Wat Sambour

Located just north of Prasat Sambour Prei Kuk, it’s a contemporary monastery with two pagodas. According to locals the older vihara and the small stupa date to 1941 while the new pagoda, 2015. It was unclear as to what the history of the site prior to 1941 may have been (see historical notes).

The older wooden columned vihara features a collection of ornate sema stones and beautiful murals. There are not a lot of these early columned open-style viharas left and thankfully they chose to preserve this one.

Historical Notes

The VAT SAMBÓR 81.3 holds various fragments of statues by misfortune in rather sad state, but of a curious detail of sampot; one of them is a four-armed female bust with supporting arch; another statue is in repair. We still see an curved step and a curious chiselled pilaster which, if it is indeed primitive art as it seems, would give us one of the first, if not the first example of the band-pilaster motif with a shaft; it is a rare material in primitive art, red sandstone (see R. DALET, loc. cit., pl. XVIII, A). An ablution tank is likewise made of anomalous material, pink sandstone.

Complement Le Art Khmer Primitif, H Parmentier, 1935

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..