Saturday, 14 June 2025

Preah Ko

 

Preah Ko
Preah Ko (879)

Preah Ko temple was built in 879 to dedicated to Lord Shiva and to honor members of the king’s family, under the reign of King Indravarman I (877-889A.D.)

Preah Ko temple is situated between Bakong temple and Lolei temple, in the former capital of Hariharalay, today is called Rolous. It’s about 13 kilometres east of the centre of Siem Reap city.

The original name of Preah Ko temple was Paramesvara, the posthumous name of King Jayavarman II, the great king who started the Angkor empire and the glorious era.

Preah Ko temple is surrounded by three enclosing walls. The two outer walls are made of laterite and the inner one is made out of brick. The first outer wall is measured 500 metres by 400 metres and it used to have an entry tower on the east and on the west side.

In the courtyard of second wall, there are two meditation halls, two libraries and a building of sacred fire.

In the third enclosure wall, there are three crouching sacred bull can be seen, aligned in a row facing the main shrines on the platform.

At the base of the central sanctuaries there are three stairways have been built along the eastern side. A pair of sandstone lions is guarding the temple at each stairway. There is an access stairway on the west side.

The central area consists of six brick towers, arranged in two rows. Each tower has four doors, but only one is opened to east, whereas the others are blind doors. Those blind doors were for decoration purposes and for supporting the weight of the temple as well.

The three towers of the front row for Paramesvara (Jayavaraman II, middle tower), Rudresvara (Grandfather -right tower) and Prithivindresvara (Father -left tower) in the form of Lords Shiva.

The three towers of the back row for Dharnindradevi(wife of the king Jayavarman II -middle tower), Rajendradevi (Grandmother -right tower), Prirhivindradevi (Mother -left tower) in the form of Uma (wife of Lord Shiva).

Indravarman I - Founder of Indratdak Baray (877-889)

In 877, Indravarman I ascended the throne, and immediately began the construction of a series of large structures.

 

When Jayavarman II died, his son Jayavarman III succeeded him.

He lived in Hariharalaya until 877. In that year, Indravarman I succeeded to the throne. This monarch was the first king to implement a large construction program. During his reign, he dug Baray Lolei (Indratdak) to provide water to the capital and to irrigate the fields. The Cambodian people have a system of canals to supply agriculture, which makes the country prosperous and strong. He built the brick temple of Preah Ko to dedicate to the ancestors and the temple of Bakong, a mountain temple made out of floors of sandstone to hold Shiva Linga.

This is the first time that a lot of stone has been used in the construction of the temple. He was the creator of one style of Khmer art, the Preah Ko style.

 

រុទ្រេស្វរ- Rudresvara (Grandfather)

រាជិន្រ្ទទេវី-Rajendradevi (Grandmother)

ប្រិថិវិន្រ្ទស្វរ- Prithivindresvara (Father)

ប្រិថិវិន្រ្ទទេវី- Prithivindradevi (Mother)

បរមេស្វរ- Paramesvara (ជ័យវរ្ម័នទី២-Jayavaraman II, reigned 802-850,prince who founded and became the ruler of the Khmer Empire after unifying the Khmer civilization)

ធរណិន្រ្ទទេវី- Dharnindradevi (wife of the king Jayavarman II)

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