Neak Pean

Neak Pean is unlike anything else at Angkor: a circular island carrying a small tower, set in a square pool with four smaller pools at the cardinal points, the whole thing built by Jayavarman VII in the twelfth century as a representation of Anavatapta, the Himalayan lake whose waters were believed to cure illness. Water flowed from the central pool into the four side basins through carved spouts shaped as a human head, a lion, a horse and an elephant, corresponding to the four elements. Two entwined nagas encircle the island base and give the temple its name, the coiled serpents. It is reached along a raised wooden walkway across a flooded reservoir, which in the wet season is a landscape in itself.

History

Neak Pean was built in the reign of Jayavarman VII as the temple on an artificial island in the Jayatataka baray, the reservoir associated with Preah Khan, and was originally dedicated to Avalokitesvara. It was one of the many hospitals the king built: bathing in its pools was believed to balance the elements in the body and cure disease, and its four side pools, representing water, earth, fire and wind, are fed from the main tank through conduits carved as the heads of an elephant, a horse, a lion and, on the east, a human. Of the four sculptures that once stood in the lake only the horse Balaha survives, and the Chinese envoy Zhou Daguan described Neak Pean during his visit to Angkor in the late 13th century (Wikipedia, Neak Pean).

What you'll find

• The island shrine - a small tower on a circular platform in the pool.
• The four spouts - carved head, lion, horse and elephant outlets.
• Entwined nagas - the serpents circling the island base.
• The walkway crossing - a raised path over the flooded reservoir.

When to go

November to March. The pools hold water at the end of the rains and are often dry by March and April, which changes the visit completely; the walkway approach is best when the reservoir is full.

What to expect

The monument is small and viewed from the edge rather than entered, so the visit takes half an hour. In the dry season the pools are empty and the effect is lost. The walkway is crowded when groups arrive together.

Nearby

Preah Khan lies west; Ta Som is east.

Key facts