Bakong Temple is the stunning pyramid/temple-mountain masterpiece in the ancient city of Hariharalaya (present-day Roluos, Siem Reap) belonging to the 9th century and the state temple of King Indravarman I. The site consists of an outer moat (barely noticeable today) delimiting an area that then features an outer enclosure of laterite, containing a large beautiful moat, followed by another enclosure containing the five-level pyramid, eight surrounding brick towers, six satellite brick buildings, five elongated buildings, and two smaller constructions plus a contemporary pagoda. More on all that here.
Hidden away and in between residences and deep overgrowth, there are actually 24 more ancient sites located in between the inner and outer moats. Recently APSARA has cleared 12 of these sites to reveal some quite stunning and majestic ancient brick towers. Other sites are still well covered in overgrowth and nestled in between the private spaces of local residences so, we’ll have to wait for those.
The temples don’t have individual names and simply come under the banner of Bakong Temple currently, for the purpose of this website, I’ve numbered them BK1-24 starting from the eastern entrance working clockwise.
Some of the cleared sites are almost completely standing and still retaining much of their original embellishments. Several sites still retain their original lintels in situ, pedestals, decorative columns, and one site featuring an inscription on the doorframe.
While they are all interesting and actually they all seem to be unique of each other, two stand out, being BK11 and BK20.
BK11 still has a beautiful lintel in situ, decorated door columns, and carries an inscription on the doorframe. It also has a large sandstone base entrance steps at each side while opening only to the east. These entrances were flanked by small lions, remnants of which are still seen.
BK20 is very unusual compared to the others, featuring the remains of three towers, one tall majestic tower that possibly featured a mandapa, flanked by two smaller towers.
What am I telling you here? You need to revisit Bakong Temple and the Roluos area!
