Excavations near the historic city of Phetchaburi in Thailand have revealed a rare 9th-century Buddhist temple featuring a circular floor plan, a hallmark of the Dvaravati culture. The temple's foundation is composed of locally sourced laterite bricks, while the exterior walls contain remarkably intact terracotta panels depicting the Dharmachakra (Wheel of Law) flanked by celestial deities and forest animals. This find is significant because circular Dvaravati temples are far less common than their rectangular counterparts.
The central stupa base was found to contain a small silver reliquary shaped like a lotus bud, housing several translucent glass beads. Researchers state that the temple’s architecture shows a unique fusion of indigenous Mon artistic traditions and Indian Buddhist iconography. The discovery suggests that Phetchaburi was a much more central hub for early Buddhist propagation in the Gulf of Thailand than previously hypothesized by historians.