Phnom Krom

Phnom Krom (889-910)

Phnom Krom temple was built at the end of the 9th century, during the reign of King Yasovarman I (889 A.D.-910 A.D.) and is dedicated to Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma.

Phnom Krom is about 12 kilometres southwest of Siem Reap town. It is 140 metre high hill.

Oriented toward the east, the hilltop temple is enclosed by a wall built of laterite blocks. A cornice runs along the top of the walls. Gates bisect the walls at each of the four cardinal directions. Just inside the east gate are four small buildings arrayed in a north-south row, possibly formerly used as crematoria. Inside the walls on the north and south sides are three halls now collapsed.

The temple's focus is three towers, also in a row running north to south. They sit atop a platform reached by staircases of seven steps. The south tower is dedicated to Brahma, the central to Shiva, and the north to Vishnu. Its layout is identical to Phnom Bok which must have been built at the same time.

They were built of sandstone; much of their carving and detail has been lost to erosion including the lintels, in very poor condition, that feature garlands and inward-facing Makara (vehicle of Ganga).

Phnom Krom temple is the southernmost of three hilltop temples built in the Angkor region during the reign of Yasovarman. The other two are Phnom Bakheng temple and Phnom Bok temple.

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.