Whilst Siem Reap is home to the famed temples of Angkor, there is much more on offer in the province, today, let’s head east. The area of Kampong Kdei and Kampong Chikreng is a fascinating and interesting place to explore offering not only one of the country’s famed ancient bridges, Spean Praptos, but also in Kampong Chikreng we find one of the Siem Reap province’s most charming riverside villages with incredibly beautiful pagodas. Interestingly, the area featured a cluster of 10th/11th century temples and during the 19th/20th century, was the final frontier of the nation for a time, with Siem Reap occupied by Siam (present-day Thailand). So, let’s check it out and see what we discover.
Following National Road 6 east past the Roluos group of temples, you can pass by several ancient bridges before arriving at the last, and the grandest, in Kampong Kdei. So, let’s start there, at Spean Praptos also known as Spean Preah Toes and Kampong Kdei Bridge. The iconic bridge spans over 80m crossing the Chikreng River and also features on the 5,000 Riel banknote. It was partially restored in the 1920s, again in the 1950s, and incredibly, it was still carrying highway traffic up until the early 2000s. The bridge features a stunning Naga balustrade with decorated boundary markers depicting guardian devata at either end. At the eastern end, you can also see two large sandstone bollards behind the tree and food stall, undecorated, perhaps two of the so-called “mile makers”.
The area was undoubtedly an important station spanning multiple eras at least from the 10th century with at least five temples of the era, and through the 12-13th centuries in the era of Jayavarman VII including the aforementioned bridge, a feature of a road network that was expanded across the empire at that time, and remnants that are touted to be one of his much-famed hospital chapels (Arogyasala), if so, reconstructed from a prior 10th-century site.
Located around 700m east of the ancient bridge, the ancient “hospital chapel” is recorded as Kampong Kdei temple, Prasat Praptos, Phum Prasat, Sdach Kamlong, and probably has other names, as is the way with Khmer temples. There isn’t much left to see, bar a still-standing inscribed door pillar that dates to the 10th century, some laterite and sandstone blocks, and so on, mostly hidden within private property on the most recent visit. Nonetheless, It is interesting to know about and adds to the sense of the heritage of the area, and thankfully, there are some historical notes on the site left by the French, more here.
Back onto National Road 6, if you head east there’s a small street stall operated by a lovely lady who makes super fresh Pork Rice (bai sach chrouk). Whilst that isn’t so exciting, but useful to know, when we sat down here we noticed there was actually an ancient “mile marker” hiding beside the building. The lady mentioned remembering there being three of them located between here and the bridge at one time. There are another two nearby the bridge as mentioned earlier, and there is another held at Wat Chikreng which we’ll get to in a minute, and interestingly, there is another of a similar style located at Wat Srayong near Koh Ker.
At the government office, there are two ancient lions that may correspond to the two noted in historical notes as being at a pagoda in Chikreng, thus implying they came from either of the two nearby ancient sites.
There are two pagodas in Kampong Kdei, on the northwestern side there is Wat Thom which has been beautifully restored and on the south side there is Wat Kampong Kdei which is pleasant.
Heading south following the river, we reach Chikreng village. The Kampong-Chikreng area is the highlight here, it truly is a beautiful traditional village area built along the waterside as its name implies. Here we find traditional wooden houses, several very interesting heritage pagodas, and the remnants of four ancient temple sites that date to around the tenth century.
In the 19th century, this area was home to the governor of this then-frontier province which stretched north to Svay Leu, including Koh Ker, south to the Tonle, and east to Stoung. In a French report from 1918, the province was noted as being home to 5 French, 17,000 Cambodians, 211 Annamites, 1,897 Chinese, and 2 Malay. After centuries of battles with Siam, seeing Angkor Wat flip between Siamese and Khmer control, around the late 1800s the border with Siam would follow the “Damdek canal” that leads south to Kampong Phluk at the edge of the Tonle Sap and north towards Beng Mealea with the border continuing to the Dangrek Mountain range. Upon the Franco-Siamese treaty of 1907, Battambang and Siem Reap provinces were returned to Cambodia and Chikreng would later become part of Chi Kreang district of Siem Reap.
Wat Chikreng, or Chi Kreang Pagoda has recently been rebuilt, and quite colorfully so, and had a vihara that preceded the pagoda we see today noting remnant of the site’s original platform on the north side of the pagoda, which also supports an older style stupa. There’s also a historical image of a beautifully carved wooden fronton captured by the EFEO that perhaps came from a vihara/pagoda two generations prior to what we see today, more here.
Wat Chikreng also retains a large array of remnants of an ancient brick temple that existed at the site, long gone even before French records started in the 1900s, and other remnants gathered from the two nearby ancient temple sites, one to the south of the pagoda (Prasat Chikreng east) and another to the west (Prasat Chikreng west). There is nothing left remaining at either of the sites. The remains stored at the pagoda are quite interesting, both for their art and perhaps for other implications such as the Buddhist boundary marker, and a “mile marker” like we saw earlier in Kampong Kdei.
Comparing the onsite remains with the lintels recorded in historical images (here) perhaps there is a tenth-century site and the other 11th-century. Prasat Chikreng East features an inscription attesting to this, recording a date of 972 AD and the site’s Buddhist affiliation also revealing the nature of Buddhist practice recording an offering made to Ekadasamukha, Lokesvara and Bhagavati. Also, two lintels discovered at Prasat Chikreng West are now on display at the Phnom Penh National Museum. There isn’t so much info about the 11th-century sites, they seem to be Hindu faith, opening up questions about the co-existence of faiths within the same area or whether it’s evidence of the transformation from a Buddhist society of the 10th to the Hindu faith held in the 11th, something for archeologists.
If we head east, there is Wat Sleng and across the river, south of Wat Phniet there is an ancient brick temple site that still retains remnants in situ, Prasat Ta Ream is a small site that sits on a raised mound likely surrounded by a moat in its past glory days. Today several remnants of the brick temple can still be seen including sandstone pedestals, door frame plinths, and a collection of colonnettes attributable to the 10th century. Like every good village temple site, it has a barking dog and a crew of sleepy cows looking after things.
Heading further south there are two more ancient temple sites, Prasat Beng North and Prasat Beng South, neither with easy access nor having anything much remaining to see. There are some historical notes indicating Prasat Beng North was a group of five brick temples and Prasat Beng South was a group of four, both mostly in rubble even as far back as the earliest reports in the 1900s. The site also featured an inscription dated by its writing style as being that of the 10-11th century and of Buddhist affiliation. Photos of Prasat Beng South taken by the EFEO in the 1930s include a lintel that defies even the soft boundaries of Gilberte de Coral-Remusat’s art chronology. It surely has a lot to add about the evolution and nature of this site and the wider area noting there are several more sites to the east and further northwest where fascinating remnants were collected during the French Colonial/EFEO era (Ou Samakki and Sandan village to name a couple).
Nearby is one of the most stunning pagodas in Siem Reap, Wat Kandal. It too has recently been restored/reconstructed and it’s quite special. Located on the eastern bank of the river it features an ornately decorated pagoda with a multi-tiered and porched roof topped by a traditional spire. On the western side of the pagoda is a row of sculptures representing the 12 Khmer zodiacs. To the east and west, colonial-era style buildings (but some are not that old) and another small collection of remnants including pedestals and a lintel fragment that come from the nearby ancient sites.
A little further south is Wat Anlong Samnor which is one of the older pagodas and still features its original internal wooden columns and wooden plank ceiling adorned with beautiful murals. It too is a quite beautiful pagoda and they have recently restored the pond by lining it with laterite and a naga balustrade similar to Wat Thom in Kampong Kdei. It retains a rather curious sandstone piece, a seated Buddha perhaps belonging to the post-Angkor period or just after.
Heading further south there is one more pagoda, Wat Lobeuk which is surprisingly well kept as is the village around it.
As a day trip from Siem Reap, you can spend half a day exploring the highlights mentioned and easily fill in the whole day by stopping at further attractions between Kampong Kdei and Siem Reap including the ancient bridges and temple sites and/or the new Angkor Wildlife and Aquarium.
Historical Notes
** In the historical notes both Buddhist statues and Brahmanical statues are mentioned as being seen in the area, I’ve found no further records of them unless they’ve been confused/mismatched with sites further to the east and another much further to the north.
Historical French Maps of the area from 1901 and 1926
1901
Chikrêng. pg 447 – The last province of present-day Cambodia, that of Chikreng, extends between the lake, Stoung, Khvao and the Siamese province of Siem Reap. We know that it was detached from Kampong Soay in 1869. Like Stoung, it takes its name from its main river, the Prêk Chikring or Chakrèng or Chhoukrêng, say the natives. And, just as in Stoung, after the muddy jungle of the lake extends the large plain of tall grass with a sad, poor, bare appearance, dotted with a few rare clumps of woods and covered each year by the vast tablecloth of the flood. At the edge of this region, towards the ancient roadway, large and beautiful resinous trees naturally trace wide avenues, sometimes cultivated into rice fields. Glade forests dominate to the north. The productions are those of Stoung.
But the population is rare in this border province: it has only 606 registrants obeying the Okna Sneha Maitri, the official with eight thousand honors, of the residence of the King, and subordinate of the Prime Minister. Police and security often leave something to be desired. The inhabitants, whose reputation is mediocre in Cambodia, accustomed to taking justice into their own hands, steal, pillage on occasion and even assassinate their governors who have too often bought their charge and who believe that in this remote country their abuses will remain ignored or unpunished. There are few important villages in this province. The capital, Chikrêng, dots its houses on stilts on the right bank of the river of that name, most of which are inhabited by Chinese who concentrate the region’s meager trade in their hands.
The border. The border between Chikrêng and Siem Reap, that is to say between Siam and present-day Cambodia, begins to the north of the great lake, towards the 13th parallel, in a place called “the bank of hunger” at the mouth of a river where fishermen build their temporary huts each year. This river that the border follows passes through the village of Kampong Cham which gave it its name. Initially about a hundred meters wide, it narrows quickly as soon as you leave the low plains, and is soon nothing more than a meager rivulet which can be seen in summer.
In the rainy season this rivulet flows between two enormous artificial embankments of earth, eight to ten meters high, fifteen to twenty wide, which run straight, two hundred meters from each other and from south to north, on a length of five or six leagues. One wonders what the purpose of this double causeway could have been, if not to mark the eastern limit of the province of the capital. It could not have been used to transport rubble from Koulen to Lovea and from there to Angkor. This hypothesis that we have heard put forward is unacceptable. The slope of the land is too steep for the rivulet to be able to transform the interval between the levees into a basin where the materials would have floated on rafts. Furthermore, these roads do not extend as far as the mountain: at most they go halfway. Finally, no debris attests to this use, while numerous worked stones mark out, say the natives of Siem Reap, the direct route which crosses their province from the Koulen quarries to the capital.
To the north of this double causeway, the border continues straight towards the Koulen, following the stream. or a conventional line which must have long drawn the line of demarcation between the provinces and consequently between the two kingdoms.
Prasat Chikreng pg 451
Prasat Chikrêng. Beyond Spéan Preah Phtous. the road continues through beautiful forests interspersed with clearings, roughly following the right bank of the Sting Chikrêng and after two leagues it reaches the capital. Srok Chikrêng, which keeps some vestiges of ancient monuments. There is no need to emphasize Prasat Samrong, a tower which was two kilometers north of Chikrêng and which today is nothing more than a shapeless pile of bricks taking its name from a large tree “samrong”, which covers it with its trunk and its roots: nor on Kampong Preah Vihear “the bank of the holy Buddhist temple”, a small hamlet where there is a statue of Brahma. But two Khmer inscriptions come from Prasat Chikrêng = Prāsād Ji Kren, another brick tower located in the capital itself, four hundred meters west of Vat Chikrêng, the current pagoda: this tower is nothing more than a pile of bricks. One of these inscriptions was written on a stele which was brought to Vat Chikrêng; the other was traced on a door wall buried under debris and which we had brought to light.
The inscription on the Vat Chikrèng stele is engraved on one side only and has twelve lines of fairly large writing. cursive. poorly cared for, devoid of virama, which seems to date back to the 10th or 11th century saka. Its state of preservation is pitiful; the stone is worn and the letters are often barely visible on the stamping even if presented on a suitable day. It began with a date, of which only the units digit, 6, has been preserved. We read there that in 6 s’aka, an ācārya whose name is missing, grandson of a Mratan Kurun (probably interim governor), bought a land (bounded) to the west by the country of Mratāñ (from ) Thpvan Tyak “Head down”. The price of this land is indicated in pounds and ounces of silver, as well as in various objects. Other fields are offered to the god or lord of Chpar Ransi’ “Bamboo Garden”. Their annual royalties in hulled rice are specified. The inscription ends with imprecatory formulas promising heaven to the faithful who observe the clauses of the donation and threatening hell to the guilty who violate them.
The other Khmer inscription of Prasat Chikrêng, engraved on a door wall, has sixteen lines partly eaten away by the wear of time or the impact of the bricks. The top and bottom lines have especially suffered. What remains is very clear. The writing, with well-detached florets and regularly traced and wavy virama, is round, firm and clear. This document which begins with a date whose unit figure alone is doubtful dates back to the reign of Jayavarman V the king who ascended the throne in 890 saka. Here is the summarized translation:
In 894 (?) aka (= 973 A. D.), on the seventh day of the second fortnight of magha (January-February), a leader of the troops (or of the people) and a leader of the employees (or hired people) gave to the three deities, Ekādas’amuklia “eleven faces”, Lokes’vara “lord of the world” and Bhagavati “the Blessed”, three tai or female slaves who are named. Another character, called Vap, gives six gho or sacred serfs whose names are also indicated; he still gives 5 male buffaloes and 10 barufs. This to the god Ekādas’amukha. Three gho and five tai all named (are also given). The gifts of a second VIP consist of a gho, 6 buffaloes, including 2 males and 10 oxen. This to the god Lokes’vara. Unhulled rice and (the fruits of a) garden are given to the three deities Ekādas’amukha, Lokes vara and Bhagavati. Indication of the fields (burdened by these royalties).
Le Cambodge, 1901, Aymonier
1913
Sculptures placed under pagodas in Čikrèn. On the west bank of the Čikrèn river, towards the southern end of the village, some debris can be seen under a pagoda, including two statues of women without arms and without feet. One, 1.20 high. has a seated figurine in her bun, hands in the lap, undoubtedly a Buddha. The other, 0.40, without head. appears a replica of the previous one. Another male statuette. of 0.15 only, has the same figure in the hairstyle. Finally, still under this shelter. There is a very recognizable fragment of this ritual stone utensil. which the Chams call ” rasun bataŭ ” (cf. FINOT, BEFEO, IV, 679).
On the other bank and not far from the pagoda which contains two crouching lions and a pedestal, two steles of 1.30 and 1.10 can be seen under a pagoda on the bank, one with a standing figure, the other with a Buddha seated on the någa, his hands in his lap. Next to it are the remains of a pretty Ganeça, very well made, 0.30 high. Its trunk does not rest in the bowl of the left hand, which is closed, and the right holds a disc in the hollow of the palm.
Parmentier Henri. Complément à l’inventaire descriptif des monuments du Cambodge. In: Bulletin de l’Ecole française
d’Extrême-Orient. Tome 13, 1913. pp. 1-64;
1918
Prasath Beng. – In the village of Beng located a little below Kg-Chikreng, on the left bank of the stung, there are the ruins of two temples, Prasath Beng north and Prasath Beng south. There are statues of Brahmanical deities and elephants.
Spean Praptos. It is one of the prettiest old Khmer style bridges among the few that still remain. It is located on the Chikreng stung near the village of Kg-Kedey, about twelve kilometers upstream from Chikreng. It has solid foundations and 18 arches, each of which hardly exceeds the width of the piers, i.e. 1.30 meters. Its length is approximately 60 meters with a width of 15 meters. We see two magnificent nagas forming the head of the parapet on the east side. One of these nagas, the one which ends the parapet upstream, is broken in the middle. The one downstream is, on the contrary, absolutely intact.
CHIKRENG
According to Aymonnier (2) this province takes its name from the Pali word Cakrankap “the town of Porte disc, of Vishnu”, which by formation would have given Chikreng.
Home to 5 French, 17,000 Cambodians, 211 Annamites, 1,897 Chinese, and 2 Malay.
Chief town of the District: Krompong-Chikreng
Administrative subdivisions: – A Balat in Komp-Khléang. A Balat at Svai-Loeu.
The Governor of Chikreng has the title of Oknha Sneha Metrey Dechou and 7000 honors and the province is 5th class
Monographie Kompong Thom, 1918, Dufosse
1925
-Mr. P. RÉVÉRON, temporary member, architect of the Archaeological Service, directed the essential operations to restore the collapsed sculptures of Spån Praptos, near Kompong Kedey. He then accompanied Mr. Marchal during his archaeological tour in December 1925. Furthermore, he had the Praptors prasat and two groups of sanctuaries of Kompong Chikreng partially cleared: the Ben Nord prasát and the Ben Sud prását. During this various research, Mr. Revéron gathered notes and drawings which he intends to implement.
Bulletin de l’Ecole française d’Extrême-Orient. Tome 25, 1925. pp. 543-595.