Banteay Srei Temple – History & Highlights

Banteay Srei Temple (or Prasat Banteay Srey) is one of the most beautiful ancient temples to be found in Asia, set amongst the charming village and farmlands just below the Kulen Mountain range, it features stunning and well-preserved narrated bas-reliefs plus ornate decoration from when craftmanship in the ancient empire was reaching its zenith.

The site is located in Angkor Archeological Park around 35km north of Siem Reap city and 30km from Angkor Wat. Belonging to the 10th century, it was dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva.

Visiting Banteay Srei Temple

It is a highly recommended site to visit, for several reasons, including being one of the most ornate of all the temples while also retaining a lot of amazing detail, plus it has great visitor amenities, and there are many attractions along the way, including the nearby Kbal Spean. The highlights here are the impressive pediments and ornate decoration of the inner Prasat and libraries. A big tip here is to take your time, stop, and admire the beauty that lies in the detail of the spectacular reliefs, and it’s everywhere.

The site is well developed featuring a large shaded parking area, toilets, a cafe, stalls for souvenirs, coffee, snacks etc. Expect to pay between $5-7 for a meal. There is also a lake upon which you can take boat rides plus the site also features an informative Interpretation Center featuring large posters highlighting the restoration works along with art styles, architecture, history, and more, it’s highly recommended to go here first.

The site is open from 7:30 am to 5:30 pm and is included in the Angkor Pass. You can spend one hour here or a little more if you take the boat ride and explore some of the short trails.

From Siem Reap, you can ride a motorbike, take a tuk-tuk, or car. It’s sealed roads all the way to the temple. On a motorbike or tuk-tuk, it will take around one hour, and by car around 45 mins. There is lots of lush farmland to admire on the way, plus, en route you can also visit the Cambodian Landmine Museum, Banteay Srei Butterfly Center, and head north a little further and visit the Angkor Centre for Conservation of Biodiversity and Kbal Spean. Some like to include it on a trip to the nearby Kulen Mountain. Banteay Srei village also offers several homestay options.

Layout

These layout illustrations come from the early French researchers in the 1900s, namely Henri Parmentier. As seen in the first illustration, the site is set out on an east-west axis, opening to the east with a gopura (gate) that leads into a long bollard-lined terrace, which is flanked by four satellite buildings that are on a north-south axis, one on the north and 3 on the south. Further along, there are two more north-south orientated satellite buildings, one on either side of the terrace that then meets another enclosure and gopura, leading to the causeway that crosses the moat.

The following enclosure contains six long halls and an inner enclosure with gopura and the west and eastern end. This inner enclosure, seen in the second illustration below, contains the two libraries and the central temple which consists of three towers, with the central tower featuring a long forward hall with a vestibule, or antarala with mandapa.

History

Fortunately, Banteay Srei Temple offers over ten inscriptions that provide essential information about the temple which was founded in the 10th century (967 AD) and recorded as Tribhuvanamahesvara in the town Isvarapura, and dedicated to the Shiva cult and the linga of the then central shrine. Interestingly, the inscriptions at the site are from several different eras being the 10th as mentioned and also the 11th, and 14th centuries.

Many of the inscriptions were recorded by Finot in 1926, but it wasn’t until 1932 when further inscriptions were found and later in 1936, when the foundation stele of the site was discovered in a gopura IV by Henri Marchal, that the puzzle of Banteay Srei was put together.

Inscriptions note, among others of a royal circle, Kamraten Vrah Yajnavaraha who was the grandson of Hashavarman I and the Brahmin priest to king Rajendravarman II (944 to 968 AD) and also recorded as a tutor to the future king, Jayavarman V (reign 968-1001), to which he would later become his vrah guru.

While most temples were built by the state (king/royal court if you like), it is in fact Yajnavaraha, and his brother Visnukumara, to whom the foundation of the temple is credited. Yajnavaraha is also credited with the temples of Trapeang Khyang and Sek Ta Tuy.

Yajnavaraha and his brother, Visnukumara, had several statues erected, including Vagisvari and Vidyaguru, while his sister Jahnavi, erected a linga in the south shrine and Prthivindrapandita had a depiction of Vishnu erected in the northern shrine which is now in the Phnom Penh National Museum.

The whereabouts of the Vagisvari and Vidyaguru mentioned in the inscriptions, and the linga of the south shrine and central shrine are unknown although the linga pedestals are still in situ.

In the early 1900s, statue of Shiva and Uma (or Umamahesvara) was found in the west gopura and now resides in the Phnom Penh National Museum. Goloubew, a French researcher from the mid-1900s, believed that the pedestal for this statue was the one seen in the central tower. Was the statue moved to the west gopura from the central sanctuary? No one to this day is too sure as there is no epigraphic evidence to resolve the issue and what does exists suggest that the central sanctuary housed a linga.

Inscriptions at Banteay Srei also noted donations made to the temple by King Jayavarman V (reign 968-1001) and Suryvaraman I (reign 1006-1050). Initially, that included yearly levies of rice, paddy, servants, sesame, beans, and butter. Also, twenty-five donor villages were attributed to the temple.

It’s also interesting to note inscription K. 194 from Phnoṃ Sandak mentioning Isvarapura and the site being re-dedicated under king Suryavarman II (reign 1113-1150 AD) and offered to his guru, Divakarapandita, as prior donations had seemingly been squandered.

In 1926, Loius Finot, also recorded inscriptions from the doorjambs of the east gopura of the 2nd enclosure, mentioning a donation made during the reign of king Jayavarman VII (reign 1181-1218). Another mentions the date of 1304 AD and notes donations and guarantees made by king Srindravarman (reign 1295 to 1308 AD).

The temple’s contemporary name, Banteay Srei, roughly translating to the citadel of beauty, is believed to be formed from its visual appearance featuring several beautiful deity carvings, and perhaps the petiteness of the temple and its use of pinkish red sandstone.

Restoration

Banteay Srei was restored via a technique of anastylosis beginning in the 1930s by Henri Marchal after learning the technique from Dutch teams overseas, and, was the first such use case of the technique in Angkor. This technique is still in use today.

At the time, there was some debate over the number of false levels attributed to the north and south towers with Parmentier’s original illustrated restitution, published several years earlier in 1926, featuring two levels while Marchal’s reconstitution ended in three false levels. Who was right? Having cleared and sorted all the scattered remnants to facilitate the reconstruction, we can casually conclude it had to be Marchal.

Initial restoration works were completed in 1936 and further works were undertaken in 1952 to restore the main bollarded entrance causeway and its side buildings.

Materials

Banteay Srei is built largely of red sandstone while laterite is used for the enclosure walls, causeways, and in some of the structures. Wood was also originally used in the roofs along with tiles in some buildings and for also support beams. Brick is also used in places, including for some roofs which were formed with corbelled brick, and can also be seen in the west gopura of the inner enclosure.

It’s interesting to think about why they chose this red sandstone when ancient temples were generally rendered in some way.

Pediments & Lintels

Satellite shrine

Located on the northern side just before entering the first gopura, a collection of remnants can be seen including an ornate pediment, a decorated door column and behind that a mound of laterite blocks, the remnants of a partly excavated temple. At the centre is a small shelter covering a double-sided stele depicting Avalokiteshvara.

Historical Images

Images are property of EFEO and more can be viewed at Fonds Cambodge

Dvarapala (Guardians) & Antefix

Statuary

Site restoration

Inscriptions

• K. 568 – gopura III East, inner West door – south doorjamb – 58 lines of Sanskrit – Finot 1926, n° 5, p. 82
• K. 569 – gopura III East, inner West door – north doorjamb – 10 + 26 lines of Khmer text – Finot 1926, n° 4, p. 77 ; NIC II-III, p. 16
• K. 570 – gopura III East, inner East door – south doorjamb – 22 lines of Sanskrit + 23 lines of Khmer – Finot 1926, n° 1, p. 71 ; IC I, p. 144
• K. 571 – gopura III East, West outer door – north doorjamb – 33 lines of Khmer text – Finot 1926, n° 2, p. 74 ; NIC II-III, p. 111
• K. 572 – gopura III East, West outer door – north doorjamb – 12 lines of Khmer text – Finot 1926, n° 3, p. 77
• K. 573 – sanctuary I North, outer door – south doorjamb – 6 lines of Khmer text – Finot 1926, n° 8, p. 93
• K. 574 – sanctuary I South, East door – south doorjamb – 2 lines of Sanskrit – Finot 1926, n° 7, p. 92
• K. 575 – Room II Southwest, North door – east doorjamb – 2 lines of Sanskrit – Finot 1926, n° 6, p. 92
• K. 783 – gopura I west, east porch – south doorjamb – 2 lines of Sanskrit – IC I, p. 143
• K. 842 – gopura IV East – stele – 28 lines of Sanskrit – IC I, p. 147
• K. 869 – gopura II East – 36 lines of Sanskrit – IC I, p. 156

Further Reading

• Le temple d’Icvarapura – Henri Parmentier, Victor Goloubew, Louis Finot – 1926
• The Missing Images of Banteay Srei – Oliver Cunin – 2017
• Chronique de l’année 1932. In: Bulletin de l’Ecole française d’Extrême-Orient. Tome 33, 1933. pp. 411-548.