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Wat Sangkrajai (Thai:วัดสังข์กระจาย), an ancient temple in Bangkok located on the north of Khlong Bangkok Yai, is a third-class royal temple of the "Woravihara" grade.
Tan Chao Khun Phra Ariyasilajarn Wan, the abbot of Wat Sangkrajai in the reign of King Rama V, recorded that the elderly said Wat Sangkrajai was presumably built between the end of Ayutthaya Kingdom and the beginning of Thonburi Kingdom. Seated besides the river bank, the flood often caused damage to the temple, and many high, thick trees grew in its neighborhood. The temple became abandoned in the war.
In the end of Thonburi Kingdom, a pious Buddhist named "Sang" was a government official and intended to build a temple. He consulted with his friend and asked him to provide a lumber. Sang put the lumber into the river and made a wish that the temple would be built on the location where the lumber stopped. The lumber floated and indeed stopped in front of a land, which is the place of the vihara of Wat Sangkrajai now.
Sang decided to build a temple there, but the construction work was too formidable to be finished by himself. At that time, a palace maid named "Jai", who was a servant of King Rama I's consort, came to a garden near the temple-building place to care the garden. "Sang" and "Jai" became friends and promised to build the temple together. "Jai" informed the king consort of this news, and requested the help from the consort, who donated a big amount of money to build monks' rooms and asked King Rama I to granted the "Wisungkhamasima" (Thai: วิสุงคามสีมา, land for establishment of central hall).
King Rama I, thinking that the temple was not imposing enough to be a temple sponsored by a king consort, ordered craftsmen to build the ubosot (ordination hall) and monasteries. Legend has it that a Phra Sangkajai statue and a cone shell, which in Thai is is pronounced the same with the temple builder "Sang", were dug out during the construction work of the ubosot. The cone shell got damaged, while the Phra Sangkajai statue remained intact. King Rama I took the event as an auspicious sign and gave the name "Wat Sangkrajai" to the temple. Coincidently, names of the builders "Sang" and "Jai" sound alike the temple name "Wat Sangkrajai". The Phra Sangkajai statue is now placed in the ubosot.
Wat Sangkrajai is famous for editing the highly valued Chuchok story of "Vessantara Jataka" (Thai: มหาเวสสันดรชาดก, Maha Wetsandon Chadok, telling the story of one of Buddha's past lives). It was said that Somdet Kromma Phra Paramanujit Jinoros, the 7th Supreme Patriarch of Thailand, had taken the mission of editing the Vessantara Jataka, and praised that the chapter of Chuchok story was finely edited by Wat Sangkrajai.
The Vessantara Jataka published by the Ministry of Education has a footnote "Edited by Wat Sangkrajai" in the chapter of Chuchok story. In 2350 BE (AD 1807), Phra Thep Muni Dung, a monk of Wat Sangkrajai, visited the royal palace to explain the Chuchok story for King Rama I.
In 2325 BE (AD 1782), King Rama I upgraded the class of Wat Sangkrajai. In 2332 BE (AD 1789), the front place of the royal palace was struck by lightning and got fire, the king invited members of the Sangha Council to hold the misfortune-dispelling ritual, and three monks of Wat Sangkrajai were listed. It was evident that Wat Sangkrajai was regarded as an important royal temple in the reign of King Rama I.
Source: http://www.watsangkrajai.com
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