Baphuon Temple – History & Highlights

The Baphuon Temple, located in Angkor Thom to the northwest of the Bayon temple, is another of the famed mountain temples built by the ancient Khmer. The temple is known for its grand entrance, its scale, and the impressive reliefs especially those on the second enclosure of the top level. It dates to the mid-11th century, attributed to the king Udayadityavarman II, and was originally dedicated to the Hindu God Shiva before later transforming to become a Buddhist temple. It is the archetype of the Baphuon style.

Visiting Baphuon Temple

Located in Angkor Thom just north of Bayon Temple, with parking on the western side of the Bayon Temple or to the north in front of the Terrace of the Leper King. A new walking path leads from the Bayon past Preah Ngok and along the front of the Elephant and Leper terraces.

The highlights not to be missed here are its grand entrance terrace, the massive reclining Buddha on the west side of the site, and the impressive bas-reliefs around the gopuras of the second level depicting legendary tales of the Ramayana, Mahabharata, and life of Krishna.

Some of the stairs are steep but quickly ascended offering a great view of the surroundings. From the western side, there is a signposted path that leads to the side entrance of the Royal Palace and Phimeanakas.

The site is open from 7:30 am to 5:30 pm.

Layout

The temple orientates to the east beginning with a gopura whose northern end connects with the Terrace of the Elephants. This gopura retains some devata carvings on its western side and some ornate detail that’s worth a look. Leading from the central portal of that gopura is a grand terrace that rises up on round sandstone columns and is flanked by basins on either side. This terrace connects with another gopura which features bas-relief panels on its north and south outer walls similar to that which we will see up top of the temple proper. This gopura is flanked by a laterite-lined basin on its south and from it, the terrace extends to the gopura of the third enclosure.

Inside the third enclosure, which is galleried and on the eastern side there are two libraries, the southern of which retains some ornate detail and devata reliefs on its south side. Between these two libraries are a series of columns that would have supported a terrace. On the southern side, there are remains of two cruciform shrines.

The temple proper has a massive sandstone base that rises up in three tiers with staircases on each side. Access today is via the southern staircase. These staircases lead to the second enclosure and gopura and perhaps the most interesting level of this pyramid for the artwork in the bas-relief panels that line the walls of the gopura. Each of the gopuras on this level features stunning reliefs of Hindu mythology adorning their outer walls. Don’t miss these! The pilasters are also quite ornate, some lintels and pediments of the gopura still retain some detail.

Inside this enclosure is the next tier, much taller than the rest, which breaks convention with other pyramid mountains of the Khmer empire that reduced in height and size as they went. Again, each side features a staircase that leads up to the 1st enclosure, again what was once a galleried wall. Inside this enclosure, the central shrine rises up on a pyramidical tiered base with stairs on each side. Not much remains of the original shrine bar the sandstone doorframes which make for a great and unusual photo, a nice reward for climbing up, along with a stunning view on offer out over the eastern entrance. Take note of the still standing fronton and pediment and some bas-reliefs still seen around the outer enclosure.

From the bottom of the western side of the temple, there are two small cruciform shrines that retain images of devata, and, don’t miss this, you can see the form of the reclining Buddha occupying most of that side. Continuing west there are the remnants of another gopura near the trail that leads over to the south entrance of the Royal Palace.

History

Baphuon was constructed in the mid-11th century during the era of the king Udayadityavarman
II
(reign 1050–1066 AD) and dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva.

Sometime after the 14th century, the Baphuon temple received a lot of alterations including the recycling of stone masonry to shape a 9m high and 70m long statue of a reclining Buddha on the west side’s second level. Archaeologists note some failures in the original design of the temple that likely led to its partial collapse, so, it may be likely the Buddha was formed from the main tower that had already collapsed.

In 1925, Finot discovered a stele fragment with inscriptions (K. 583) at the site but it wasn’t until 1959 when a matching fragment was found that George Coedes could bring together a more complete translation of the Sanskrit and old Khmer text. Decades later after the discovery of even further fragments, a more complete translation was provided by Claude Jacques, but, as it would be confirmed, the stele was unrelated to Baphuon itself originating from a different era and perhaps brought from a different location.

The inscription (K.289) stele found at the nearby Preah Ngok would, however, be connected with the Baphuon temple providing attribution of the site to King Udayadityavarman
II, and connecting the site with the “golden temple” noted in the inscription of Lovek and as witnessed by Chinese missionaries, also housing a gold linga. However, later researchers (Sharrock et al) would raise questions about this connection, but as yet, no alternative data is at hand.

Restoration

The site was first cleared by Jean Commaille in 1908 and appeared mostly in complete ruin. In 1960, B.P. Groslier began an ambitious restoration program, dismantling the ruins to resolve the structural issues inherent in its original plan and reconstructing the site using the technique of anastylosis.

However, that was cut short by the civil war and it wasn’t until 1995 when Royare Pascal led a program, without the benefit of Groslier’s original plans, to figure out how to reassemble the 300,000 stone blocks that were laid out on the ground. It took 16 years to solve that massive puzzle! The site was reopened in 2011 in the attendance of King Norodom Sihamoni of Cambodia and Prime Minister Francois Fillon of France.

Historical Images

Below is a small selection of images (property of EFEO) from the collection at Fonds Cambodge

Inscriptions

• K. 583 – Stele (DCA 545) – 22 + 4 lines of Sanskrit and 1 + 6 +16 lines of Khmer – IC VII, p. 84 ; Jacques 1976
• K. 732 – Stele (DCA 1951)
• K. 967 – doorjamb – 1 line of Khmer – IC VI, p. 149
• K. 1231 – Stele (n. 1661) – 17 lines of Khmer – unknown
• K. 583 – Stele (DCA 545) – 22 + 4 lines of Sanskrit and 1 + 6 +16 lines of Khmer – IC VII, p. 84 ; Jacques 1976
• K. 732 – Stele (DCA 1951)
• K. 967 – doorjamb – 1 line of Khmer – IC VI, p. 149
• K. 1231 – Stele (n. 1661) – 17 lines of Khmer – unknown

References and further reading

• Jacques Claude. VII. Études d’épigraphie cambodgienne. IX. La stèle du Baphûon, K 583. In: Bulletin de l’Ecole française d’Extrême-Orient. Tome 63, 1976. pp. 351-368.
• Royère Pascal. Histoire architecturale du Baphuon. Éléments pour une nouvelle chronologie de la construction du temple. In: Bulletin de l’Ecole française d’Extrême-Orient. Tome 92, 2005. pp. 391-455;