Published caption : Wat Bot Samsen was built on an 8 rai plot, next to what is now Samsen Road, some time during the Ayutthaya period. Luang Phor Sukkasem, the principal Buddha statue in the old ordination hall — which is now used as a vihara (prayer hall) — is fashioned in a style popular during the Ayutthaya period. In 1807, the poet Sunthorn Phu mentioned Wat Bot Samsen in his literary travelogue Niras Phra Phutthabat . The old ordination hall is made of brick fashioned into the shape of a Chinese junk. The murals decorating its interior walls also date back to the Ayutthaya period; they portray the Lord Buddha subduing Mara and descending from heaven, chronicle 10 of his past lives, and also depict the gathering of the deva (guardian spirits). The upper parts of the front and rear exterior walls are adorned with stuccowork depicting the Sun and the Moon as deities. Also outstanding is the centuries-old Sala Kan Parian, a pavilion with a two-tiered roof and stained-glass windows.