Heritage site

Koh Ker

Koh Ker is an archaeological site in Preah Vihear Province, Cambodia, and a tenth-century capital of the Khmer Empire.[1][2] Its full name on the World Heritage List is Koh Ker: Archaeological Site of Ancient Lingapura or Chok Gargyar.[3]

History

The modern name Koh Ker comes from Chok Gargyar. The nomination dossier translates that name as "the ironwood tree," and the Koh Ker temple town history gives "island of glory."[2][4] The city was also called Lingapura, a name of Indian origin meaning "the city of lingas."[2] A linga is the stone emblem of the god Shiva.

King Jayavarman IV established Koh Ker in 921 CE. Before he became king, he began a reservoir and a temple pyramid there for an imperial linga.[1][4] From 921 to 928 CE, Koh Ker and Angkor were rival capitals of the Khmer Empire. In 928, after the death of Ishanavarman II, Jayavarman IV became king and chose to live at Koh Ker rather than at Angkor, then called Yashodharapura.[1][4] Koh Ker was the sole capital until 944 CE, when the political center moved back to Angkor under Rajendravarman II.[1][4] Sources differ on these dates. UNESCO's World Heritage listing gives 921 to 944 CE for the capital, while the National Museum of Asian Art dates Jayavarman IV's rule at Koh Ker and its main monuments to about 928 to 941 CE.[3][5] A UNESCO announcement of 2023 also gives 928 to 941 CE.[6] The scholar Georges Coedès concluded from the inscriptions that Koh Ker was the capital under both Jayavarman IV and Harshavarman II.[4][7]

The sacred city was built in a single phase over 23 years.[1] Inscriptions show that its temples were built between 921 and 937.[4] Most recorded gifts to the temples date from about 928 to 932, and they were mainly land and slaves given to the Devaraja.[4] The new capital had at least 10,000 inhabitants.[7][4] Inscriptions naming Koh Ker as the capital have been found in Siem Reap, Battambang, Kampong Cham and Takeo provinces.[4] The city stood on the empire's main road, which linked Angkor and Beng Mealea with Preah Vihear, Phimai in Thailand and Wat Phu in Laos.[6][4] The hills nearby hold iron, copper and gold ores.[4]

Koh Ker remained in use after it ceased to be the capital. Later kings of Angkor, Rajendravarman II (944 to 968) and Jayavarman V (968 to 1000), added to its temples and shrines.[4] Under Jayavarman VII in the 13th century, a hospital chapel was built at Prasat Andong Kuk, and the linga terrace of Prasat Sralau was reused as a hospital chapel.[4][2] The city was abandoned in the 15th century.[3]

French explorers, among them Lunet de Lajonquière and Étienne Aymonier, were the first Europeans to survey the ruins of Prasat Thom. In the 1880s, members of a French expedition removed many statues and reliefs from Koh Ker, and some are now in the Musée Guimet in Paris.[4][7] Art historians named a distinct Koh Ker style at the start of the 20th century. French researchers counted 50 sanctuaries across about 35 square kilometers (14 square miles) in the 1930s.[4][7] Much of what was known about Koh Ker was destroyed during the Khmer Rouge period.[8] In 2004, NASA satellite research led to a larger protected area, given as 80 square kilometers (31 square miles) by the temple town history and 81 square kilometers by Wikipedia.[4][7] More than 180 monuments are now known.[4][7]

Architecture and layout

Koh Ker lies in broad-leaf forest between the Dangrek and Kulen mountain ranges, on a gently sloping hill about 80 kilometers (50 miles) northeast of Angkor.[3] Hills rise to the east, south and west, and the Steung Sen River runs to the north.[2] The city was believed to follow ancient Indian ideas of the universe, and it is turned 14 degrees clockwise from the cardinal directions.[1][2] No inscription records how it was planned.[2]

The city has no clear boundary or defensive wall. Temples and artificial ponds cluster around Prasat Thom and thin out farther from the center.[2] Dykes on the surrounding hills helped prevent flooding and sent water into ponds and reservoirs used for ritual and daily needs.[2] The water system joins highland dams with lowland reservoirs, canals and terraced fields.[6] The Rahal, the largest artificial pond, measures about 1,140 by 500 meters (3,740 by 1,640 feet) and is three to four meters (10 to 13 feet) deep.[2]

The inscribed property contains 30 temples and sanctuaries, 30 archaeological remains and nine hydraulic structures, the works that held and moved water.[2] It covers 1,187.61 hectares (2,935 acres), with a buffer zone of 3,523.77 hectares (8,707 acres).[2] Other counts cover the wider area. UNESCO gave 169 archaeological remains and 76 temples in 2023, and 127 remains and 76 historic temples in the forest in 2024.[9][10]

Prasat Thom, built in 921 CE, formed the heart of the city. The complex includes Prasat Prang, Prasat Ruom, Prasat Kraham, Prasat Kuk, Prasat Srut, the Tomb of the White Elephant King, a ceremonial pond and linga terraces.[2] Prasat Prang is a stepped pyramid that stands for Mount Meru and Kailash, the mountain homes of the gods. The temple at its summit probably housed a large linga.[2] Wikipedia gives the pyramid seven tiers and a height of 36 meters (118 feet), and UNESCO gives 35 meters (115 feet) above the land around it.[7][8][6] Prasat Damrei held a linga dedicated to a deceased elder brother, and Prasat Andong one honoring several kings.[4] Prasat Kraham, a square brick tower, is the gateway to Prasat Thom. Prasat Ruom is a square terrace with 21 brick towers, two libraries and a moat.[2] The Tomb of the White Elephant King is a man-made mound holding a large stone elephant.[2]

Prasat Banteay Pir Chan was dedicated to Brahma and Prasat Chen to Vishnu. With Prasat Thom they stand for the Trimurti, the three great Hindu gods.[2][4] Prasat Krachap is the second-largest temple complex and the only one joined to the Rahal by a causeway.[2] The Royal Palace lies about 500 meters (1,640 feet) south of Prasat Thom, enclosed by a gallery with a solid outer wall.[2] Three sandstone quarries have been identified as likely sources of the stone.[2]

Art and inscriptions

Koh Ker's monuments were dedicated mainly to Shiva. Other sanctuaries honored Vishnu, Brahma and Ganesha.[4] Jayavarman IV consecrated Prasat Chen to Vishnu and Prasat Banteay Pir Chan to Brahma in 937, and Prasat Krachap was dedicated to Tribhuvanadeva in 928.[4] A Sanskrit inscription at Prasat Thom dated 921 records the installation of the deity Tribhuvaneshvara. A Khmer inscription of the same year records gifts to the Devaraja, a deity linked with royal protection.[4][7] In all, 73 inscriptions have been found in nine temples of the property. They tell of social, economic, cultural and religious life, and they help date the site.[2]

The Koh Ker style is a way of carving marked by bold, expressive figures and a strong sense of movement. It joined Indian religious and artistic symbols with local design and craft.[1] Koh Ker sculpture has unusually massive forms. Statues carved from single stones could weigh more than a ton without their pedestals.[5] Giant figures show scenes from the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, and they are carved fully in the round.[6][2] A strip of wall painting at Prasat Ruom is the only surviving painting of its kind in the property.[2]

Many sculptures were cut from their pedestals and taken, sometimes leaving the feet or lower body behind.[5] The remote site was looted again and again, and UNESCO links the loss of most of its statuary to the Cambodian civil war.[7][8][6] In 2011, a Koh Ker sculpture offered for sale by Sotheby's was found to be stolen.[8] Cambodia appealed for the return of Koh Ker sculptures in 2012, and a growing number have since come home from museums and private collections abroad.[5] The National Museum of Cambodia in Phnom Penh has a gallery for the returned works.[5][6]

Significance and conservation

Koh Ker's city plan and its huge single stone blocks began a centuries-long phase of stone temple building across the Khmer Empire.[1] The Koh Ker style shaped the art of later Khmer periods and of other Southeast Asian countries, and the city inspired later monuments at Angkor and elsewhere.[1] The World Heritage Committee inscribed Koh Ker on the World Heritage List on September 17, 2023, at its 45th session in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, under criteria (ii) and (iv).[7][6][11] It had joined Cambodia's Tentative List on March 27, 2020.[2] As of September 2023 it was one of four Cambodian properties on the list.[6]

The site was not changed or reused after it was abandoned. Its urban plan, temples, royal palace, water systems, sculptures, inscriptions and wall paintings remain in place.[3] UNESCO states that there are no guessed-at reconstructions and that threats to the site are under control.[3] The site remains a place of worship for the local community.[9]

Koh Ker is protected by the Law on the Protection of Cultural Heritage (1996). A 2004 royal decree, NS/RKT/0504/070, amended in 2020, sets the boundaries of the property, its buffer zone and a satellite zone beyond it.[1] The National Authority for Preah Vihear (NAPV) oversees its protection and conservation at both Preah Vihear and Koh Ker. It works against illegal destruction, change, digging, sale and export of cultural objects.[1] The International Coordinating Committee for Preah Vihear advises and monitors the NAPV.[1] NAPV teams work with local communities under a Comprehensive Cultural Management Plan.[3] UNESCO has recommended visitor limits for single monuments and heritage impact studies for proposed developments.[11]

Land mines remained a danger. More than 1,382 mines had been cleared by 2008.[8] In 2022, about 400 hectares (990 acres) were still not fully cleared.[10] At the NAPV's request, UNESCO's Heritage Emergency Fund paid for the Cambodian Mine Action Centre and APOPO to clear the site and its buffer zone with trained dogs and mine-detecting rats. They secured more than 300,000 square meters (74 acres) and found four land mines and three unexploded munitions.[10][6] Afterward, about 140 residents of Sambor, Rom Chek, Kor Ker and North Srayang attended a workshop on preventing looting and the illegal trade in cultural property.[10] A report on disaster risk gave 27 recommendations for the site.[10] As of September 2023, UNESCO was also safeguarding Koh Ker's documentary archives with Japanese funding.[6]

Visiting

Koh Ker is about two and a half hours by road from Siem Reap.[7][8] The site is only partly excavated, and the area has not been fully cleared of mines.[8][7][10] Visits can be made as a day trip from Siem Reap or with an overnight stay.[8]

References

  1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 UNESCO World Heritage Centre
  2. ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 2.16 2.17 2.18 2.19 2.20 2.21 2.22 2.23 unesco, Koh Ker
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 whc.unesco.org, Koh Ker: Archaeological Site of Ancient Lingapura or Chok Gargyar (2024-11-27)
  4. ↑ 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 4.11 4.12 4.13 4.14 4.15 4.16 4.17 4.18 4.19 4.20 4.21 Koh Ker - Temple Town Tours, History of Koh Ker (2004-01-01)
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 National Museum of Asian Art, Koh Ker - National Museum of Asian Art (2024-02-01)
  6. ↑ 6.00 6.01 6.02 6.03 6.04 6.05 6.06 6.07 6.08 6.09 6.10 UNESCO, UNESCO commends Cambodia for the inscription of Koh Ker on the World Heritage List (2023-09-14)
  7. ↑ 7.00 7.01 7.02 7.03 7.04 7.05 7.06 7.07 7.08 7.09 7.10 7.11 Wikipedia, Koh Ker
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 8.7 Travel Outlandish, The Other Angkor: Koh Ker
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 UNESCO, UNESCO and Cambodia Jointly Promote the Safeguarding of Koh Ker (2023-04-20)
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 UNESCO, Chiens et rongeurs font équipe pour le déminage du temple de Koh Ker (2024-07-10)
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 45 COM 8B.8, 45 COM 8B.8 - Decision (2023-06-29)
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This page was last edited on 2 October 2026, at 01:35.