Lolei

Lolei (893)

Lolei temple was built in 893 A.D. by King Yasovaraman I (reigned 889-910 A.D.) and dedicated to his spiritual ancestors; his mother, father and grandparents.

Lolei temple is located in the centre of Indratataka Baray which was dig on the orders of his father. It was 3200 metres by 750 metres and could contain between 7.5 and 10 million cubic metres. After building this temple the king move the capital city to Yasodharapura which Phnom Bakeng located in the centre.

Lolei temple was built on two tiers with laterite platform and has four brick towers in two rows, the front line being dedicated to male ancestor and the rear dedicated female ancestors. The north-east tower dedicated to King’s father under the posthumous name Thri-dra-varme-svara and his mother at the north-west tower. The south-east tower dedicated to his grandfather Sri-ma-hi-bha-ti-svara and his grandmother Reach-jen-dra-devi at the south-west tower.

Each door frame of the towers have inscription including the date the King took throne in 889 A.D., the inauguration of the temple in 893 A.D., and some of the offerings to the ancestor in the temple.

Around the perimeter of Lolei temple there is a modern Buddhist monastery called pagoda or Wat, is a place of accommodation for monks, priests and nuns. Buddhist devotees often come to pagoda for making offerings to monks, to make dedications to their ancestors, and come for receive blessing.

Yasovarman I - The first founder of Angkor (889-900)

Yasovarman I was the son of Indravarman I. After succeeding his father, he relocated the capital from Hariharalaya to establish a new city, Angkor, which he named Yasodharapura. On the top of a small mountain called Phnom Bakheng, he commissioned the construction of Phnom Bakheng temple to celebrate the Devaraja ceremony. Below is a city that stretches across the foothills and is surrounded by water. He diverted this water from the Siem Reap River. A road was built connecting Yasodharapura to Hariharalaya, the former capital. For the benefit of agriculture, he built a large Baray with a length of 7 km and a width of 1.8 km: that is the eastern Baray (original name is Yasothratdak). He greatly improved the field of religion and intellectual life. Many monasteries were built for the followers of Shiva, Vishnu and Buddhism. When he died in 900 AD, his two sons succeeded to the throne until 928. In 921, his uncle, Jayavarman IV, intervened and established a new capital on Koh Ker, approximately 70 km northeast of Angkor Zone. At Koh Ker, the king built a huge mountain temple (with seven floors and a height of 35 m) to store Shiva Linga, as well as many other temples and a Baray called the Rahal Baray to keep the water for benefits.

 

ស្រិន្ទ្រវរ្មេស្វរ (ឥន្ទ្រវរ្ម័នទី១) -Thri-dra-varme-svara (father)

ស្រិន្ទ្រទេវី -Thri-dra-devi (Mother)

ស្រិមហីបតិស្វរ -Sri-ma-hi-bha-ti-svara (Grandfather)

រាជ​ន្ទ្រ​ទេវី-Reach-jen-dra-devi (Grandmother)