Preah Khset Temple

Prasat Preah Khset is located in the beautiful village carrying the same name, Preah Khset, and the site is easy to access but recently become a little overgrown with thorns again (10/2/22). Regardless, it’s a fascinating ancient site.

The ruins sprawl far and wide but concentrate beginning with what would have been the entrance gopura.

Past the gopura and towards the temple, there is a beautiful pediment and remains of a lintel surrounded in thorny scrub and followed by a still standing doorframe.

After that it clears a little, exposing standing sections of the outer wall and you can see the laterite basements and sandstone doorframes in places of what were three brick temples flanked by two “library” buildings. The art and relief carvings in the remains are truly special.

Most fascinating is the beautiful round pedestal which are not so common

Inscriptions registered from the site

• K. 237 – from a doorframe, 14 lines of Sanskrit and 21 lines of Khmer noting the restoration of a linga during the reign of King Suryavarman I and the conscretion of three statues, Buddha, Brahma, and Vishnu in 1067 AD, translated by Georges Coedes I urge you to read the remainder in IC VI and there may be later translations too
• K. 455 – from a doorframe, 15 lines of Khmer – translated by Georges Coedes he notes it as having “gaps”, with it mentioning donations to Samtac Vray, a location Cresthapura, a person, Sten An Laksmipativarman, and a date of 1067 AD read the full transalation in IC VII

Nearby there is an ancient funerary area and further south is Kbal Bei (uncleared at 02/2022) and Kok Mon (difficult access with new trails possibly being graded soon – 02/2022)

Rodney Charles LHuillier

Living in Asia for over a decade and now residing in beautiful Siem Reap - Contact via [email protected] - more..