Khnar Temple (Krala Peas Village)

Prasat Khnar of Choam Khsant district, Preah Vihear Province, is a large walled temple complex featuring the remains of several brick, laterite, and sandstone temples. A curious hodgepodge of structures when compared to the methodical layout of so many temple sites, thereby adding to the curiosity, along with being visually engaging for its art, and, incredibly historically significant.

The site is recorded as the locale of the famous Vrahmaṇa Hiraṇyadama who was the Brahmin priest that ordained King Jayavarman II as universal monarch in a ceremony at what would become the ancient capital, Mahendraparvata (atop Phnom Kulen), and origin of the Angkorian era.

The site dates to the 10th century with additions in the 11th century and possibly still in use in the 12-13th century noting the nearby construction of Prasat Cheang Meng.

Prasat Khnar was surveyed in the early 1900s by Lunet de Lajonquiere with recent archeological work (Soutif et al) in 2020 revealing new structures paired with epigraphy that is continuing to reveal much about the site and also adding to the knowledge of the Angkorian era.

Site Layout

The site features two outer enclosure walls in laterite, outside of which and to the north is a u-shaped building with a front gallery bordered with its own enclosure wall, a building type that researchers denote as a “palace” and may also be an Ashrama (Virashama – Soutif et al. 2020). Also outside the enclosure, on the eastern side, there is an elongated structure researchers also noted as being an Ashrama.

The outer laterite enclosure and grand eastern gopura, mostly in ruin, leads inside to another gopura and remnants of another outer wall that in turn encloses several standing temples of varying style and shape.

Of these temples and remains, highlights for the visitor include the brick central temple, with lintel in situ on the western side, that is fronted by the remains of an elaborate sandstone hall with false windows and side entries, and deity carvings. The brick temple immediately to its south also features a hall leading east, part in sandstone with some stunning carvings of enshrined deity, along with the superb lintels that adorn this, and the smaller shrine just west. The library in the southeast corner, reminiscent of those at Bakong Temple of Roluos, also creates a stunning image hosting a tree and roots down one side.

The image on the left (Inventaire Descriptif – Monuments Du Cambodge by E. Lunet De Lajonquiere, 1907) and the layout image on the right (D’après Parmentier 1939, pl. XXVII ; Bruguier, Lacroix 2013, p. 135, plan 19 et Soutif et al. 2020) highlights the expanding knowledge of the site over the last century, perhaps, especially so in very recent years.

Remains of the “Palace”

The “library”

Central temple

Temple south of the central temple

Lintels

Around the site

Visiting the Site

Actually, it is quite an enchanting site and a worthy destination even while being far away from the well-known temples of Angkor in Siem Reap and even those at Koh Ker or the magnificent Temple of Preah Vihear. The site is reached from the village of Krala Peas which is located north of Preah Vihear city. Krala Peas Village features two other temples in its vicinity being Prasat Chaeng Meng and Prasat Kamphoeum. More at Northeastern Tour of Preah Vihear Province

Inscriptions at Prasat Khnar

• K. 355 – 24 lines of Sanskrit – Partly illegible. Mentions successive kings from Yacovarman to Rajendravarman. Mentions an ashrama, which Coedes notes as a “library” – Etudes Cambodginnes, Coedes
• K. 356 – 26 lines Khmer – a royal ordinance dated to 902 AD (assumed to be by King Jayavarman V) mentioning tributes (or royalties?) paid to the three gods (Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva) of the temples by Janapada and Trivikramapada (both assumed to be locales) – Le site de Janapada d’après une inscription de Prasat Khna, Coedes, 1943
• K. 660 – Sanskrit and Khmer – dated to 1041 AD mentions Lord Cri Bhuvanaditya, the brother of King Suryavaman I’s wife who was related to S. M. Cri Harsavarmadeva who was prince of the land of Vanapura – IC I, Coedes
• K. 661 – 125 lines in Sanskrit on a stele – believed to date to 1060 AD – Commemorating a donation of a golden Lakshmi by Udayadityavarman II, featuring an invocation of Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma, long praise to King Suryavarman I, and praise for his servant Cala who was given the title Jayendrapandita and was a grammar teacher whose desciple, Phalapriya, was given the title of Kaviadrapandita. Phalapriya was also the author of the poem on the stele. – IC I, Coedes
• K. 1312 – 14 lines Khmer – Mentions Mraten Nirantaracarya as lord of Lingapura, making land donations – Relecture de l’inscription K. 1312 de Prasat Khna, province de Preah Vihear, Dominique Soutif and Julia Estève, 2021
• K. 1430 – stele – unpublished

Reference and further reading

• Rereading of the K. 1312 inscription from Prasat Khna, Preah Vihear province, 2021, Dominique Soutif and Julia Estève, https://doi.org/10.4000/baefe.3759
• Inventaire Descriptif – Monuments Du Cambodge, 1907, E. Lunet De Lajonquiere