Banteay Ampil Temple – History & Highlights

Prasat Banteay Ampil located some 40km east of Angkor Wat, along the ancient East Road and around 20km east from Chau Srei Vibol Temple. It is incredibly well preserved and is still in its original state, mostly unrestored bar minor preservation works and structural supports. It sits on the north side of the ancient road, which is immediately south and parallel to the present-day road, upon which are two nearby ancient bridges, Spean Ta Yang and Spean Thma Bay Kriem.

The temple features an outer laterite wall with its main entrance pavilion, built of sandstone, on the east. There is a small door in the west wall and a large false gopura on the south wall while the north wall is without. an opening false or otherwise.

The central sanctuary rises up with a grand temple tower which has mostly fallen, beneath which is the square body of the shrine that features chambered false doors on each side apart from the east which extends with a long forebody features baluster lined windows, side entrances, and a principle entrance to the east which more or less connects with east entrance pavilion/gopura. This is flanked on either side by two library which open to the west.

The layout is similar if not exactly the same as the “Temples d’etape” which line the ancient East Road enroute to Preah Khan of Kampong Svay. It is similar in layout to the temple proper of Chau Srei Vibol while in this case the architectural decoration is more similar to that of the 12th century. Speaking of architectural decoration, it is quite richly decorated with lots of novelties to be found. However, only some of the narrative reliefs retain fragments of detail.

Nearby there are two ancient bridges, Spean Ta Yang and Spean Thma Bay Kriem.

Images 2021

Architectural Decoration

Historical Notes

Banteai Ampil (The Tamarind Fortress). – This temple is located about 1,500 meters SW of Andeng Chhma village. Its square sandstone sanctuary, with a main façade to the E., recalls, as a plan, that of Banteai Samré. Its main façade, to the E., is preceded by a forepart lit on both sides which, extended by a corridor, communicates with a nave; the latter having a door between two windows on each of its large sides, opens to the E. by a door preceded by a forepart. The three secondary sides of the sanctuary have only false doors each preceded by a forepart with an ornate door and blind sides. This ensemble rests on a base, 1 m. 60 high, in molded sandstone, provided with steps which end to the doors of the avant-corps of the secondary faces, to those of the nave and its avant-corps. These steps have the particularity that their very narrow steps are superimposed overhanging, at least those which lead to the avant-corps of the false doors.

The facades of the sanctuary are very high, less, however, than those of the sanctuary of Banteai Samré. The steps of the dome are completely ruined, their debris fills the interior and piles up along the faces. As at Banteai Samré also, the vaults of the avant-corps are raised and externally take the form of the system with vault and combined lateral half-vaults. These avant-corps have suffered less, however the decorative parts of their external doors are partly overturned.

The ogival vault of the nave is half collapsed; the debris from the southern part clutters the interior while the northern half is still in place up to the keystone.

The decoration of the sanctuary and of the various parts which depend on it was careful and appears to have been completed. It is unfortunately very mutilated or very ruined. One can hardly distinguish, on the decorative lintels, all of type III, still more or less preserved, except a figure of Vişnu on Garuda at the false door N. of the sanctuary, and also, at the door E. of the latter, a figure, moreover repeated in some other places, representing a character facing forward, seated on the left heel, the left hand resting on the thigh, while the right hand, placed on the raised right knee, holds an indistinct object, of small dimensions.

Enclosure – A limonite enclosure wall, with coping, approximately 3 metres high, encloses a courtyard measuring 36 metres in an E.-W. direction by 32 metres in a N.-S. direction. It is interrupted, on three of its faces (E., S. and W.), by various constructions. To the E., it is a sandstone gopura with three passages, of the same plan as those of Banteai Samré but of a proportion-lesser operations. It was not domed, but only covered with ogival vaults, the edges of which, those of the parts serving as the main passage, that is to say the E. and W. branches of the central cruciform room and their avant-corps and those of the lateral branches extended by the lateral rooms, intersect at right angles in the center of the central room. All the parts of this building are made of sandstone and rest on a sandstone base whose moldings are interrupted by narrow-stepped staircases corresponding to the various exterior or interior entrances. All the doors were decorated, but most of their decorative pieces are destroyed, and we have to mention only a figure of Vişnu on Garuda at the interior door of the cruciform room and two fairly well-preserved pediments above the interior doors of the lateral passages. To the N., there is an eight-armed character who, taking a long stride, pushes back with his feet placed on their backs two characters who seem to be fleeing towards the ends of the panel: he holds the one on the right by the hair; finally one of his right hands seems to brandish a disk, which would identify the figure. The sculptures of the tympanum of the pediment of the S. side door represent a character seated on an ox (probably Civa on Nandin) with, to the right and left, other characters who wield long-handled fans.

The building which interrupts the enclosure wall, on the S. face of the point where the N.-S. axis of the sanctuary intersects, is a false gopura in sandstone. It is identical in plan to that of the gopura on the E. face, minus the rooms of the lateral passages and the exterior avant-corps, the cruciform room ending, on this side, with a false door. This central cruciform room and the lateral rooms are lit here only towards the interior of the courtyard by windows decorated with baluster bars.

On the W. face, at the point where the E-W axis intersects, of the sanctuary, a double sandstone door, decorated and crowned with now overturned pediments, served as a passage It should be noted that the E-W axis of the sanctuary, probably because of the false S. gopura, is closer to the N. face (15 m. 60 between the E-W. axis and the N. face, 17 meters between this axis and the S. face).

Annex buildings – The care with which the two annex buildings were built, regularly placed in the eastern corners of the enclosure, is still reminiscent of Banteai Samré. These, entirely in sandstone and completely decorated, are still in very good condition; however the false door of the one on the N. has not been finished, and its avant-corps is ruined, the vault being on the other hand entirely in place. There are no bas-reliefs on the half-gables masking the start of the lateral half-vaults, they are entirely occupied by the birth of the heads of Nagas forming the corner acroteria of the small facades. The interior is lit by two opposing recumbent windows, with balusters, pierced in the right part which simulates the support of vault feet.

Lajonquiere, 1911

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..