Ak Yum Temple

Ak Yum (Khmer: ប្រាសាទអកយំ), also referred to as Ak Yom, is an ancient brick temple located near the West Baray in the Angkor Archeological Park. It is one of the oldest temples in the region and was also believed to have sat at the center of a larger urban area. It predates the Angkorian era, built in the 7th century possibly under the reign of King Bhavavarman with inscriptions also noting the rule of Queen Jayadevi.

The small temple is quite significant as inscriptions found at the site reveal that Queen Jayadevi, a daughter of Jayavarman I, ruled from Ak Yum at the end of the 7th century (marked on a stela dated to 713 AD) and brought the Angkor region into the focus of power. Another stone carrying inscription features a date corresponding to Saturday 10 June 674 AD while another stone inscription at the top platform of Ak Yum was dated to 1001 AD.

The first structure on the site was a single-chamber brick sanctuary, probably constructed in the latter part of the 8th century. Later it was remade into a larger stepped pyramid structure, with a base approximately 100 meters square. The expansion probably took place in the early 9th century during the reign of King Jayavarman II, who is widely recognized as the founder of the Khmer Empire.

With the construction of the West Baray in the 11th century, the pre-Angkorian temple of Ak Yum was covered by its southern embankment and remained so until it was excavated in the 1930s by French archaeologists. Further excavations took place in 2016 by French and Cambodian archaeologists, and again in 2019.

The site has also been associated with Purandarapura, an ancient capital pre-dating Hariharalaya as noted in “Pre-Angkorian cities: Ishanapura and Mahendraparvata – Heng and Lavy”.

Visting Ak Yum

You can visit the site and also admire the West Baray Spillway, a popular swimming spot, and the beautiful and massive body of water that is the West Baray and the West Mebon temple. Minutes away there are other small sites including the Spean Memay Bridge.

Images from November 2020

Inscriptions

• K. 749 – doorjamb central sanctuary – 15 lines of Khmer – IC V, p. 57
• K. 752 – sandstone piece (DCA 2899) – one line of Khmer – IC V, p. 59
• K. 753 – doorjamb central sanctuary – 26 lines of Khmer – IC V, p. 58
• K. 815 – pedestal – 1 line, unkown