si Rattana Mahathat — Thailand's most beautiful Buddha image.
- Region
- Central
- Population
- 860,000
- Area
- 10,815 km²
- Stories filed
- 0
About Phitsanulok
History
Phitsanulok was a major power centre during the late Sukhothai and early Ayutthaya periods, briefly serving as the entire kingdom's capital under King Borommatrailokkanat in the fifteenth century. Its principal shrine, Wat Yai (Wat Phra Sri Rattana Mahathat), houses the Phra Phuttha Chinnarat, cast in 1357 and regarded by Thai Buddhists as the most perfect image of the Buddha ever made in Thailand; the flame-like finials of its halo are widely reproduced across the country. The city was also the birthplace of King Naresuan the Great, who expelled the Burmese and reunified the kingdom in the 1590s.
Landscape & geography
The city occupies both banks of the Nan river at the interface between the central plain and the northern highlands, where long-tail boats and river ferries have served as public transport since before the railway arrived. To the east, Thung Salaeng Luang and Phu Hin Rong Kla national parks rise into broadleaf-evergreen forest — Phu Hin Rong Kla was a former Communist Party of Thailand guerrilla stronghold, with the old headquarters, printing presses, and water wheels still visible on guided trails. The province's western districts are flat rice country irrigated by the Nan.
Why visit
Visit the Phra Phuttha Chinnarat at dawn before the crowds: the gold image glows in the morning light as monks chant behind a low screen, and the atmosphere is genuinely devotional rather than touristic. Beyond Wat Yai, the riverside night market and houseboat restaurants on the Nan are pleasantly low-key. Phitsanulok's boat-noodle restaurants along the riverside are a local food institution. Hikers push on to Phu Hin Rong Kla's waterfalls, bat caves, and revolutionary relics; the park is greenest from October through January.
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