IEM REAP ATTRACTIONS

TEMPLES IN SMALL CIRCUIT

ANGKOR WAT

Angkor Wat (Khmer: អង្គរវត្ត or “Capital Temple”) is a temple complex in Cambodia and the largest religious monument in the world, on a site measuring 162.6 hectares (1,626,000 m²; 402 acres). It was originally constructed as a Hindu temple of god Vishnu for the Khmer Empire, gradually transforming into a Buddhist temple towards the end of the 12th century. It was built by the Khmer King Suryavarman II in the early 12th century inYaśodharapura (Khmer: យសោធរបុរៈ, present-day Agkor), the capital of the Khmer Empire, as his state temple and eventual mausoleum. Breaking from the Shaiva tradition of previous kings, Angkor Wat was instead dedicated to Vishnu. As the best-preserved temple at the site, it is the only one to have remained a significant religious centre since its foundation. The temple is at the top of the high classical style of Khmer architecture. It has become a symbol of Cambodia, appearing on its national flag, and it is the country’s prime attraction for visitors. Angkor Wat combines two basic plans of Khmer temple architecture: the temple-mounntain and the later galleried temple.……CLICK TO READ MORE!

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ANGKOR THOM

Angkor Thom was established as the capital of Jayavarman VII’s empire, and was the centre of his massive building programme. One inscription found in the city refers to Jayavarman as the groom and the city as his bride. Angkor Thom seems not to be the first Khmer capital on the site, however. Yasodharapura, dating from three centuries earlier, was centred slightly further northwest, and Angkor Thom overlapped parts of it. The most notable earlier temples within the city are the former state temple of Baphoun and Phimeanakas which was incorporated into the Royal Palace. The Khmers did not draw any clear distinctions between Angkor Thom and Yashodharapura: even in the fourteenth century an inscription used the earlier name. The name of Angkor Thom—great city—was in use from the 16th century.  The last temple known to have been constructed in Angkor Thom was Mangalartha, which was dedicated in 1295.………..……CLICK TO READ MORE!

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​​​​​BAYON

The Bayon(Khmer: ប្រាសាទបាយ័ន, Prasat Bayon) is a well-known and richly decorated Khmer temple at Angkor in Cambdia. Built in the late 12th or early 13th century as the official state temple of the Mahayana Buddist King Jayavaraman VII ( Khmer: ព្រះបាទជ័យវរ្ម័នទី ៧), the Bayon stands at the centre of Jayavarman’s capital, Angkor Thom ( Khmer: អង្គរធំ). Following Jayavarman’s death, it was modified and augmented by later Hindu and Theravada Buddhist kings in accordance with their own religious preferences.

The Bayon’s most distinctive feature is the multitude of serene and smiling stone faces on the many towers which jut out from the upper terrace and cluster around its central peak. The temple is known also for two impressive sets of bas-reliefs, which present an unusual combination of mythological, historical, and mundane scenes. .……CLICK TO READ MORE!

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​​​​​TA PROM (TOMB RAIDER)

Ta Prohm (KHMER ប្រាសាទតាព្រហ្ម, pronunciation: prasat taprohm) is the modern name of the temple at Angkor, Siem Reap Province, Cambodia, built in the Bayon style largely in the late 12th and early 13th centuries and originally called Rajavihara (In Khmer: រាជវិហារ). Located approximately one kilometre east of Angkor Thom and on the southern edge of the East Baray, it was founded by the Khmer King Jayavaraman II as a Mayana Buddhist monastery and university. Unlike most Angkorian temples, Ta Prohm is in much the same condition in which it was found: the photogenic and atmospheric combination of trees growing out of the ruins and the Jungle surroundings have made it one of Angkor’s most popular temples with visitors. UNESCO inscribed Ta Prohm on the World Heritage List in 1992………CLICK TO READ MORE!

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​​​​​BAPHUON

The Baphuon (Khmer: ប្រាសាទបាពួន) is a temple at Angkor,Cambodia. It is located in Angkor Thom, northwest of the Bayon. Built in the mid-11th century, it is a three-tiered temple mountount. built as the state temple of Udayadityavaraman II. dedicated to the Hindu God Shiva. It is the archetype of the Baphuon style. The temple adjoins the southern enclosure of the royal palace and measures 120 metres east-west by 100 metres north-south at its base and stands 34 meters tall without its tower, which would have made it roughly 50 meters tall. Its appearance apparently impressed Temur Khan’s late 13th century envoy Chou Ta-kuan during his visit from 1296 to 1297, who said it was ‘the Tower of Bronze…a truly astonishing spectacle, with more than ten chambers at its base.’ In the late 15th century, the Baphuon was converted to a Buddhist temple. A 9 meter tall by 70 meter long statue of a reclining Buddha was built on the west side’s second level, which probably required the demolition of the 8 meter tower above..……CLICK TO READ MORE!

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​​​​​ PHIMEANAKAS TEMPLE

Phimeanakas (Khmer: ប្រាសាទភិមានអាកាស, Prasat Phimean Akas, ‘celestial temple’) or Vimeanakas (Khmer: ប្រាសាទវិមានអាកាស, Prasat Vimean Akas) at Angkor, Cambodia, is a Hindu temple in the Khleang style, built at the end of the 10th century, during the reign of Rajendravarman (from 941-968), then completed by Suryavarman I, in the shape of a three tier pyramid as a Hindu temple. On top of the pyramid there was a tower, while on the edge of top platform there are galleries. Phimeanakas is located inside the walled enclosure of the Royal Palace of Angkor Thom north of Baphuon………CLICK TO READ MORE!

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​​​​​LEPER KING TERRACE

TheTerrace of the Leper King(or Leper King Terrace) (Khmer: ព្រះលានស្តេចគម្លង់, Preah Lean Sdach Kumlung) is located in the northwest corner of the Royal Square of Angkor Thom, Cambodia. It was built in the Bayon style under Jayavarman VII, though its modern name derives from a 15th-century sculpture discovered at the site. The statue depicts the Hindu god Yama, the god of death. The statue was called the “Leper King” because discolouration and moss growing on it was reminiscent of a person with leprosy, and also because it fit in with a Cambodian legend of an Angkorian king Yasovarman I who had leprosy. The name that the Cambodians know him by, however, is Dharmaraja,………CLICK TO READ MORE!

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​​​​​ELEPHANT TERRACE

The Terrace of the Elephants (Khmer: ព្រះលានជល់ដំរី) is part of the walled city of Angkor Thom, a ruined temple complex in Cambodia. The terrace was used byAngkor’s king Jayavarman VII as a platform from which to view his victorious returning army. It was attached to the palace of Phimeanakas (Khmer: ប្រាសាទភិមានអាកាស), of which only a few ruins remain. Most of the original structure was made of organic material and has long since disappeared. Most of what remains are the foundation platforms of the complex. The terrace is named for the carvings of elephants on its eastern face.The 350m-long Terrace of Elephants was used as a giant reviewing stand for public ceremonies and served as a base for the king’s grand audience hall. It has five outworks extending towards the Central Square-three in the centre and one at each end. The middle section of the retaining wall is decorated with life size garuda and lions; towards either end are the two parts of the famous parade of elephants complete with their Khmer mahouts….……CLICK TO READ MORE!

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​​​​​TA KEO

Ta Keo had to be the state temple of Jayavarman V, son of Rajendravarman, who had built Pre Rup. Like Pre Rup, it has five sanctuary towers arranged in a quincunx, built on the uppermost level of five-tier pyramid consisting of overlapping terraces (a step pyramid), surrounded by moats, as a symbolic depiction of Mount Meru. Its particularly massive appearance is due to the absence of external decorations, as carving had just begun when the work stopped, besides an elaborate use of perspective effects. It is considered an example of the so-called Khleang style.

Plan of Ta Keo………CLICK TO READ MORE!

KOH KER ATTRACTIONS

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PRASAT THOM (PYRAMID TEMPLE)

Koh Ker is a remote archaeological site in northern Cambodia about 120 kilometres (75 mi) away from Siem Reap and the ancient site of Angkor.

Koh Ker is the modern name for an important city of the Khmer empire. In inscriptions the town is mentioned as Lingapura (city of lingams) or Chok Gargyar (translated as city of or as iron tree forest). Under the reign of the kings Jayavarman IV and Harshavarman II Koh Ker was briefly the capital of the whole empire (928–944 AD). Jayavarman IV enforced an ambitious building program. An enormous water-tank and about forty temples were constructed under his rule. The most significant temple‑complex, a double sanctuary (Prasat Thom/Prang), follows a linear plan and not a concentric one like most of the temples of the Khmer kings. Unparalleled is the 36-metre (118 ft)-high seven‑tiered pyramid, which most probably served as state temple of Jayavarman IV. Really impressive too are the shrines with the two‑meter 6 ft 7 in high lingas.

PRASAT BRAM

The most south sanctuary of this group is the Prasat Pram on the west side of the road. A small (300 metres (328 yd)) long path leads to the monument. It has five towers or prasats (pram = five). Three brick towers stand in a row on the same platform. They face east. The central one is a bit taller than the others. In each of these prasats, once stood a lingam. These and the beautifully carved lintels were looted. Two prasats (faced west) are standing in front of the platform. One is built of brick and has diamond‑shaped holes in the upper part. This fact indicates that this tower once served as a fire sanctuary (fire cults were very important during the era of the Khmer kings). The other building is small, made of laterite and (in comparison with the brick towers) in bad condition. The bricks of small regular size are held together with an organic mortar of unknown composition (plant sap?). Originally the towers were covered by white stucco; remains of it can still be seen. Two of the towers are pictorially covered by roots. The five towers are surrounded by an enclosure. The collapsed entrance door (gopuram) is at the east side. Two artefacts of the Prasat Pram can be seen in the National Museum in Phnom Penh: A damaged lion statue and fragments of a standing four-armed Vishnu.

PRASAT NEANG KHMAU

LINGA TEMPLE (PRASAT LEUNG)

The Prasat Balang is the first of three Linga-Shrines standing along the ring-road. It is a square laterite building standing on a platform and has one doorway and an open roof. In the sanctuary is an impressive lingam standing on yoni. The phallus-symbol is about 2 m (7 ft) high, has a diameter of nearly 1 m (39 in) and a weight of several tons. Together with the yoni it was carved out of the bedrock at this place. The lingam is in a good condition. The yoni is about 1 m (39 in) high and looks like an altar. On all four sides once were carved reliefs. In each of the four corners stood a beautiful chiselled Garudu with raised arms giving the impression these mythical figures would bear the yoni. Unfortunately the reliefs and the Garudas were looted. Around the Yoni there is just a small space giving room for some priests to perform the prescribed rituals. The water they put on the lingam became holy by touching the symbol of Shiva, run down and was collected in a ditch of the yoni. Then via a spout (with is still intact) it flowed to the outside of the shrine where believers could touch the blessed water.

PRASAT KRACHAP

Sometimes written Prasat Kra Chap, today the site has well preserved entrance gate and the ruins of 5 towers arranged in a quincunx. From inscriptions around the doors it has been established that the temple was dedicated in 928 to Tribhuvanadeva, a linga representation of Shiva

ELEPHANT TEMPLE (PRASAT DAMREI)

A small path leads from the ring-road to the Prasat Damrei (damrei = elephant). This sanctuary has an enclosure and stands on a high platform. On each of its four sides is a staircase with about ten steps. Eight stone lions once flanked the stairs but only one remains in its original place. A beautiful elephant sculpture once stood at each of the four corners of the platform but only two remain. The sanctuary is built of brick and is in good condition. A Sanskrit inscription found at the temple offers evidence that an erstwhile lingam was once erected on the top of the pyramid (Prang).

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PREAH VIHEAR  ATTRACTIONS

Preah Vihear (Khmer: ព្រះវិហារ, Preăh Vĭhéar [preah ʋihiə]; lit. ‘sacred sanctuary’) is a province (khaet) of Cambodia. It borders the provinces of Oddar Meanchey and Siem Reap to the west, Kampong Thom to the south and Stung Treng to the east. Its northern boundary forms part of Cambodia’s international border with Thailand and Laos. Its capital is Preah Vihear. The province is named after the temple of Prasat Preah Vihear. The Dângrêk Mountains and the Cambodia/Thailand border are in the north of Preah Vihear province. Preah Vihear is one of the nine provinces that are part of the Tonle Sap Biosphere Reserve.

• Koh Ker complex: Koh Ker was once the capital city of Khmer Empire
• Bakan or Preah Khan Kompong Svay complex: 105 kilometres southwest of the provincial town, built under the reign of King Suryavarman I (1002–1050)
• Noreay Temples: five 7th-century temples made of Sandstone, laterite and brick, 32 kilometres northeast of the town.
• Phnom Pralean temple: a temple built to worship Brahmanism, on top of a 180 metres hill
• Neak Buos temple: 75 kilometres north of Tbaeng Meanchey
• Krapum Chhouk temple: built in the 10th century in laterite and stone, 45 kilometres south of Tbaeng Meanchey
• Kork Beng temple: a ruined laterite and sandstone temple built between 936 and 951 by a commander named Kork on the order of King Jayavarman IV
• Wat Peung Preah Ko: a place of worship in beautiful natural surroundings believed to possess strong supernatural powers.
• Preah Vihear Temple: built in the 12th century, located between Thailand and Cambodia. It was listed as World Heritage Site in 2008.

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Preah Vihear temple

Preah Vihear Temple is located in a pleasant environment with an attractive countryside slightly east of the mid section of the Dongrek Mountains.It is perched on the edge of a giant cliff, about 625 meters above sea level in Preah 

Vihear Province, It is also situated close to the Cambodia-Thai border.The temple has four levels and four courtyards which comprise of five Gopuras ( entrance pavilions some times surmounted by tower ) it built in the 6th century , king Yasovarmamn I ( 889-900) began work on the original dedicated to Shisa as result of spiritual development, increased political prestige and economic growth was naturally reflected in the Temple undergoing more than 300 years of consultation with deal of remodeling under subsequent King Suryavarman II ( 1113 -1150).