Prasat Sikhoraphum

Prasat Sikhoraphum is a Khmer sanctuary of the twelfth century, Angkor Wat period, built as a Hindu temple to Shiva: five brick towers on a laterite platform surrounded by a moat, with the central tower taller than the four at the corners. What makes it worth the stop is the lintel over the central doorway - a carving of Shiva Nataraja, the lord of the dance, with ten arms, flanked by Ganesha, Vishnu, Brahma and Uma, and above it a row of apsaras and devatas on the door columns. It is among the finest surviving Khmer relief carving in Thailand and is in better condition than most, still in place on the building rather than in a museum. The site was converted to Buddhist use in the sixteenth century, and the tower roofs show Lao influence; the name comes from the Sanskrit shikhara, a temple tower. It is small, takes an hour, sits directly in Sikhoraphum town beside the railway, and is on the Surin Khmer temple circuit with Prasat Ban Phluang and Ta Muen Thom.

Highlights

• The Shiva Nataraja lintel - ten-armed dancing Shiva with attendant deities.
• The five towers - brick on a laterite platform, twelfth century.
• The apsara columns - carved figures flanking the central doorway.
• The moat - the water enclosure around the platform.

When to go

November to February, early or late - the site is open with no shade. An hour covers it. It is beside the railway and reachable by train from Surin.

Practical notes

Small - one platform and five towers. No shade. Ticketed with a higher foreign rate. Interpretation in English is limited. The lintel is the reason to come; the rest is modest.

Nearby

Surin town is west; Prasat Ta Muen Thom and the Cambodian border temples are south.

Key facts