Prasat Kravan

Beside the road south of Srah Srang. It is inside the Angkor park, so you need an Angkor pass. Use the coordinates on this page.

Five brick towers in a row on one terrace, south of Srah Srang. An inscription on the doorjambs records its dedication to Vishnu in 921 CE. It was built by high officials rather than by a king.

Inside, the figures are carved into the brick itself, which is rare at Angkor. The central tower holds three images of Vishnu: riding Garuda, taking his three strides across the world, and standing with eight arms among rows of tiny devotees. The north tower holds his consort Lakshmi.

The four-armed goddess in the north tower holds Vishnu’s discus and Shiva’s trident as well as her own lotus. This seems to echo the Devi Mahatmya, a Sanskrit text of the 5th or 6th century, in which the gods each give the Great Goddess a weapon: Shiva his trident, Vishnu his discus. If so, she appears here as Lakshmi holding the combined power of both gods.

The towers were restored between 1962 and 1966 under Bernard Philippe Groslier. The new bricks are marked CA, for Conservation d’Angkor.

About a kilometre to the north-east stands Prasat Bat Chum, three brick towers of a few decades later.