Historic temple’s deja vu disaster: Second blaze ravages Wat Ratchabantom in Ayutthaya

As a blaze ravaged the 400 year old Wat Ratchabantom temple in Ayutthaya Province for the second time, the rear roof structure of its chapel, the principal Buddha statue, and various other sacred artefacts suffered significant damage. Police are currently investigating the cause of the fire, which broke out yesterday following a previous blaze.

The inferno yet again erupted in the chapel, particularly consuming the timber and tile structure of the rear roof. It reportedly took about 20 minutes for firefighters to bring the situation under control. Parian Chakornthammasopol, the abbot of Ratchabantom temple, narrated the events, detailing that the afternoon blaze began within the chapel but was rapidly restrained.

The preliminary damages included the charred roof beams of the chapel, made of wood and the heat-induced peel-off of the chapel’s wall paint. Furthermore, the principal Buddha image, as well as numerous Buddha statues housed within the chapel, were badly affected by the intense heat of the blaze. Various chapel contents were also caught in the destructive wave of the fire, reported KhaoSod.

Local law enforcement cordoned off the area within the chapel immediately after the incident to allow investigative officers to inspect the scene and establish the root cause of the fire. In the wake of the blaze, the temple arranged for village residents and monks to keep vigil and guard the chapel.

However, in the small hours of the morning, while preparing for the morning prayer session and subsequent almsgiving ritual, the monks observed another flare-up of fire on the chapel’s roof. Upon sighting this, they immediately alerted fire services to put out the blaze, hypothesising that residual heat might have sparked this second outbreak.

Three days ago, a devastating blaze engulfed a large paper recycling factory in Bang Pa-In, Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya, causing damage estimated to be above 30 million baht. Over 1,000 tonnes of stacked paper served as significant fuel for a blaze that took over two hours for firefighters to subdue. To read more click HERE