Kon Ko Temple (Kulean, Preah Vihear)

Prasat Kon Ko, also recorded as Khna Makhop which is a name also given to the temple located 1km away to the northeast. Prasat Kon Ko is built atop a natural sandstone platform which also seemingly supplied sandstone to build the site.

The site features a single shrine, cruciform in shape and opening to the east with a long forebody that appeared to have a peristyle joining to the east gopura. The shrine was flanked on its western side by a library building. This was surrounded by a spacious courtyard enclosed by a laterite wall with pointed capping in a style common to that seen in sites around Preah Vihear. On the southern side of the site, you can see an accumulation of stone fragments, quarried blocks, and unfished pieces such as a pedestal. On the eastern side of the site, you can see remnants of stone lions, and the feet of guardian statues along with pedestals. Inside the enclosure, there remains the fragment of a decorated lintel.

Historical Note

The levee being referenced is that of the citadel, Banteay Thleng (Thnal A Nga)

At 470m. to the west of the west levee, not far from the alignment of the north levee, is a more interesting sandstone temple, with sanctuary and unvaulted pillared hall. We recognize there, lying in the S.-W. from the courtyard a lintel of primitive Khmer art, type I of the makara.

Chronique. In: Bulletin de l’Ecole française d’Extrême-Orient, H Parmentier, Tome 30, 1930

Rodney Charles LHuillier

Living in Asia for over a decade and now residing in beautiful Siem Reap. Rodney Charles L'Huillier has spent over seven years in Cambodia and is the author of Ancient Cambodia (2024) and Essential Siem Reap (2017, 2019). Contact via [email protected] - more..