Prasat Lbeuk/Khtum Temple

Located around 5km to the northwest of Khvav village near the southern border of Siem Reap Province, on the southern step of Phnom Khtum. It features a tall laterite wall that is mostly still standing. On Google Maps, it has been added as “Lobaek Temple”. The site doesn’t appear in historical French inventories nor on contemporary inventories eg. Cisark. The site is located 2km north of the ancient East Road that joined Angkor to Preah Khan of Kampong Svay.

On our visit in late 2024, the site was far too overgrown to be explored safely. We decided that we’ll come back in the dry season when the overgrowth will have likely receded. Some things can be noted; one is that the laterite wall is over 2m tall with bell-style capping, it may be around 35m per side, and no sandstone finials are seen. A contemporary hut was constructed outside the wall on the west side of the site. On the north side of the site, there is a lot of exposed natural laterite, which is widely seen throughout the wider area, noting the visibly quarried sites to the southwest.

I am not expecting the shrine to still stand, and its original layout, I guess, may turn out to be related to Phnom Banteay and Nong Khou of around the late 10th to 11th century.

In the first two photos below, you can see a contemporary shelter to the west side of the outer wall, which encloses a dense clump of tall trees.

Along the trail that is 1km directly east, which leads south and joins into the trail to Ta En temple, there are two places where laterite has been quarried. In contemporary or ancient times? I do not know; the ruts in one section are quite intriguing.

Section one around here

Section two around here

Update Feb 2025

The site was cleared by the APSARA team of Beng Mealea, so, of course, we are back for a revisit. Its layout is a little more clear. The outer enclosure features a galleried wall on its east side that opens with a gopura featuring a large chambered entrance with side windows, that is then flanked by open side chambers. This gopura and wall are very reminiscent of other temples in the wider area including Wat Prasat, Trapeang Khyang temple, Nong Kou, and Phnom Banteay, all of the 10th to early 11th century.

Inside, there is a small library on the south side only that opens to the west and is constructed of laterite to the height of the lintel, and its superstructure seems to have been constructed of brick with remnants still visible.

The rear wall of the enclosure featured a chambered false gopura that extended almost the length of the wall. As for the enclosure wall, it stood almost 2m tall with a bell capping that was likely topped by sandstone finials.

As for the central shrine, it had a raised laterite base that supported a single brick shrine that opened to the east. Only that laterite base remains standing, with a scant amount of brick seen. In fact, there is so little brick that one wonders if it was even completed. Maybe the brickwork was recycled somewhere else, or excavation may tell another story altogether. Noting the bricks seen, one at least, they are quite large in comparison to other temples in the tenth and eleventh century.

Other remnants at the site include several sandstone artifacts by the east entrance, a small square sandstone pedestal, several window balusters, and most interestingly a decorated round colonette fragment that suggest the site was closer to the tenth century than the eleventh.

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..