Cambodia - The Rough Guide to Southeast Asia on a Budget - page 94

Jayavarman VII originally built Ta
Phrom as a Buddhist monastery, although
Hindu purists have since defaced the
Buddhist imagery. he temple was once
surrounded by an enclosed city. An
inscription found at the site testifies to its
importance: more than twelve thousand
people lived at the monastery, maintained
by almost eighty thousand people in the
surrounding villages.

around the fourth tier, and above you on
the summit is the well-preserved central
sanctuary - if you're wondering why it's in
such good condition, it's because it was
rebuilt in 1941.
Return to the main road for the
sanctuary of Lolei , built by Yashovarman I
on an artificial island. Its four collapsing
brick-and-sandstone towers are only
worth visiting for the Sanskrit inscriptions
in the door jambs that detail the work
rosters of the temple “slaves”; a few
carvings remain but are badly eroded.

2

Banteay Kdei
Southeast of Ta Phrom and one of the
quieter sites in this area, Banteay Kdei is a
huge twelfth-century Buddhist temple,
constructed under Jayavarman VII. It's in
a pretty poor state of repair, but the
crumbling stones create an interesting
architecture of their own. Highlights are
the carvings of female divinities and other
figures in the niches of the second
enclosure, and a frieze of Buddhas in the
interior court. Opposite the east entrance
to Banteay Kdei is the Srah Srang or
“Royal Bath”, a large lake which was
probably used for ritual ablutions.

Banteay Srei
Further afield, the pretty tenth-century
temple of Banteay Srei is unique among its
Angkorian peers. Its miniature proportions,
unusual pinkish sandstone and intricate
ornamentation create a surreal effect,
enhanced by its astonishingly well-
preserved state. he journey to the site,
about 30km northeast of Angkor Wat,
takes about an hour. Tour groups start
arriving en masse from 8.30am, and
because of its small size, it gets crowded
quickly - arriving earlier than this, or later
in the afternoon (after 3/4pm), helps avoid
the crowds.
From the entry tower, across the moat,
the tops of the three intricate central
towers and two libraries are visible over
the low enclosure wall, their rose-pink
sandstone a surreal sight against the green
backdrop of the jungle. Inside, the
enclosure is a riot of intricate decoration
and architecture, with wall-niches housing
guardian divinities enclosed in carved
foliage and panels extravagantly decorated
with scenes from Hindu mythology.

Roluos group
Due east of Siem Reap close to the small
town of Roluos are three of Angkor's
oldest temples: Bakong , Preah Ko and
Lolei . he relics date from the late ninth
century, the dawn of the Angkorian era,
and a time when the emphasis was on
detail rather than size.
South of National Route 6, the first
temple you come to is Preah Ko , built by
Indravarman I as a funerary temple for
his ancestors. It's in poor condition, but
is charming; the highlights are the six
brick towers of the central sanctuary,
which sit on a low platform at the centre
of the inner enclosure.
Cambodia's earliest temple-mountain,
Bakong is made up of five tiers of solid
sandstone surrounded by brick towers.
Entering from the east across the
balustraded causeway you'll come into the
inner enclosure through a ruined gopura ;
originally eight brick towers surrounded
the central sanctuary, but only five remain
standing. In the heart of the enclosure is
a five-tiered pyramid. Twelve small
sanctuaries are arranged symmetrically

Western
Cambodia
he flat plains fanning out from Phnom
Penh and stretching all the way to the
border with hailand are the nation's
agricultural heartland - Battambang
province is popularly known as the
“rice-bowl” of Cambodia on account of
its fertile rice-paddies and other tropical