Phnom Chisor / Cambodia

The Angkorian sanctuary of Phnom Chisor is a temple compound of the early classical time. Typical for these sanctuaries, it’s built on top of a mountain. Access is from a procession road from the east, leading from Tonle Om, a barray or huge water pond, via two gatehouses and a steep stairway up to the top of Chisor Mountain.

Flaringly, the sanctuary is crammed with buildings, what is in stark contrast to other Khmer temple compounds. However, it’s worth to pay a visit here, for there are some unique reliefs to see, a stone tablet with a sanscrit inscription and a main sanctuary filled with a lot of different objects of worship.

The article comes with a map of the sight and a great number of quality photos. It’s a virtual journey to Phnom Chisor.

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Ta Prohm | Tonle Bati / Cambodia

The sight of Ta Prohm at Tonle Bati is a very fine Angkorian temple of the time around 1200 CE. It was built in the reign of king Jayavarman VII when the medieval Khmer empire was on the zenith of it’s power and it’s art. The main sanctuary of Ta Prohm is made of sandstone and shows a great number of skillfully made fresquos. Some show small stories who are unique.

The article comes with a map of the sight and a great number of quality photos. It’s a virtual journey to Ta Prohm, Tonle Bati (Lake), neighbouring Yeah Peau temple and a short introduction to Phnom Tamao Wildlife Sanctuary.

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Udong, Cambodia’s Old Capital

Udong (also: Oudung) was in former centuries repeatedly the capital of Cambodia, before the royal court moved to Phnom Penh. Little is left of the old place, except a mountain with a number of mostly old stupas who served as burial places for the Cambodian kings.

Chet Dey Mak Prohm, one of the stupas on top of Phnom Udong.

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Phnom Bayang / Cambodia

Widely unknown is this little sight at the Cambodian/Vietnamese border at Phnom Dien/Tinh Bien. The five monuments on top of Phnom Bayang mountain consist of a main hindu temple from the early 7th century and four side temples. It’s said they were built as a victory memorial of the empire of water Chenla over the empire of Funan. There is no touristic infrastructure at the sight and very few visitors make their way up to the mountain. It’s rather an attraction for archeologists, historians and some who want to leave the beaten paths.

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Phnom Bayang main temple. Image by Asienreisender, 11/2014

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Prambanan / Java

Prambanan is a medieval temple city in central Java. Prambanan temple compound consists of three main monuments with another three complementary temples and hundreds of more temple buildings around. The whole compound was build in the decades from 850 CE on. Prambanan is not only impressive because of the sheer size of the monuments but, above all, due to the highest quality of crafts and arts. The monuments of Prambanan are seen as a response to the closeby Borobodur monument and certainly many of the same artisans were involved in the construction of both sides.

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Candi Rara Jonggrang, the main Shiva temple of Prambanan.
Image by Asienreisender, 2012

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Dieng Plateau – Abode of the Gods

The Dieng Plateau is one of Java’s great landscapes in two ways: first it’s an archeological landscape which was home for a medieval temple city, representing the oldest remaining Javanese stone buildings; second Dieng Plateau is the result of the outbreak of a huge, ancient volcano some 16,000 years ago, which left the high plain with about 100 new craters, volcanic mountain lakes and some other volcanoes around.

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Candi Bima, Dieng Plateau

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Borobodur / Borobudur

Borobodur (also: Borobudur) is a huge, medieval stepped pyramid buddhist temple; it’s the largest buddhist temple in the world. Borobodur has been built in the Kedu plain in south central Java in the 8th and 9th century CE. The grand monument served as a spiritual destination for pilgrims who approached it via the three kilometers long procession road which starts at Candi Mendut and leads over Candi Pawon to the main temple. Climbing up Borobodur monument, the pilgrims studied the sophisticated relief panels who tell a number of buddhist stories. Walking up to the top of the building symbolized the spiritual approach of purification and buddhist wisdom towards enlightenment. Considered the great perfection of the architecture and the plenty of art with it’s several kilometers long narrative reliefs, Borobodur deserves to be counted as one of the ‘Wonders of the World’.

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Candi Borobodur, seen from it’s foot. Image by Asienreisender, 2012

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Angkor Borei and Phnom Da

Ankor Borei is one of the oldest settlements in Southeast Asia. It’s by some archeologists considered the capital of the civilization of Funan. Situated in the Mekong Delta, it’s an extraordinary drive to the site. In rainy season there is only one road usable, in the dry season one can cross through the thousands of years old cultural landscapes of the Mekong Delta in Takeo Province of Cambodia.

Angkor Borei has an archeological museum and close to the place is Phnom Da situated. Phnom Da is a mountain with two ancient temple sites who date back to the beginning of civilization.

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Phnom Chisor

Between Takeo (26km) and Phnom Penh another remarkable Angkorean temple site is situated. It’s Phnom Chisor Temple. The temple was errected in the reign of king Suryavarman I (1002 – 1049 CE) and later extended. Originally called ‘Sri Suriyaparvata’ (the mountain of the Hindu sun god Surya) it was dedicated to Shiva and Vishnu.

The site consists of a central shrine, surrounded by five more shrines and two libraries. They all are inside a walled gallery with two entrance gates. As typical for the ancient Khmer buildings the construction material is laterite, bricks and sandstone for the carvings.

There is a number of lintels with carvings, inscriptions and ornaments to see. The whole site is not in a really well state, but some restorations have been done. In the times of ancient Angkor the site must have been of some significance for the empire.

The original approach to the site was on an east-west axis road. Some hundred meters east of the main site, on the plain, there is Son Reveang, the outermost gatehouse of the site, placed. Here is also a baray, an artificial lake, called Tonle Om. Following the old road, which is barely in use anymore and rather a jungle treck, one comes to a second ruined and inner gatehouse made of laterite stones. It’s name is Sen Thmol, mostly overgrown now and not restorated. Directly west of it starts a wider laterite stairway which leads up to the top of the mountain and narrows later. It’s less than 500 steps up to the main site, which is located on the easter part of the hilltop.

Keep in mind that this is not the main entrance and very few people approach from here. The main approach to the site is from the roadside, south of the site. Between the road, which leads to national road nr. 2 and the hillfoot are some food vendors. It’s also kind of a parking when one is coming with an own vehicel. No doubt there will be someone coming and try to sell a ticket for the parking. Though, they have no legitimation to do that; it’s just a self-made invention to cash from unknowing foreigners.

The stairway upwards from there is said amounts of 412 steps. At the top there is a cashpoint. A kind of a guard is demanding two dollars from foreigners.

At the northwest of the hilltop is a modern Buddhist temple placed.

The view over the surrounding Cambodian landscapes, mostly rice paddies, is praised by many visitors.

The site fell victim to an American air raid in 1973 and suffered destruction.

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Angkor Borei and Phnom Da

Nowadays a meaningless village close to the Vietnamese border, Angkor Borei was once among the first urban centers of Southeast Asia. Situated in the Mekong River delta, some suppose that Angkor Borei was the capital of Funan, Southeast Asia’s oldest civilization. Other historians rather think that Funan’s capital was situated at another ancient town, Vyadhapura, not far away down in the Mekong delta (of unknown exact location), but behind the closeby border to Vietnam. Another possible candidate for Funan’s capital was Oc Eo, also closeby in Vietnam. Might be that the capital changed over the time; might also be there was no capital of this civilization. The discussion about the site of the capital has an ideological implication; if the ancient Khmer had their center or origin in nowadays Cambodia or in nowadays south Vietnam.

Phom Da

Phnom Da is a twin hill, with two temple sites, three kilometers away from Angkor Borei. The bigger temple, a towerlike construction from the 7th century (according to other sources 6th century), is the main attraction. One has to walk up a stairway to reach the top of one of the hills, where it is placed. The building was, according to a Cambodian guide from Phnom Penh, originally built in brick. Later, in Angkorean times (10th / 11th century) it was overbuilt and extended. The used building material for the extension was laterite. The brick core is still to see from inside at the top. The roof of the building has been collapsed and is now open. The entrance door is facing to the north. As I heared it was the target for an American air raid in the Vietnam War.

Inside the building there is only one big room with the remains of a shrine in the middle of it. The floor is just a clay ground, the walls naked stone…

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This is only a part of the richly illustrated article ‘Angkor Borei and Phnom DA’. Read here the whole article on Angkor Borei and Phnom Da.

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