Ayutthaya

The iconic and most photographed Buddha is the Buddha entwined in the tree.

With the invasion, by the Burmese army in 1767, many of the statues were vandalized and beheaded.


The site was left abandoned until the early 1950s when the Department of Fine Art of Thailand began their restoration work.

There is no record of how the Buddha's head became entwined in the roots of the tree.


There are many theories one being that after removing the Buddha's head it could not be lifted over the wall. It is believed that the thief hid it among the roots of a tree and either forgot about it or could not find it.