Preah Khan, the sacred swordKing: Jayavarman VII
Date: 1191
Religion: Buddhist
Access: At the east and west side.
Preah Khan is a large temple complex mostly hidden from the view if you pass by on the main road. For some reasons it is not visited often, probably because everybody is passing it on their way to Ta Prohm. A visit to Preah Khan is however very interesting. The architecture is pretty complicated, and the style is quite different from other sites. It has the customary outer wall with large gates, but the main temple is no temple mount, and one building (marked red in the map) with round colums looks like the Romans must have visited
here. Take at least a few hours to visit this site as it is bigger as it seems, the outer walls are some 800 metres in length. They are not shown in the plan above.
At the inside of the walls you will find reliefs of giant serpents and 7 meter high Garudas, the largest to be found in any temple in the region.
Prah Khan looked a bit like Ta Prom, with large figtrees towering over the ruins. Some time ago Preah Khan was declared a World Monument and extensive restoration is taking place. It will take quite some time before the work is finished. However, the site is so large that it is was not closed to the public, and there is plenty to admire here.
Most of the trees have gone, as has the smaller vegetation which had reclaimed the site after an earlier restoration had to be abonded in 1972, when the civil war forced all foreigners out of the country. Some bases of trunks are still standing, including a big one appearantly struck by lightning.