Preah Ko
"The sacred ox"
Date : late 9th century (879)
King : Indravarman I (posthumous name: Isvaraloka)
Cult : Brahmanic (Shivaïte)
Clearing G. Trouvé in 1932
The temple of Preah Ko, the sacred bull to whom this complex of stone and brick is dedicated, is bordered by a moat to the north and a moat to the south.
The temple was officially called Paramesvara, a name which means Supreme God and usually designates Shiva. Here, however, the name Paramesvara also is the posthumous name of King Jayavarman II, the founder of the Angkorian Empire. The rectangular area enclosing the monument measures about 500 meters by 400 meters. Preah Ko was dedicated by Indravarman in 879 AD to the memory of Jayavarman II, represented in the central sanctuary of the eastern side of the base platform. The side towers were dedicated to the ancestors of Indravarman himself.
Preah Ko, the funerary temple of Jayavarman II and of the ancestors of his second successor, Indravarman, is to be found just to the west of the track leading to Bakong, at 500 metres south of route 6. Sited in the eastern part of the vast square of 500 metres east-west by 400 metres north-south formed by its moats, its buildings were perhaps but a complement to a temple-mountain project which was superseded by the pyramid of Bakong, or else to some light-weight construction, long since disappeared, that was part of the city of Hariharalaya, the capital of Indravarman - perhaps for example an ancient royal residence, as Mr Cœdes has suggested.
The temple's foundation stele was found in the gopura of the first enclosure and is admirably preserved.(38) After a homage to Shiva it gives a brief genealogy of Indravarman, and then his eulogy in accordingly grand terms "the right arm of the prince" reads the Sanskrit text "is long, strong, and fearsome in battle as his flashing sword falls on his enemies, defeating kings in every direction. Invincible, he can be appeased by two enemies only - those who have their backs turned, and those who, valuing life, put themselves under his protection" (G. Cœdes). The inscription is followed by a reference to the cult of Devaraja, or the "god king", instituted on mount Mahendra (Phnom Kulen) and ends by giving the foundation date (879) of three statues of Shiva and of Devi. The other side, written in Khmer, dates from 893 during the reign of Yasovarman and prescribes certain gifts to Paramesvara, the divinity of the middle eastern row of sanctuaries, and to Prithivindresvara in the southern.
Another stele dating from the beginning of the 11th century (1005) gives the eulogy of King Jayaviravarman who reigned from 1002 to 1010 and was ousted by the usurper Suryavarman I.
The east gopura of the third enclosure, three quarters of which have collapsed, has its sandstone portico just by the access track. In laterite but with sandstone windows - each with five large balusters - it is cruciform in plan and has two wings forming secondary passageways. Originally tile covered, it must have had - to judge by the various elements found during excavation - triangular frontons embelished with large volutes corresponding to the two slopes of the roof.
The west door opens onto a laterite pavement that marks the axis of the wide causeway dividing the enclosing moat. It was flanked by two parallel galleries of which nothing remains but the foundations. A small terrace leads to the gopura of the second enclosure - analogous in plan to the preceding one but not as wide - and joins with the 97 by 94 metre laterite enclosure wall. Only the outward side has windows, each with 7 balusters. A fine accolade formed base step at its eastern door.
The surrounding courtyard of the second enclosure is wider to the east, and was once occupied on this side by two symmetrical long rooms running parallel to the wall that had porticoes facing one another - and then by two others lying perpendicular and opening to the east onto a small path running north-south. Two buildings forming galleries, but which are entirely ruined, are again aligned east-west against the north and the south enclosure walls, each with a portico to its main side. Finally, a square brick building with an upper tier, similar to those at Bakong, remains standing - due to the considerable thickness of its walls - between the two long rooms to the south. It opens to the west with a portico and is ventilated by lines of holes. Above are figures of ascetics sculpted into the brickwork, while below, a series of niches shelter other figures moulded in stucco. On the western side the courtyard is fairly tight, and was occupied by two long north-south galleries set symmetrically with respect to the axis of the monument, which is marked by a partially collapsed gopura.
The wall of the 58 by 56 metre first enclosure is in brick, like its two gopuras - simple square buildings with a single room, and cylindrical colonnettes with fine lintels that have Vishnou on Garuda as their central motif. The eastern gopura is more imposing than the western and encloses a 3m.60 wide chamber that sheltered the foundation stele.
The moulded sandstone plinth forms a common platform for the six sanctuary towers. On the east side it is breached by three stairways whose side walls are ornate with dvarapalas and devatas and set with squatting lions. In front of each is a reclining Nandin (the sacred bull), the mount of Shiva. On the west side there is a single axial stairway.
The brick sanctuary towers are arranged in two rows and vary in size - to the east, the middle tower is set back slightly and dominates. The three prasats behind are similar but less developed - and the one in the north-west corner of the platform is, for no apparent reason, offset with respect to the corresponding sanctuary of the first row.
The six towers open to the east. Each has four upper tiers that become increasingly deformed. They were covered with a coating of lime based mortar which was remarkably sculpted and is still preserved in places - particularly on the tower of the north-east corner - after eleven centuries in existence. On the eastern side, the frames of the openings and the motifs of the false doors are in sandstone, with some superb octagonal colonnettes that are undeniably the finest to be found in Khmer art. The door panels have mascarons as at Bakong. The frames are in four parts with mitred joints, as if in timber, and are preferable to those at Bakong, where the door openings are crudely cut from a monolith.
The lintels are also in sandstone and of the same merit as those at Bakong, being treated in similar spirit but perhaps with less variety. One should particularly note those above the doors of the three towers with their relief ornament of small cavaliers and figurines mounted on nagas - and the ones, more restrained but as new, of the false doors of the middle tower that have a central garuda holding the branch, above which is a charming frieze of small heads set in a row.
The square chambers - of 3m.40 across and 3m.70 in the main sanctuary - were reserved for masculine divinities. The corner piers were also ornate with imposing dvarapalas set in blind arches which, in contrast to those at Bakong, are in sandstone and set into the brickwork. They are quite distinctive in style - the one to the north-east corner, north side, of the central tower standing particularly proud, and very different to the graceful guardians of Banteay Srei.
The first entrance:
The first entrance of Preah Ko temple was designed like a cross. Only its laterite wall, sandstone doorframes and sandstone windows remain today. Its roof which was constructed of wood covered with clay tile has gone.
The causeway:
There is a causeway, paved with laterite leading from the first entrance to the second entrance, which is 30m long. This walkway originally had two rows of stone columns in a form of candle on both side which some of them still remain. These columns symbolized Agni, a god of fire, who was a messenger between man and god in Hinduism.
The second entrance:
The second entrance has the same plan to the first entrance structure, but it has smaller size and very ruined. There’re many broken pieces of columns, windows, doorframes and god statues on the ground. This section has a piece of sandstone to step up which was designed like a lotus petal. This entrance is part of a literite wall which is 70m by 60m and in good condition.
The third entrance:
The third entrance was designed a bit different from I and II entrance. Its structure was covered with a brick doom roof. This entrance is part of a brick wall which is 50m by 50m, which only its foundation remains today.
Agni Shrine:
At the southeast corner, there’s an elegant Agnie shrine which was used to pray to the god of fire and used as a crematorium of the royal family and high Brahmin. This structure has a very thick wall which was built with brick. There’re some holes on the wall for smoke to move away. Ancient Khmer people, particularly Hindu followers, believed that after offering their dead body to the god of fire, their souls or spirits would not be stunned and would be born in the happy world. to worship to Agnie god was also the principle thing to do before entering the main shrines.
The three towers behind, reserved for feminine divinities and of only 2m.50 inside, were less developed. Reduced in proportion they are entirely in brick with the exception of the sandstone door frames and devatas on the corner piers, which replace the dvarapalas of the eastern towers and already herald those in the Bakheng style. Everywhere the decor is sculpted in stucco, even the colonnettes, the false doors - which here are without mascarons - and lintels, where the motifs were first rough-formed in the brickwork.
As at Bakong, several fine pieces of sculpture - dating from the 9th century to the style of the Bayon - were found during the course of our work. Of these, only one of Shiva in the south-east corner tower and a feminine divinity without a head in the rear central tower were left in place.(39) Both of these statues date from the period of the monument.
"The sacred ox"
Date : late 9th century (879)
King : Indravarman I (posthumous name: Isvaraloka)
Cult : Brahmanic (Shivaïte)
Clearing G. Trouvé in 1932
The temple of Preah Ko, the sacred bull to whom this complex of stone and brick is dedicated, is bordered by a moat to the north and a moat to the south.
The temple was officially called Paramesvara, a name which means Supreme God and usually designates Shiva. Here, however, the name Paramesvara also is the posthumous name of King Jayavarman II, the founder of the Angkorian Empire. The rectangular area enclosing the monument measures about 500 meters by 400 meters. Preah Ko was dedicated by Indravarman in 879 AD to the memory of Jayavarman II, represented in the central sanctuary of the eastern side of the base platform. The side towers were dedicated to the ancestors of Indravarman himself.
Preah Ko, the funerary temple of Jayavarman II and of the ancestors of his second successor, Indravarman, is to be found just to the west of the track leading to Bakong, at 500 metres south of route 6. Sited in the eastern part of the vast square of 500 metres east-west by 400 metres north-south formed by its moats, its buildings were perhaps but a complement to a temple-mountain project which was superseded by the pyramid of Bakong, or else to some light-weight construction, long since disappeared, that was part of the city of Hariharalaya, the capital of Indravarman - perhaps for example an ancient royal residence, as Mr Cœdes has suggested.
Another stele dating from the beginning of the 11th century (1005) gives the eulogy of King Jayaviravarman who reigned from 1002 to 1010 and was ousted by the usurper Suryavarman I.
The east gopura of the third enclosure, three quarters of which have collapsed, has its sandstone portico just by the access track. In laterite but with sandstone windows - each with five large balusters - it is cruciform in plan and has two wings forming secondary passageways. Originally tile covered, it must have had - to judge by the various elements found during excavation - triangular frontons embelished with large volutes corresponding to the two slopes of the roof.
The west door opens onto a laterite pavement that marks the axis of the wide causeway dividing the enclosing moat. It was flanked by two parallel galleries of which nothing remains but the foundations. A small terrace leads to the gopura of the second enclosure - analogous in plan to the preceding one but not as wide - and joins with the 97 by 94 metre laterite enclosure wall. Only the outward side has windows, each with 7 balusters. A fine accolade formed base step at its eastern door.
The surrounding courtyard of the second enclosure is wider to the east, and was once occupied on this side by two symmetrical long rooms running parallel to the wall that had porticoes facing one another - and then by two others lying perpendicular and opening to the east onto a small path running north-south. Two buildings forming galleries, but which are entirely ruined, are again aligned east-west against the north and the south enclosure walls, each with a portico to its main side. Finally, a square brick building with an upper tier, similar to those at Bakong, remains standing - due to the considerable thickness of its walls - between the two long rooms to the south. It opens to the west with a portico and is ventilated by lines of holes. Above are figures of ascetics sculpted into the brickwork, while below, a series of niches shelter other figures moulded in stucco. On the western side the courtyard is fairly tight, and was occupied by two long north-south galleries set symmetrically with respect to the axis of the monument, which is marked by a partially collapsed gopura.
The wall of the 58 by 56 metre first enclosure is in brick, like its two gopuras - simple square buildings with a single room, and cylindrical colonnettes with fine lintels that have Vishnou on Garuda as their central motif. The eastern gopura is more imposing than the western and encloses a 3m.60 wide chamber that sheltered the foundation stele.
The moulded sandstone plinth forms a common platform for the six sanctuary towers. On the east side it is breached by three stairways whose side walls are ornate with dvarapalas and devatas and set with squatting lions. In front of each is a reclining Nandin (the sacred bull), the mount of Shiva. On the west side there is a single axial stairway.
The brick sanctuary towers are arranged in two rows and vary in size - to the east, the middle tower is set back slightly and dominates. The three prasats behind are similar but less developed - and the one in the north-west corner of the platform is, for no apparent reason, offset with respect to the corresponding sanctuary of the first row.
The six towers open to the east. Each has four upper tiers that become increasingly deformed. They were covered with a coating of lime based mortar which was remarkably sculpted and is still preserved in places - particularly on the tower of the north-east corner - after eleven centuries in existence. On the eastern side, the frames of the openings and the motifs of the false doors are in sandstone, with some superb octagonal colonnettes that are undeniably the finest to be found in Khmer art. The door panels have mascarons as at Bakong. The frames are in four parts with mitred joints, as if in timber, and are preferable to those at Bakong, where the door openings are crudely cut from a monolith.
The lintels are also in sandstone and of the same merit as those at Bakong, being treated in similar spirit but perhaps with less variety. One should particularly note those above the doors of the three towers with their relief ornament of small cavaliers and figurines mounted on nagas - and the ones, more restrained but as new, of the false doors of the middle tower that have a central garuda holding the branch, above which is a charming frieze of small heads set in a row.
The square chambers - of 3m.40 across and 3m.70 in the main sanctuary - were reserved for masculine divinities. The corner piers were also ornate with imposing dvarapalas set in blind arches which, in contrast to those at Bakong, are in sandstone and set into the brickwork. They are quite distinctive in style - the one to the north-east corner, north side, of the central tower standing particularly proud, and very different to the graceful guardians of Banteay Srei.
The first entrance:
The first entrance of Preah Ko temple was designed like a cross. Only its laterite wall, sandstone doorframes and sandstone windows remain today. Its roof which was constructed of wood covered with clay tile has gone.
The causeway:
There is a causeway, paved with laterite leading from the first entrance to the second entrance, which is 30m long. This walkway originally had two rows of stone columns in a form of candle on both side which some of them still remain. These columns symbolized Agni, a god of fire, who was a messenger between man and god in Hinduism.
The second entrance:
The second entrance has the same plan to the first entrance structure, but it has smaller size and very ruined. There’re many broken pieces of columns, windows, doorframes and god statues on the ground. This section has a piece of sandstone to step up which was designed like a lotus petal. This entrance is part of a literite wall which is 70m by 60m and in good condition.
The third entrance:
The third entrance was designed a bit different from I and II entrance. Its structure was covered with a brick doom roof. This entrance is part of a brick wall which is 50m by 50m, which only its foundation remains today.
Agni Shrine:
At the southeast corner, there’s an elegant Agnie shrine which was used to pray to the god of fire and used as a crematorium of the royal family and high Brahmin. This structure has a very thick wall which was built with brick. There’re some holes on the wall for smoke to move away. Ancient Khmer people, particularly Hindu followers, believed that after offering their dead body to the god of fire, their souls or spirits would not be stunned and would be born in the happy world. to worship to Agnie god was also the principle thing to do before entering the main shrines.
The three towers behind, reserved for feminine divinities and of only 2m.50 inside, were less developed. Reduced in proportion they are entirely in brick with the exception of the sandstone door frames and devatas on the corner piers, which replace the dvarapalas of the eastern towers and already herald those in the Bakheng style. Everywhere the decor is sculpted in stucco, even the colonnettes, the false doors - which here are without mascarons - and lintels, where the motifs were first rough-formed in the brickwork.
As at Bakong, several fine pieces of sculpture - dating from the 9th century to the style of the Bayon - were found during the course of our work. Of these, only one of Shiva in the south-east corner tower and a feminine divinity without a head in the rear central tower were left in place.(39) Both of these statues date from the period of the monument.
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