Preah Khan Temple

Preah Khan was built by Jayavarman VII on the site of his victory over the Chams in 1181, and its main image, dedicated in 1191, honoured his father, and it was never only a temple: inscriptions record a community of thousands of officials, dancers and attendants, with a hospital and rest houses, making it a monastic city in its own right. The plan is a long axial sequence of galleries, courtyards and doorways narrowing as they go, so that walking through it is a corridor of diminishing frames. Sandstone carving includes garudas on the outer wall and fine apsaras. A two-storey building with round columns, unique at Angkor and unexplained, stands near the eastern entrance. Conservation has deliberately kept trees and collapse in places rather than clearing everything.

History

Jayavarman VII built Preah Khan, originally Nagara Jayasri, the holy city of victory, on the site of his victory over the invading Chams in 1181, and its main image, Avalokiteśvara in the form of the king's father, was dedicated in 1191. The foundation stele records 430 other deities with shrines here and an institution that was city, temple and Buddhist university at once, with 97,840 attendants and servants, among them 1,000 dancers and 1,000 teachers. Royal support faded around the 15th century; the site was cleared from 1927 to 1932, partly rebuilt by anastylosis in 1939, and since 1991 the World Monuments Fund has looked after it, limiting itself mainly to stabilising the ruins rather than reconstructing them (Wikipedia, Preah Khan).

Highlights

• The narrowing axis - doorways receding in a long diminishing line.
• Trees in the ruins - growth left in place by the conservation approach.
• Garuda wall figures - the giant birds carved around the outer enclosure.
• The columned building - the two-storey structure with no parallel at Angkor.

When to go

November to March is the dry cool season. Early morning avoids both heat and the coach parties that arrive mid-morning on the grand circuit. The temple is large enough to absorb visitors better than the small ones.

Things to know

The temple is large and walking it takes an hour or more over uneven stone and rubble. Some galleries are propped or closed. It is hot and humid by mid-morning. The Angkor pass is required and is expensive.

Nearby

Neak Pean lies east; Angkor Thom is south.

Key facts