Rolom Temple

Located on the northwestern side of the Koh Ker temple group, Prasat Rolom is the remains of a brick/laterite hybrid temple that featured an outer enclosure wall and basin to the east. The single shrine opens to the east and has a main body constructed of laterite with a brick superstructure rising above and remnants of a brick forebody extending the eastern entrance. The outer wall is constructed of laterite and features the remnants of a gopura on the east side. Remnants of a lion statue and a lintel that features a frieze of devotees flanking Brahma can also be seen (more in the historical notes below).

Historical Notes

Prasat Rölüm 281, (M.H. 684).

The building is 1 km. approximately southeast of Pr. Dan and then a little less than 2 km. N-EN of the N-W angle of the Rahal.

It is a small square prasal of bricks and laterite oriented clearly to the East, preceded by a very ruined brick room whose door was accompanied by enormous lions, very well seated. The terrace which carries tower and room, extends to the North. The whole is enclosed in a square enclosure of laterite with a coping wall in the shape of a roof with curved sides. It is interrupted by a door to the East, with a simple frame, accompanied by a gate to the North. This is a rare asymmetrical arrangement. In front are unclear traces of walls which, seeming to constitute a long terrace, end in the east in a cross. Further ahead still are a few sandstone steps.

The small sanctuary is in laterite for the bottom, this one does not even reach the cornice which is finely chiseled in the brick and carried a ceiling. Above rises a very neat brick vault, with drums and corbels. The discharge access of the door which ends under the cornice and which, against the ordinary. starts lower than the lintel, is here part laterite, part brick, for the upper quarter

Outside, the tower, square in plan with significant steps, probably had false doors. Door E. has its bare frame assembled with a miter; its columns are rough octagonal prisms. They carry a very remarkable type IV lintel with Visnou on Garuda in the middle, between various worshipers. The lintel is framed by two decorative bands, the upper one, protruding, shows Brahma in the center between 18 orants. The top of the tower is formless. Of the earlier room, very ruined, only part of the S face has survived, which seems bare and full and has a pretty brick base.

In the tower is a headless and handless female statuette, standing, forearms supported by two rough curved tenons that have no forearms, broken at the elbows. The statue, with strong breasts, is dressed in a vertically striped sarong with a turned-down flap. The shoulders are more drooping than usual. This statue is remarkable, like the previous one, for the fact that its chignon is cylindrical, a shape usually reserved for the male sex; a domed cone generally replaces it for women. The image has, from feet to neck, approximately 69cm. To the south is a pedestal with a tank pierced by an octagonal hole ​​and a triple section linga.

L’Art khmer classique. Monuments du quadrant nord-est, Henri Parmentier, 1939

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..