Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Prasat Kravan
South of Banteay Kdei is the simple little
PRASAT KRAVAN
, the Cardamom Sanctuary,
consecrated around 921 during the reign of Harshavarman I and comprising a row of
five brick towers sitting on a low platform - a 1960 restoration left them looking, if
anything, a bit too neat and new, although the exceptional quality of the brickwork
(precisely fitted, and held together using a kind of vegetable glue rather than mortar)
might silence even the most hard-to-impress builder.
Male guardians in niches decorate the exterior of the
central tower
, although more
interesting are the reliefs of Vishnu within - ones shows him mounted on Garuda;
another shows his dwarf incarnation, Vamana, bestriding the universe in three giant
steps; another, a rather worn rendering of Vishnu with eight arms, was probably once
covered in stucco and painted. The northernmost tower is dedicated to Lakshmi, wife
of Vishnu and goddess of good fortune. Inside, an intricate relief shows her bare-
breasted and wearing a pleated
sampot
, flanked by two kneeling worshippers and
surrounded by swags of leaves and dangling pendant motifs.
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Pre Rup
One of Angkor's most impressive monuments - and the undoubted highlight of the
Grand Circuit - the great state temple of
PRE RUP
(built by Rajendravarman and
consecrated to Shiva in around 962) is the archetypal ancient Khmer temple-mountain.
Access it from the eastern side, where five tall
brick towers
stand sentinel overlooking
the road (space was left for a sixth tower, which never got built).
Entering the
first enclosure
you'll see a small stone “cistern” directly in front of you.
Long assumed to be associated with cremations (the name Pre Rup means, literally,
“turning the body”), it's now agreed that this probably formed the pedestal for a statue
of Nandin. Flanking the cistern are a pair of brick libraries, their walls pierced with
unusual slits to aid ventilation. Nearby, in the northeast corner of the enclosure a small,
square, laterite building - open on all sides - once housed a stele. The rest of the
enclosure is largely filled with long halls, now mostly ruined.
Stairways guarded by lions lead up all four sides of the majestic
pyramid
. Twelve
small, symmetrically arranged shrines stand around the lowest level. Five quincunx
towers
stand at the summit, soaring memorably above the surrounding forest canopy.
The two towers on the western side (which once housed statues of Lakshmi and Uma)
feature carved reliefs of female divinities including a female consort of Brahma on the
southwest tower (where you can also make out remnants of the gritty white-lime stucco
that once coated the towers). Carvings of male deities adorn the central and two
eastern towers, once home to statues of Vishnu and Shiva.
East Mebon
Erected in 953 for Rajendravarman,
EAST MEBON
(pronounced “
May
bon”) once stood
on an island surrounded by the waters of the (now dry) East Baray - the broad steps
below each of the four gopuras were originally landing stages, as the temple would only
have been accessible by boat. The temple was actually built by the king for his parents,
although it's closer to the great state temples in style, topped by a cluster of soaring,
closely spaced towers - which would doubtless have looked even more memorable
when seen rising from the waters of the East Baray. Impressive from a distance, the
temple is relatively disappointing close up. Much of it would originally have been
colourfully plastered and painted, although the general effect now is rather bare, the
general austerity relieved only by the finely carved doorways and lintels that decorate
the various gopuras and towers.
Access to the temple is via the eastern gopura, which brings you into the
outer
enclosure
, lined with a series of ruined meditation halls. The western gopura, on the
