RICHES UNDER THE RUBBLE

       Ayutthaya's golden age still exists under the piles of scorched brick. You just need to know where to look
       "We may be done with the past, but the past ain't done with us."
       The line comes from the 1999 Tom Cruise film "Magnolia", bu Dr Edward Van Roy used it to underline the theme of his recent talk on Auytthaya's history. The visiting fellow at Chulalongkorn University's Institute of Asian Studies was explaining how Thailand's past holds the key to understanding its present and future.
       But few people, he added, take the time to piece together the fragments of history - books, artworks and ruins - to learn its lessons.
       Entering Ayutthaya in the company of Van Roy a day after his lecture, our small group of enthusiastic academics, antique collectors and history buffs was on a mission to solve the jigsaw puzzle of Siam's old capital.
       Ayutthaya, an hour's drive north from Bangkok, rose to become Indochina's most powerful kindom before being razed to ground by the Burmese in 1767, As we walked through the scroched ruins of its Grand Palace, Van Roy began put "flesh" on the "bones" of the ruins, resurrecting the old capital's past glory in our mind's eye.
       He started by explaining the significance of the mandala, the sacred symbol that forms the spiritual blueprint for many ancient Asian cities. This invisible foundation is based on principles of centricity, concentricity, radiation, boundedness, orientation, hierarchy, and symmetry - all salted with a liberal sprinkling of pragmatism.
       Centricity, we learned, means separate sites vying for position. Concentricity, on the other hand, defines buildings and spaces organised according to a hierarchy of power that radiates from a sacred centre. Boundedness is seen in the quarters or districts defined by moats, walls and gates.
       In Buddhism, orientation is a crucial aspect in the building of temples. Temples invariably face east - unless practical considerations dictate otherwise. On the other hand, images linked with death, such as reclining Buddha images, traditionally face west. Our vision thus adjusted, the life of ancient Ayutthaya began to swim into focus.
       Van Roy emphasisted that to see the palace merely as a building obscured its life as a busy residential, ceremonial and administration were gathered, a ceremonial area, and an interior that housed the women and children of the court.
       The original palace built by King U Thong (1351-1369) was severely damaged by fire in 1426. King Trailokanat (1448-1488) built Wat Phra Si Sanphet in the old palace further north.
       Most tourists are too overwhelmed by the imposing chedis of Wat Phra Si Sanphet to notice the sign that reads Ayutthaya Royal Palace, so few venture into the palace grounds to find out what's there.
       But Van Roy ignores the monuments and makes straight for the mounds of red brick that were once the palace forecourt. Using them as a guide to our imaginations, he helps us reconstruct the structures that once occupied the entire length of the east side of the palace: Sanam Na Chakrawat (an esplanade used for military exercises, entertainments and royal processions), Chakrawat Phaichayon Maha Prasat (a three-gabled royal viewing pavilion), Sala Lukkhun (the ministerial council pavillion) and Sala Mahadlek (the royal pages' pavilion).
       We ventured further through the remnants of its once mighty walls into the former royal ceremonial centre. The large mounds of brick within mark all that's left of three major throne halls originally built by King Trailokanat but rebuilt repeatedly by later kings.
       Each throne hall was built in a prasat - style cruciform formation topped by a crown-like spire.
       To the modern visitor's untrained eye, there's just a vast space cluttered with brick foundations, but Van Roy explained how the roof, gleaming with tin tiles and topped with sparkling golden spries, once offered a celestial vision to the populace. The aim was to replicate the shining palace of the god Indra atop Mount Meru.
       Each of the major throne halls was divided into public and private areas. The forward chambers where used for state functions (receptions for foreign dignitaries, presentation of tributes, audiences with the nobility, the swearing of the oaths of allegiance) while the rear chambers were reserved as the royal family's private residence.
       The remainder of the spce within the palace walls was taken up by gardens. Here the influence of fashions from the West were evident in a huge water tower, fountains and lotus ponds that were constructed by French engineers in the 17th century.
       Walking across the turf from which the old gardens had sprung, I noticed an archaelogical dig going on in one corner. Directed by the Department of Fine Arts, the work is proof there is still more to discover and learn from Ayutthaya's Grand Palace.
       The past ain't done with us yet.