Northeastern Thailand - Thailand - page 839

Sights

2 Clock Tower C3

3 Eastern Gate (ruins) C2

4 Meru Bhramathat C3

5 Phimai Historical Park Visitor Center C3

6 Phimai National Museum C1

7 Pratu Chai C4

Sleeping

8 Khru Pom C3

9 Phimai Paradise C2

Eating

10 Night Bazaar C3

11 Rabiang Mai C3

12 Vimaya Purapat Place B2

Sights

Phimai Historical Park
OFFLINE MAP GOOGLE MAP
( 0 4447 1568; Th Anantajinda; admission 100B; 7.30am-6pm) Started by Khmer King Jayavar-
man V (AD 968-1001) during the late 10th century and finished by his successor King
Suriyavarman I (1002-49), Phimai is the largest Khmer ruin in Thailand and is also one of
the most impressive and beautiful. Though built as a Mahayana Buddhist temple, the
carvings also feature many Hindu deities and, as explained in the visitor center OFFLINE MAP
GOOGLE MAP ( 8.30am-4.30pm) , design elements at Prasat Phimai influenced Angkor Wat.
You enter over a cruciform naga bridge , which symbolically represents the passage from
earth to heaven, and then through the southern gate (which is unusual since most Khmer
temples face east) of the outer wall, which stretches 565m by 1030m. A raised passage-
way, formerly covered by a tiled roof, leads to the inner sanctum and the 28m-tall main
shrine built of white sandstone and covered in superb carvings. At the centre of the Prang
Brahmathat , in front of the main shrine, is a replica stone sculpture of Angkor King Jayav-

HISTORICAL SITE