Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The temple was restored in 1935 and is in good condition, as are its numerous
carvings
, with finely carved devatas (female deities) in jewellery and headdresses on the
exterior walls of the sanctuary, and further carvings adorning the mandapa including
Vishnu on Garuda (inside on the eastern lintel) and Ravana shaking Mount Kailash
(over the south doorway). Vishnu reappears on the north pediment of the eastern
gopura, holding a foe by the hair, while the smaller western gopura has pretty door
columns with tiny praying figures enclosed in a swirl of foliage.
Chau Say Tevoda
The sister temple to Thommanon, just over the road,
CHAU SAY TEVODA
was another
creation of Suryavarman II, although dating from the end of his reign rather than the
beginning. Originally even more elaborate than its sibling across the road, it's now
badly eroded, and ugly lumps of grey concrete have been used to patch together the old
stonework in places, with unfortunate effect.
The basic
layout
is similar to that at Thommanon, comprising a central sanctuary-
plus-mandapa enclosed within a wall (now mostly disappeared) with four gopuras at
the cardinal points; in addition, a pair of libraries stand either side of the mandapa.
Nowadays visitors approach from the road on the north side, although originally the
main approach was from the east across the impressive raised
causeway
with octagonal
columns that you can still see today, although it now leads nowhere in particular.
Most of the temple's elaborate
carvings
are badly worn, although a few reasonably
preserved examples survive here and there, including some rich floral decorations on
the mandapa and a couple of disfigured devatas
with their faces bashed off.
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Spean Thma
Just 200m east of Thommanon and Chau Say Tevoda is the ancient bridge of
Spean
Thma
, built using carved sandstone from nearby temples. Once spanning the Siem Reap
River, the bridge is now rather stranded, the river having shifted its course. If you step off
the road you'll be able to spot mismatched carvings on some of the stones, which were
probably recycled from elsewhere when the bridge was rebuilt in the sixteenth century.
Ta Keo
At the western end of the East Baray reservoir stands
TA KEO
, the imposing state temple
of Jayavarman V - an austere mountain of stone in the style of Baphuon and Pre Rup,
topped with the usual quincunx of closely spaced towers. The temple was begun
around 975 but never finished - legend has it that construction was abandoned after
the temple was struck by lightning, an unlucky omen. Constructed entirely of
sandstone, Ta Keo is practically undecorated; some sources say that the particular
sandstone used is exceptionally hard and too di
cult to carve, although fine (though
weathered) floral carving around the base of the pyramid seems to contradict that.
Four sets of steep steps at the cardinal points climb up to the small
outer enclosure
,
its eastern side almost completely filled by two long and narrow hallways decorated
with baluster windows.
From here, further steps lead up into the slightly larger
inner enclosure
, enclosed by a
narrow, cloister-like
gallery
(although only the base remains in places). This is the
earliest example of what would subsequently become a recurrent feature of Khmer
architecture, although unusually the gallery appears to be completely lacking in doors,
suggesting that it served a purely decorative function. Two well-preserved
libraries
flank
the steps on the enclosure's eastern side, their upper storeys decorated with false
windows, and with a further pair of unidentified stone buildings next to them, tucked
into the corners of the enclosure.
