Trapeang Khnar Temple (Beng Mealea)

Located around 15km east of Beng Mealea temple and 170m or so north of the present-day road, which is also the ancient East Road that joined Angkor Beng Mealea and Preah Khan of Kampong Svay. The site may date to around the late 10th or 11th century.

At the time of visiting, early 2025, the site is heavily overgrown, and its outer enclosure wall can be roughly assumed to be around 25m in length and 22m or so in width. Inside the fragmented outer laterite enclosure wall, clambering through the vines, the remnants of an unusual brick shrine can be seen. There is only one; it is rectangular rather than square and appears to have featured a forebody.

Some sandstone plinths can be seen, and more are seen heading east along what would be the site’s east-west axis, indicating the forebody was quite long or there were auxiliary structures. It’s far too densely overgrown to determine if any of these remnants were from libraries or not.

An undecorated colonette fragment is seen along with a sandstone pedestal near the south wall. Other decorated colonette fragments are seen near the northeast corner of the wall and outside. One colonette fragment retains the base niche, which features a decayed personage. A sandstone lotus petal of a cornice band can also be seen.

To the east is a basin, still holding water, that is around 115m x 93m.

The site is accessed through private property, and a big thanks go to the very friendly people there, especially the people in the house beside the temple who guided me through the vines of their temple.

It’s also worth noting the remnants held at the nearby Wat Toap Chey, including a naga corner final and a boundary marker. There is a story that those remnants were unearthed at the pagoda, but there is scant evidence of the temple having been there. This site might be an alternative place of origin for those.

Historical Notes

In the vicinity of the building of Tap Cei, 220, two new monuments were found: one without a name, 220 bis, is a remarkable ensemble, from the time of Süryavarman, the other, Pr. Trapān Khna, a small sanctuary of the classical period without much interest

Chronique, Bulletin de l’École française d’Extrême-Orient Année, 1924

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..