Beng Mealea Temple

Beng Mealea (Khmer: ប្រាសាទបឹងមាលា) is one of the ancient Khmer Empires’ larger temple complexes and is located 40 km east of the main group of temples at Angkor Archeological Park along the ancient royal highway that led to Preah Khan of Kampong Svay.

According to the architectural style, similar to that of Angkor Wat, it was loosely attributed to having been built during the reign of King Suryavarman II in the early 12th century. From a new inscription, scholars now attribute the site to the reign of a Buddhist king, Tribhuvanadityavarman (reign 1149 – circa 1180 AD), who succeeded Suryavarman II.

Beng Mealea is a large and fascinating site, especially when you take into account not just the temple itself but also its massive moat-surrounded grounds, Kansaeng Temple, which was a later addition under Jayavarman VII, and its grand bordered causeway on the eastern entrance leading to a grand terrace connecting to the grand baray. Add to that the satellite temples like the island temple in the center of the baray, Veal Phtei, and surrounding the baray, Prasat Chrey, Prasat Kampong Phluk, and on the western side of the temple complex, Prasat Don Chan, Prasat Ta Phou and the sandstone quarry area or O Thma Dap.

Site Layout

I always find it interesting to look at the first layout plans drawn by the French in the late 1800s and early 1900s; these, from Aymonier and Delaporte, give a great overall perspective of the site still to this day.

From the western entrance terrace to the eastern edge of the baray, it’s just over 3km, which gives you a sense of the staggering scale of the entire complex. If we consider Aymonier’s plan of an outer berm that created a citadel enclosing the satellite temples on the western side, then that distance expands to nearly 4km. As for the temple, it is surrounded by a moat initially, 1025m by 875m, whilst the outer enclosure of the temple proper, as we see in the layout plan below, is 181m on the east-west axis by 152m on the north-south axis.

Inside the outer enclosure are two annex buildings flanking the south causeway and flaking the eastern causeway, a grand cruciform, there are two “library” buildings, inside the second enclosure is almost immediately the first enclosure containing another two library buildings, and the central shrine. Today, it’s hard to recognise it all as the site has not had any major attempts at restoration, which, in a weird way, adds to its charm and mystique. A wooden pathway leads visitors across the ruins and past many of the spectacular artistic highlights.

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Visiting Beng Mealea

Tickets

A ticket is required to enter Beng Mealea. You can enter with an Angkor Pass that covers all the temples of Angkor Archaeological Park (more info here). As of 2025, if you only want to visit Beng Mealea and not buy a full Angkor Pass, you can buy a single entry ticket at the ticket office at Beng Mealea (see location on Google Maps). The ticket cost is $10 USD. The ticket office accepts most major credit cards, Khmer Reil and USD.

Food

Near the west entrance and the east entrance to the temple, you’ll find several drink stalls and local-style food stalls where you can find Khmer staples (such as Nom Banh Chok or Bai Sach Chrouk) for around $2. Note that there are no drink stalls inside the temple grounds, so it is recommended that you carry a bottle of water. On the main road from Siem Reap and a few minutes before the temple is Beng Mealea Restaurant & Lodge, which has clean and relaxed seating and an English menu. The prices here are exponentially higher, starting at around $5 through to $22 for a multi-course set menu.

Getting There

You can easily reach Beng Mealea from Siem Reap via excellent sealed roads, which take around 80- 90 minutes by car via Damdek or the new Airport Road. Alternatively, you can also follow the ancient East Road from Angkor to Beng Mealea, visiting the temples along that route.

It’s usually done as a day trip from Siem Reap, and it’s a nice ride by motorbike, or you can hire a car and driver via the Grab or Pass App, etc. Around 15 minutes to the north of Beng Mealea is Svay Leu village, which has two reasonable guesthouse options (here and here) and a new camping/glamping site, which is handy if you want to continue up Kulen Mountain the next day.

More

Around Beng Mealea, there are several more temples, including Don Chan Temple, Ta Phou Temple, Chrei Temple (Beng Mealea) and Kong Pluk Temple. Northeast of Beng Mealea is the newly discovered and restored Makara site. See all those sites on the Beng Mealea Commune map here.

Head east towards Khvav Village, and there are many more sites along the ancient East Road, including the charming ancient bridge Spean Ta Ong, and even more as you follow the route to Preah Khan of Kampong Svay, albeit being a challenging trail once crossing into Preah Vihear.

To the northeast of Beng Mealea is Kulen Mountain, which hosts an array of ancient sites around Anlong Thom village, which can be accessed from Svay Leu.

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