Prasat Phnom Dei

ប្រាសាទភ្នំដី

Province

Siem Reap

Period

Angkor period (802–1431 CE)

Condition

Partial

Access

Motorbike required

Visited

23 November 2024

Coordinates

13.52484, 103.85976

How to find it

About 20 km north of Siem Reap, reached by the road that runs northwest from the wall of Preah Khan, through Leang Dai commune. It is outside the Angkor park and there is no ticket check. The path to the temple has been demined and is safe to walk; mine warning signs mark the ground beside it, so keep to the path. Use the coordinates on this page.

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Field notes

A brick temple on a low hill in the forest, about 20 km north of Siem Reap, also known as Phnom Bei. Its towers stand on a laterite terrace inside a laterite wall, with door frames, colonettes and lintels of sandstone. The brickwork is exceptionally fine.

An inscription, K. 1222, dates it to the reign of Tribhuvanadityavarman, who ruled from about 1165 until the Cham invasion of 1177. He is rarely named as a builder of temples.

Three towers stand in a row, facing east. The central tower is in ruins; the north and south towers still stand, with carved lintels whose central figures were cut away by looters. Brick rubble lies heaped around them, and soil covers the lower part of the walls.

Researchers believe it may have been a centre for making sculpture, sent down the river into Angkor. An unfinished statue still lies on the hill. Lintels and sculptures from the site are kept at the Angkor Conservation depot in Siem Reap.

In November 2024 a demining team was at work beside the road to the temple. The path to the temple has been cleared; the warning signs mark the ground beside it.

bricklateriteTribhuvanadityavarmanK. 1222lintellootinglandminesforest temple

Photographs

A brick tower in the forest with a false door on its face, the sun shining through the trees above — A brick tower in the forest, its false door still in place.

A red mine warning sign with a skull and crossbones and Khmer and English text, on a hillside path, another sign behind — Mine warning signs beside the path; the path itself has been cleared.

A pale tree trunk rising in front of a brick tower, its roots spreading over the ground — A tree grows against the face of a tower.

The buttress roots of a tree spreading at the foot of a brick tower — Roots at the foot of a tower.

A tree trunk beside the false door of a brick tower — A tree rises beside a false door.

A brick doorway under a pediment with a carved lintel, fallen stones on the slope beside it — A doorway under its pediment, the carved lintel still in place.

A brick pediment over a doorway with a carved lintel whose centre has been cut away, plants growing on top of the tower — The pediment over a doorway, the centre of the lintel cut away.

A brick tower half hidden by thin trees and climbers — A tower half hidden by the forest.

A heap of fallen bricks at the corner of a tower, a path through the forest beyond — Fallen brick heaped at the corner of a tower.

Tree roots spreading over fallen stones beside a ruined wall — Roots spread over fallen stones.

A carved sandstone lintel over a doorway framed by turned colonettes, its central figure cut away, roots hanging over the brick above — A carved lintel; looters cut away its central figure.

A tower doorway with carved sandstone colonettes and lintel, a creeper hanging down the brick pilaster beside it — A doorway framed by carved colonettes.

Close view of finely laid brickwork with tree roots reaching down through it — The fine brickwork, gripped by roots.

Brick towers in a row among trees, dry leaves covering the ground in front — The towers in a row on their terrace.

Sandstone door frames and steps standing among thin trees — Sandstone door frames standing among the trees.

A tower doorway with a carved lintel in dappled light, a second tower behind — A tower doorway in dappled light.

Sandstone door frames and a pedestal on a ruined laterite terrace in the forest — Door frames and a pedestal on a laterite terrace.

A pale tree trunk against a leaning brick wall — A tree against a leaning brick wall.

The morning sun shining through the canopy above a tree trunk and a brick tower — Morning sun through the trees above a tower.

A thick vine looping across the ground in front of a tree and a brick tower — A twisted vine in front of a tower.

Prasat Phnom Dei

How to find it

Field notes

Sources

Photographs