Wat Nang Phaya

Wat Nang Phaya’s importance has nothing to do with size. This is the temple where the Phra Nang Phaya amulet was found — a clay votive Buddha tablet now ranked among Thailand’s “Benjaphakee,” the five most prized amulet types in the country. For collectors and serious Buddhist practitioners, that makes this modest Phitsanulok temple, on the east bank of the Nan River in Nai Mueang subdistrict, a genuine pilgrimage stop rather than just another old ruin on a sightseeing list.

Temple history credits Phra Wisutthikasat — queen consort of Somdet Phra Maha Thammaracha and mother of King Naresuan the Great — with founding the temple in the mid-16th century, during the same period that nearby Wat Ratchaburana was being restored. At the time, Phitsanulok functioned as a secondary royal city under the Ayutthaya kingdom, which is why a temple this far north carries direct links to the Ayutthaya royal family. The amulets were later recovered from within the temple’s stupa, and their clay-tablet design — a seated Buddha in high relief — became one of the most widely copied and collected forms in Thai amulet culture.

What remains on site today is understated: an old ordination hall and a small twelve-cornered wooden chedi, both formally registered by the Fine Arts Department as historic monuments. There’s no sprawling ruin field to wander — it’s a compact, quiet compound, and most visitors spend well under an hour here.

Insider Tip: If you’re not into amulets, the historical backstory is still worth the short stop — Wat Nang Phaya is one of the few sites in Phitsanulok with a direct, documented connection to King Naresuan’s family, and it gets a fraction of the foot traffic of the city’s bigger-name temples. Pair it with Wat Ratchaburana nearby, restored around the same period, for the fuller picture.