Preah Ko Temple – Highlights & History

Preah Ko is a stunning ancient temple famed for its art and also for being the first temple the ancient city of Hariharalaya that we know today as Roluos. The temple founded in 879 AD according to its inscribed stele and was built under the Khmer King Indravarman I as a Hindu temple dedicated to his ancestors..

Visiting

Preah Ko is located around 13 km east from Siem Reap city and easy to access by car, tuk tuk, moto, or even by bike by following road 6 until you reach the Roluos area and you’ll see clear signboards indicating the turn off. There are some drink stalls located opposite the east entrance and even some stalls making fresh coffee.

The highlights of Preah Ko is most certainly the stunning state of preservation of the 6 towers, the niches with dvarapala and deity around the walls, the beautiful art of the lintels and decoration, plus the chance to see remnants of the final stucco rendering which few temples retain. You can spend 30-60 minutes here exploring the site.

Nearby you can also see Lolei Temple, Prasat Bakong, Prei Monti Temple and even more in the wider area of Roluos. Your Angkor Pass covers this temple and all those in the Roluos area with temple sites opening from 7.30 am – 5.30 pm.

Site Layout

The site is surrounded by a large moat, which is mostly dry today, that enclosed a large expanse with the actual temple only occupying a small fraction of the area on its eastern side. The temple itself was originally preceded by a long causeway and terrace meeting the outer wall and large gopura (entrance pavilion) on the east with the enclosure also featuring a smaller gopura on the west. This enclosure contained four long halls constructed of laterite on a north-south axis, plus two halls on an east-west axis.

Flanking the central causeway through this courtyard where two elongated buildings that opened to the east, plus, a square building opening to the west located on the southern side of the causeway which is the only structure inside this courtyard that remains fully standing today and it may have once been mirrored on the northern side.

Then we reach the next gopura and enclosure which some believe would have only been the privy of royalty and priests. This enclosure contains the grand platform atop which the six stunning stunning towers rise. What appears as two rows of three towers holds a little mystery in that the northwest tower is positioned tightly against the rear central tower, breaking the symmetry of the site, or perhaps having some unique purpose? On this point, experts point to the inscriptions revealing the dedication of the towers to Indravarman’s ancestors and the view of the temple once entering through the last gopura. This northwest tower, dedicated to his grandmother, comes into view between the central tower, dedicated to Jayavarman II, and the northeast tower, dedicated to his grandfather while the other rear towers remain hidden.

Preceding the platform are three statues of Nandin, the sacred bull from which the site gets its contemporary name, while stone lions flank the platform stairs.

Gopura

Library & Ashrama

Central shrine highlights

History

Preah Ko, founded in the 9th century under King Indravarman I, is one of the many temples in the present day Roluos area that was once the ancient city of Hariharalaya, or residence of the Hindu god Harihara (half Vishnu, half Shiva) that was likely established by the preceding king, Jayavarman II.

Indravarman would also construct the stunning Bakong temple nearby and perhaps start the nearby Lolei temple which was completed when his son and succesor, Yashovarman took over the throne on his passing. Yashovarman would create a new capital in the northeast, Yashodapura, or Angkor.

The site received additions during the late/post-Angkor period as Theravada Buddhism came to the fore.

Preah Ko is one of the more important temples of the entire ancient empire as it would so come to define a style period, “Preah Ko style”, put forward by the iconic French researcher, Henri Parmentier in 1919. In 1932, Georges Trouve would uncover the foundation stele located in the 2nd east gopura, later he would find yet another stele.

In the 19th century, the site was also occupied by Vietnamese forces for a short period receiving some other seemingly minor additions.

A restoration of the towers took place in the early 1990s, financed by the German government.

Update: In early 2024, restoration and preservation works began again.

Historical Images

via Fonds Cambodge/Persee-BEFEO

Inscriptions

• K. 309 – stele – 30 + 33 lines of Sanskrit – ISCC, n° XLVI, p. 377
• K. 310 – lintel of central tower – 5 lines of Sanskrit – ISCC, n° XXXVI, p. 297
• K. 311 – doorjamb of central tower – 42 lines of Khmer – Jacques 2014, p. 361
• K. 312 – doorjamb of false south door – 26 + 67 lines of Khmer – NIC II-III, p. 30
• K. 313 – doorjamb of west false door – 63 + 25 lines of Khmer – NIC II-III, p. 34
• K. 314 – doorjamb of north false door – 11 lines of Khmer – NIC II-III, p. 36
• K. 315 – doorjamb of south tower – 41 + 38 lines of Khmer text – NIC II-III, p. 41
• K. 316 – doorjamb of false south door – 49 lines of Khmer – NIC II-III, p. 46
• K. 317 – lintel of north tower – 7 lines of Sanskrit – ISCC, n° XXXVI, p. 297
• K. 318 – doorjamb of north tower – 46 lines of Khmer text – NIC II-III, p. 48
• K. 319 – doorjamb of false door south – 8 lines of Khmer text – NIC II-III, p. 53
• K. 320 – doorjamb of central tower – NIC II-III, p. 55
• K. 321 – doorjamb of west false door – 22 + 15 lines of Khmer
• K. 322 – doorjamb of south tower – 46 + 45 lines of Khmer
• K. 713 – stele from gopura (in ANM) – 44 lines of Sanskrit + 31 lines of Khmer – IC I, p. 18 ; Bhattacharya 2009, p. 25
• K. 731 – gopura I – Khmer text – FCA 9B, p. 271
• K. 1023 – central tower, 2nd row, doorjamb – 36 + 35 lines of Khmer

References and further reading

• Parmentier Henri. L’art d’Indravarman . In: Bulletin de l’Ecole française d’Extrême-Orient. Tome 19, 1919. pp. 1-98; doi : https://doi.org/10.3406/befeo.1919.5647 https://www.persee.fr/doc/befeo_0336-1519_1919_num_19_1_5647