As we approached our new destination, I saw elephants with people mounted strolling on the side of the road. There was a whole procession making the scene interesting. Tiny mahouts were sitting on the neck of the elephant and a double chair platform was set on the elephant's back. Elephants walked as the bullock carts straddle in the Indian countryside. The place looked rural. Suddenly there were handicrafts store on the side of the road and an entrance to a festival like set up. In the distance I saw the stone structures rising up in the horizon. We had reached the Ayutthia palace.
The driver asked me if I cared to take an elephant ride and my answer was an eager "yes." The elephants were boarding continuously. One had to ride up to a ten foot platform and then wait for the turn. Maximum of two were allowed per elephant depending on the size of the party. I was single and was asked to sit in the middle. Riding the back of an unstable object needs a bit patience and control. I had to be careful to my glasses, but I did succeed in posting myself properly. Unlike the regular transports, there were no mechanism to absorb the shock of uneven ground. One has to adjust the hand grip position on a horizontal bar attached to the seat to maintain the balance. Perhaps knowing the distress of the riders, the pleasure ride elephants do walk slow! The mahout in front looked small and had tanned unlike the normal Thai people I had seen so far. I saw many of them in the elephant pen feeding the animals and washing their dirt. It takes certain special skills to domesticate an elephant. It could be possible that the elephant trainers were imported along with the animals to the new country. Thailand has its own light colored elephants, but training them is a traditional skill developed through the families and passed from father to son. My elephant suddenly veered to the grassy lawn and stood next to another incoming elephant. It appeared as a friendly meeting on the road. The mahout on the other elephant then asked me if I would like my picture taken. Totally unprepared for this gesture, I passed on my camera to the man. Smart he was, he knew how to operate and showed me my picture on the camera. I found them as video clips. After the camera work done, it was the payment time. I had agreed for 50 Baht (31 Bhat made a dollar) and I took out a 50 Baht bill. Suddenly came a massive sucking air pipe that snooped away the bill from my hand. The trunk did not touch me, the air pressure did the job. I marveled at the design of the elephant trunk. The elephant was trained not to suck the bill in, but deposit it to the person in charge. I had heard that the punishment for misconduct was heavy torture through pointed metal bars. Animals learn to do things to avoid pain. Men also do things in order to avoid starvation! Men make up stories, elephants do not.
The ride was for a small stretch, for about twenty minutes. We returned back to the riding platform and then climbed down the steps. I was greeted by a man showing me a large printed copy of my picture riding the elephant. Our returning mahout had captured this on a different camera without me noticing it. I was not inclined to carry any extra luggage, so I declined the offer. I did small shopping at the souvenir store and proceeded towards the large stone structures a quarter mile away. The area was surrounded by a thirty feet wide moat as the real Ayodhya, described by Valmiki. I walked over an over-bridge and then took the walk way towards a large temple like structure. Gradually vendors and hawkers multiplied including the tourists. It was lunch time. Various food was being cooked and sold. I had to avoid any adventure and settled for some coconut water. I reached the massive temple structure.
A huge statue of Buddha decorated the inner sanctum. Gold color and gold leaves are popular in Buddhist tradition. The Buddha statue was all gold-plated, there were many other smaller statues placed in the shrine. I saw people buying gold colored shawls and offering to a side Buddha. A casually dressed man acted as the facilitator. The shawls were neatly stacked in front of the statue. A family would come, buy a shawl, offer it at the shrine, kneel down, offer prayers and then leave. They would drop some money in a box nearby. The offering did not need a special priest to mediate. The devotee's sincerity is to be appreciated by the Buddha. The Buddha was a rebel against the Hindu orthodoxy!
I took a seat on the bench at the wall and observed the human drama for some time. Big electric fans were hurling air across the hall, but there was heat. I realized that the walls of the Temple were not of stone. There was radiation heat. I had been told the whole place was abandoned because of incursion by the Burmese from the west and due to a poor water supply. Later I saw baked clay bricks in some of the exposed surfaces. The climate of the area would not support baked brick structures. I wished they were made of stone like the other place I saw in the morning.
Walking further, I saw the ruins of a temple complex which seemed like a place of important pilgrimage. I was told that both Hindu and Buddhist places of worship coexisted. The largeness of the complex and its many structures gave the impression of a Hindu place of worship. I went up in some of the steps and saw something that looked like a Sivalinga shrine. It is possible that the Hindu Trinity adored the three temples in the complex.
Walking deeper I reached a location what was called the "palace". Only ruins and some pillars existed. I was told that there was a stable for the elephants and the king moved through the campus riding on the elephant. An Oriya king in Puri is still called "gajapati", a master of the elephant. An Oriya sailor might have taught the locals how to move around on an elephant or might have helped rule the land riding the elephant using his skills and the trading talents.
I purchased lunch from a family who sold me hot corn cakes. They were thin tortilla like objects to be eaten with a sweet filling. I sat down in a shade to soak in the grand setting of the massive place.
