Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
has plenty of character, feeling a little like a miniature Ta Prohm without the crowds
(although recent renovations have tidied it up significantly).
The usual approach is from the road to the west of the temple, passing through a
gopura with face tower, over a small moat and into the walled
central enclosure
. he
sanctuary itself is nothing more than a single, crumbling cruciform tower. More
interesting are the numerous niched
apsaras
decorating the wall around the enclosure.
Some of these figures are quite unusual - one is nestling a bird in her hand, while a
couple of others are wringing out their hair after a bath. Have a look, too, at the
gopura on the eastern side of the central enclosure (next to the moat), one of whose
porches has been spectacularly engulfed in a giant strangler fig.
Neak Pean
The beautiful water temple of
NEAK PEAN
(literally “entwined serpents”)
is quite
unlike anything else at Angkor, with a single tower sitting in the centre of a large
pool, connected to four subsidiary pools at the cardinal points. It's really more of a
symbolic water garden than a temple, although what it all originally meant remains
unclear. The most popular theory holds that it represents Anavatapa, a mythical
Himalayan lake whose waters had miraculous curative powers. Zhou Daguan
describes it as “having a central square tower of gold with several dozen stone
rooms”, suggesting that the temple may even have been a kind of spa, with pilgrims
coming to take the waters.
The temple originally stood on an island in the
northern baray
, which still fills up
with considerable amounts of water after rain. To reach the temple you'll have to walk
over the long, raised wooden walkway that connects it with the road to the north,
running through a beautiful area of forest, often flooded. Unfortunately, at present,
barriers prevent you from walking around the temple itself, and you'll have to be
content with a long-range view. The sanctuary tower stands directly ahead - if water
levels are low enough you may be able to make out the steps, formed from coiled stone
serpents, which curl round the base of the tower (hence the temple's unusual name).
Emerging from the waters of the main pool on the east side of the tower is a large
statue of a horse
with people clinging to its sides; legend has it that it's Lokesvara, who
once turned himself into a horse, Balaha, to rescue merchants from ogresses on an
island off Sri Lanka.
3
Preah Khan
Built by Jayavarman VII on the site of an earlier palace, the massive complex of
PREAH
KHAN
(not to be confused with the huge temple-citadel of Preah Khan in Kompong
Thom province) served simultaneously as temple, monastery and university. As the last,
it employed more than a thousand teachers and 97,840 ancillary staff - inscriptions
found here reveal that ten tonnes of rice were delivered daily, enough to feed ten to
fifteen thousand people. However, in 1191 Preah Khan was consecrated as a multi-faith
temple, catering to worshippers of Buddha, Shiva and Vishnu, plus a further 282 gods,
some made in the image of local dignitaries and national heroes; though the main deity
was Lokesvara, made in the likeness of the king's father, and placed in the central
- Buddhist - sanctuary.
THE SACRED SWORD
The
sacred sword
, as the name of Preah Khan translates, is said to have been a weapon
ceremonially passed by Jayavarman II to his heir, and Cambodians still believe that whoever
possesses this sword has the right to the country's throne - many believe a replica of the
sword is kept under lock and key at the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh.
