Nong Khou Temple

Also known as Prasat Nang Kou and Nong Kuh, it is located around 10km east of Svay Leu in Siem Reap Province. The site is located on the eastern side of a broad hill that overlooks farmland mostly being cultivated today to grow cassava and mango. On visiting in 01/2023, the site is quite overgrown but partially clear on its northern side. Believed to be an 11th-century site it has a slightly unusual layout which will be hard to see from the photos so a layout is provided further down the page.

It is a quite fascinating site from several points of view including its layout, its location, and its “jungle temple” charm.

Site Layout

No legend was provided with the image so we could say A: central shrine B. Antarala (hall) C. Cruciform Mandapa with columned windows D. Peristyle E. Entrance gopura F. chambered side entrances G. peristyle halls opening to the west

The above layout image comes from Inventaire descriptif des monuments du Cambodge. [Tome 1] / par E. Lunet de Lajonquière, 1902, with the following report

The Nong Kuh monument is located on a low, heavily wooded hill, about 500 meters to the SE. of a large pond half-dried out and overgrown with weeds. It includes 1. A sanctuary, open to the E., with forebody and nave; II. An enclosure with monumental door and galleries

Sanctuary. The sanctuary is brick, square, open to the East. The North., West. and South. faces have panels. The door, in the east face, is preceded by a brick forebody which connects it to a limonite nave in the shape of a cross. The east entrance to this nave is preceded by a peristyle formed by four square pillars. The north and south. branches of the cross are lighted by balustraded windows on their E. faces, and perhaps communicate directly with the peristyle by doors open to the west. The whole of this building, which seems to have not lacked a certain elegance, is nothing more than a mound of ruins, from which one can barely discern the outline of the construction.

Enclosure. The rectangular enclosure is made up of a limonite wall with a coping, 2.3m high approx. It is interrupted, on the east face, by a limonite gopura with three passages; the central passage crosses a rectangular room whose facade to the east is adorned with false windows, with bars formed of slabs of limonite erected on a field. The side passages only cross narrow corridors which do not communicate with the rectangular hall of the central passage.

The building was vaulted. It extends, on its two wings, inside the E. wall of the enclosure, and as far as the north and south faces, by two galleries formed by a row of pillars, supporting a canopy roof leaning against the enclosure, of which there is no longer a trace.

The gopura, like the sanctuary and its nave, is no more than a heap of ruins.

The various elements intended to receive sculptural ornamentation are in place, but the work is only sketchy. (AYMONIER)

Inscription

• K. 179 – doorjamb – 4 lines of Sanskrit – IC VI, p. 317

Note: as of 01/23, the site is best accessed by the trail leading off the highway from the western side to the southern side of the hill, where you’ll find a trail leading through the plantations (ask for permission!) and leading up to the top from the southern side. You can ride or walk up, it’s quite rocky so best to walk.

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..