Prasat Phnom Krom ( km, ប្រាសាទភ្នំក្រោម, lit. "downstream hill temple") is an

Angkor Angkor ( km, អង្គរ , 'Capital city'), also known as Yasodharapura ( km, យសោធរបុរៈ; sa, यशोधरपुर),Headly, Robert K.; Chhor, Kylin; Lim, Lam Kheng; Kheang, Lim Hak; Chun, Chen. 1977. ''Cambodian-Engl ...

ian temple located on top of

Phnom Krom Phnom Krom ( km, ភ្នំក្រោម, lit. "downstream hill") is a 140 m high hill close to Siem Reap city, Cambodia. There is a temple on the top which derived its name from the hill, Prasat Phnom Krom ( km, ប្រាសាទភ្� ...

Siem Reap Siem Reap ( km, សៀមរាប, ) is the second-largest city of Cambodia, as well as the capital and largest city of Siem Reap Province in northwestern Cambodia. Siem Reap has French colonial and Chinese-style architecture in the Old F ...

Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand t ...

. The temple was built at the end of the 9th century, during the reign of King Yasovarman (889 A.D.-910 A.D.) and is dedicated to

Shiva Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hindu ...

Vishnu Vishnu ( ; , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism. Vishnu is known as "The Preserver" within t ...

and

Brahma Brahma ( sa, ब्रह्मा, Brahmā) is a Hindu god, referred to as "the Creator" within the Trimurti, the trinity of supreme divinity that includes Vishnu, and Shiva.Jan Gonda (1969)The Hindu Trinity Anthropos, Bd 63/64, H 1/2, pp. 21 ...

.Higham, C., 2001, ''The Civilization of Angkor'', London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, Phnom Krom 007

Oriented toward the east, the hilltop temple is enclosed by a wall built of

laterite Laterite is both a soil and a rock type rich in iron and aluminium and is commonly considered to have formed in hot and wet tropical areas. Nearly all laterites are of rusty-red coloration, because of high iron oxide content. They develop by ...

blocks. A cornice runs along the top of the walls. Gates bisect the walls at each of the four cardinal directions. Just inside the east gate are four small buildings arrayed in a north-south row, possibly formerly used as crematoria. Inside the walls on the north and south sides are three halls, now collapsed. The temple's focus is three towers, also in a row running north to south. They sit atop a platform reached by staircases of seven steps. The south tower is dedicated to Brahma, the central to Shiva, and the north to Vishnu. Its layout is identical to

Phnom Bok Phnom Bok ( km, ភ្នំបូក) is a hill in the northeast of Eastern Baray in Cambodia, with a prasat (temple) ( km, ប្រាសាទភ្នំបូក) of the same name built on it. It is one of the "trilogies of mountains", ea ...

which must have been built at the same time. They were built of

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

; much of their carving and detail has been lost to erosion including the lintels, in very poor condition, that feature garlands and inward-facing

makara ''Makara'' ( sa, मकर, translit=Makara) is a legendary sea-creature in Hindu mythology. In Hindu astrology, Makara is equivalent to the Zodiac sign Capricorn. Makara appears as the vahana (vehicle) of the river goddess Ganga, Narmada, a ...

s. Octagonal colonettes decorate the doorways. Phnom Krom is the southernmost of three hilltop temples built in the Angkor region during the reign of Yasovarman. The other two are

Phnom Bakheng Phnom Bakheng ( km, ភ្នំបាខែង ) is a Hindu and Buddhist temple in the form of a temple mountain in Siem Reap Province, Cambodia. Dedicated to Shiva, it was built at the end of the 9th century, during the reign of King Yasova ...

and

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Krom, Phnom Hindu temples in Siem Reap Province Geography of Siem Reap province Angkorian sites in Siem Reap Province

See also

References