Preah Khan Kampong Svay

Preah Khan Kampong Svay (ព្រះខ័ននៅកំពង់ស្វាយ) is a large Angkorian temple complex in Preah Vihear Province, Cambodia, begun in the 11th century. Its original name, Bakan, refers to a high tower or citadel. It is a different temple from the Preah Khan at Angkor.

Illustration inspired by the temple's walls and gateway in dry forest.

Heritage site details
Khmer name	ព្រះខ័ននៅកំពង់ស្វាយ
Also known as	Prasat Bakan
Site type	Temple
Location	Preah Vihear province
Country	Cambodia
Period	11th century
Subjects	Religion & Spiritual Life; History & Remembrance

History

The complex was built under three kings: Suryavarman I (1011 to 1050), Suryavarman II (1113 to 1150) and Jayavarman VII (1181 to 1215). Some French scholars argued that it was founded in the 11th century, probably by Suryavarman I. The main sanctuary and the outer enclosure are thought to date from his reign, and the second enclosure from the time of Suryavarman II. The third enclosure, the completion of the fourth and the baray, or great reservoir, are credited to Jayavarman VII. Lonely Planet dates some structures to the ninth century.

The complex was a royal residence in the reign of Suryavarman II. In the late 12th century, Jayavarman VII used it as a military outpost during his wars with the Cham. Scholars, among them Mitch Hendrickson and Damian Evans, have seen it as a Khmer kingdom, an independent state, a trading post or a defensive center. The pottery found there, including stoneware, earthenware and imported porcelain, shows that people lived in the area from the 11th to the 17th century.

Upkeep of the temples and waterworks stopped around the middle of the 14th century. From that time, sediment in the baray shows widespread burning, which may mean that the Khmer left and local groups put the complex to new use. The site was fully abandoned in the late 14th or 15th century.

The explorer Louis Delaporte visited and studied the ruins in 1873. With the agreement of the Cambodian king, he sent reliefs and stone sculptures to France. They were shown at the Indochinese Museum of the Trocadéro and moved to the Musée Guimet in Paris in 1927. In 1937, aerial surveys by Victor Goloubew revealed the true size of the complex.

Many artifacts and reliefs were stolen in the 1970s and 1980s. In the mid-1990s the central structure was still in fairly good condition. In the second half of the 1990s, looters searching for statues under the towers damaged many structures and caused many towers to fall. The central tower collapsed during a looting attempt in 2003.

Architecture and layout

The complex stands in Sangkum Thmei commune. Sources place it about 100 kilometers (62 miles) east of Angkor (Wikipedia), about 105 kilometers (65 miles) east (UNESCO) and about 50 miles (80 kilometers) east (Archaeology Magazine). Four concentric enclosure walls surround temples of brick, laterite and sandstone. Laterite is a red, iron-rich building stone.

Figures for its size differ. Wikipedia gives about 22.5 square kilometers (8.7 square miles), with an outer enclosure of more than 22 square kilometers. UNESCO gives the fourth enclosure as about 5,000 by 5,000 meters (3.1 by 3.1 miles), with a triple bank and double moat. German Wikipedia gives each side of the outer enclosure as more than four kilometers (2.5 miles), and Lonely Planet gives the complex as almost 5 square kilometers (1.9 square miles). Most Khmer temple sites face east, but this one is aligned to the northeast.

Three great waterworks served the complex: the moat of the fourth enclosure, the baray and the lake of Boeng Krom. Wikipedia gives the baray as about 2.8 kilometers by 750 meters (1.7 miles by 2,460 feet), and UNESCO as about 600 by 3,000 meters (1,970 by 9,840 feet). It crosses the eastern side of the complex and is now almost dry, apart from a larger lake in its eastern part. Boeng Krom, also called Boeng Sre, lies in the north of the compound between the third and fourth enclosures.

Preah Thkol, also called the Mebon, is a sandstone temple on a cross-shaped plan with a central tower. It stands on an artificial island at the center of the baray. On the western side of the baray, Prasat Preah Stung has a central tower with four faces in the Bayon style. A landing stage with naga balustrades, railings in the form of serpents, stands before it. A laterite causeway links Prasat Preah Stung to a central enclosure of 701 by 1,097 meters (2,300 by 3,599 feet). Prasat Preah Damrei is a pyramid temple on the east bank of the baray, with elephant statues at the corners of its top terrace, like those at the East Mebon at Angkor. Two elephants remain there, and two others are in the National Museum of Cambodia and the Musée Guimet. Prasat Kuk, a fire shrine, stands within the complex.

The central sanctuary stood on a two-tier platform inside a laterite enclosure. It had entrances on all four sides and was surrounded by a gallery with windows.

Art and inscriptions

The temple was a Mahayana Buddhist site linked to the idea of the pure land, a Buddha's realm of rebirth. The five cosmic Buddhas, Vairochana, Ratnasambhava, Amoghasiddhi, Amitabha and Akshobhya, appear on lintels and other parts of the buildings. Prasat Chaktomuk holds a standing Buddha image 9.5 meters (31 feet) high that faces the four directions. UNESCO calls it the only example of its kind left in Cambodia and a symbol of a god protecting the city. At Prasat Preah Stung, Lonely Planet identifies the four faces as Avalokiteshvara.

Each corner of the central tower has three tiers of carving. The upper tier shows a three-headed hamsa, or sacred goose, Garuda and a three-headed elephant, Airavata. These motifs had not been found before in Khmer art. Other images include a lion striding forward and, at Prasat Damrei, an elephant with the feet of a Garuda.

Many well-known Khmer sculptures came from the site, among them a head thought to be Jayavarman VII, now in the National Museum of Cambodia. Wikipedia counts its sculptures and carvings among the peak works of Khmer art.

Iron and the Royal Road

From at least the 12th century, the complex was a way station on the eastbound Royal Road, which ran from Angkor Thom through Beng Mealea to Preah Khan Kampong Svay. UNESCO names ten way-station temples along this road, among them Chou Say Tavoda, Thommanon, Banteay Samre and Beng Mealea. Way-station temples and fire shrines stood about 15 kilometers (9 miles) apart along the road network. Bridges found east of the site suggest the road may have gone farther east.

The complex was also a center of iron mining, smelting and working. It lies about 20 miles (32 kilometers) from Phnom Dek, whose name means "iron mountain," Cambodia's largest source of iron oxide. Surveys have found about 18 places with traces of metalworking, mostly around Boeung Krom and between the outer enclosures. Some scholars see the complex as an industrial city that supplied iron to Angkor. Mitch Hendrickson credits part of its wealth to its place between the smelters of Phnom Dek and Angkor.

The dates of smelting differ. Wikipedia gives the mid-13th century from the study of slag, after the complex was finished. Samples reported by Archaeology Magazine in 2020 place the start in the early 15th century. The smelters of Phnom Dek were Kuay people. The Kuy, as UNESCO writes the name, still live around the complex and have a long tradition of making iron tools for Khmer kings. Kuay furnaces used until the mid-20th century followed smelting recipes like those of the furnaces of Preah Khan's time, and both used bamboo to shape the furnace, though they drew on different ore.

Significance and conservation

Wikipedia calls Preah Khan Kampong Svay the largest single religious complex built in the Angkorian era, and Lonely Planet the largest temple enclosure of that period. The archaeologist Mitch Hendrickson has called it the largest construction the Khmer ever built, larger than Angkor Thom. UNESCO presents it as a provincial city linked to Angkor by the Royal Road, where road, ironworks and temples fit together in one plan.

The site was first proclaimed for Cambodia's Tentative List for World Heritage on September 1, 1992. The Permanent Delegation of Cambodia to UNESCO added it again, in the cultural category under criterion (ii), on March 27, 2020.

Visiting

The isolated site is one of the less visited Angkorian places. It is about a four-hour drive from Siem Reap, and a long day trip from there is possible. Private transport is needed. The turnoff is west of highway NH62 at Svay Pak, about 60 kilometers (37 miles) south of Preah Vihear City and 75 kilometers (47 miles) north of Kampong Thom. A dirt road with many potholes runs about 30 kilometers (19 miles) to Ta Seng, and the last 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) to the temple are in fairly good condition. Better roads allow visits all year, though the dry season is easiest. One entry fee covers all the temples within the enclosure.

References