South East Asian Trips

Prasat Phnom Krom is approximately 12 Km (7 .4 miles) southwest of Siem Reap near the north end of the Tonle Sap Lake. It is located on a mountain 137 meters (449 feet) highs. Climb the steep stairs and curved curved path through a modern temple complex at the top of the hill. The walk affords a fine view of the lake and surrounding area.

Preah Khan, the Beguiler, the Romancer, and the artist... it is an entrancing mystery deep in the jungle, soft and alluring in the twilight made heavy verdure, accessible only to the ardent lover of past days who is gifted with agility. They may have been courtyards where high priests gathered and guardians slept, but now they are walled bowers over which the trees extend to heaven's blue.... It all seems a wondrous mass of beauty tossed together in superb confusion.

Prasat Preah Khan is north of Angkor Thom and west of Neak Pean. A enter and leave the temple from the west entrance (the description, however, begins at the east, the principal entrance). It is recommended you allow plenty of time for seeing this monument for 'there are delicious spots in which to stay still ' The world Monument Fund is in the process of clearing and repairing this temple to give visitors a better understanding of its original form.

It was built in second half of the 12th century (1191) by king Jayavarman VII, dedicated to the father of the king (Buddhist), with following to Prasat Bayon art style.

Background : Four causeways lead to the temple and are bordered by the same figures (giants and gods carrying a serpent as are found at the entrances to the city of Angkor Thom (not shown on the plan). This architectural element was the mark of a royal city. The absence of towers with faces such as those found at other temples built by the same king suggests Preah Khan is earlier. It may have served as a temporary residence of King Jayavarman VII while he was rebuilding the capital after the Chams sacked it in 1177. Preah Khan shares similarities with the temple of Ta Prohm. The main elements are contained in a small space giving a cramped feeling. Much of the temple is in poor condition but even restored it would seem architecturally complex.

An inscription found in 1939 indicates Preah Khan was the ancient city of Nagarajayacri. the second part of the name, Jayacri , is the Thai word for sacred sword, the meaning of Preah Khan. The sacred sword has a long history in Khmer tradition as in the late in the century Jayavarman II left his successor a sacred sword, the Preah Khan , which descendants still guard. Coeds, though, suggests that the legend of the sacred sword may have originate with the Thais who still call their sacred sword ' Jayacri '

Layout : Preah Khan comprises a vast area of 140 acres (56.7 hectares) and four enclosing walls. The buildings are enclosed by a rectangular wall 700 by 800 meters (2,296 by 2,624 feet) and surrounded by a moat ( not shown on the plan). Inside is a labyrinth of pavilions, halls and chapels.

A processional way with stone markers displaying the head of a mythical monster and a niche, which originally contained a seated Buddha, precedes a causeway bordered by gods and demons holding a serpent, which leads to an outer enclosing wall.

Giant Garudas and serpents and serpents are seen in relief on the laterite wall, a motif that is reproduced every 50 meters (164 feet) around the three Km (1.9-mile) long wall. The entry tower at the east has three porches and the center one forms a passage to the temple (not shown on the plan). The walls decorated with a tapestry pattern with a base of scrolls, small female divinities and false windows with lowered blinds.

On the right of the avenue leading to the enclosing wall are the remains is a rest house for pilgrims, as described in the inscription of the temple (not shown on the plan). They have thick walls and windows with a double row of balusters.

The Second Enclosure : The second enclosure (1) is preceded by a large terrace with two levels; lions and serpent balustrades lead to an imposing entry tower five doors and two end pavilions (2). It connects to galleries with columns on the exterior and a wall with false windows and false windows and balusters on the interior (toward the courtyard).

Inside the second enclosure marked by a laterite wall is a courtyard in the shape of a cross (3) with four smaller courtyards surrounded by galleries with columns. Traces of vaults are visible and above the bays are friezes of Apsaras this area is known as the hall of Dancers.

On the right there is a series off large thick pillars set close together on two levels. The function of this double story building (4) is unknown, although some archaeologists suggest it may have been a library and no trace of a stairway between the two floors has been found. Others believe it housed the sacred sword after which the temple was named. On the opposite side there is a long terrace (5) raised on laterite retaining wall.

It is the night of a feast the birthday of a king or the holiday of a god. Fires are burning in Pra Khan and in Ta Prohm and Bantei Kedei. There is a ruddy glow in the sky above Angkoe thom, and the pyramid of the eastern Meborn is inverted flame in the still water of the Baray. And the close packed millions of the people of Angkor are in the roads with torches in their hands. Patterns of light weave across the blackness of the plain. Streams of fire are flowing in weird channels, welding at the unseen crossroads and spreading out in dazzling tapestries in the temple courts.

RJ Casey, Four, Four Faces of Siva: the Detective Story of a Vanished Race (George G Harrap, London, 1929). Return to the central artery and continue walking across the dancing hall and into a courtyard. On the left and right there are libraries (6) opening to the west. The next gallery is finely decorated with female and male divinities in high relief framing the bays and a frieze of Buddha images separated by flying figures with Garudas in the corner. Through two enclosing walls (7and 8), there is a stone stele in a portico to a central shrine (9). It is inscribed on each of the four faces.

Central Sanctuary : The Central Sanctuary (10) divides the courtyard into two unequal sections. The main tower with four porches is in the shape of a cross. The center of the interior is marked by dome-shaped stone mound that tapers to a point (sixteenth century). This is a good vantage point from which to see the perspective of rooms and galleries in the cardinal directions and the interplay of light and shade.

A stroll to the south of the Central Sanctuary, from where one can see the surrounding jungle, is most pleasant. A walk to the north, from where a causeway bordered by gods and demons is visible, is equally rewarding. The entry tower on the north side (11) is framed by trees. the main porch of this entrance is preceded by large guardian figures and a terrace in the shape of a cross. Return to the Central Sanctuary and continue to the west. the structures on the left and right (120 in the courtyard were probably funerary chapels or family vaults. the entry tower of the enclosure at the west is in the shape of a cross with pillars and aisles (13),