Phimeanakas ( km, ប្រាសាទភិមានអាកាស, ''Prasat Phimean Akas'', 'celestial temple') or Vimeanakas ( km, ប្រាសាទវិមានអាកាស, ''Prasat Vimean Akas'') at

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 ...

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 ...

, is a

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

temple in the

Khleang The Khleangs are two buildings of unknown purpose on the east side of the Royal Square in Angkor Thom, Cambodia, located just behind the twelve towers of Prasat Suor Prat and separated by the royal route that leads from the Angkor Thom Royal Pa ...

style, built at the end of the 10th century, during the reign of

Rajendravarman Rajendravarman II ( km, រាជេន្ទ្រវរ្ម័នទី២) was the king of the Khmer Empire (region of Angkor in Cambodia), from 944 to 968 AD. Rajendravarman II was the uncle and first cousin of Harshavarman. His principal m ...

(from 941 to 968), then completed by Suryavarman IHigham, C., 2014, Early Mainland Southeast Asia, Bangkok: River Books Co., Ltd., in the shape of a three tier pyramid as a Hindu temple. On top of the pyramid there was a tower, while on the edge of top platform there are galleries. Phimeanakas is located inside the walled enclosure of the

Royal Palace This is a list of royal palaces, sorted by continent. Africa * Abdin Palace, Cairo * Al-Gawhara Palace, Cairo * Koubbeh Palace, Cairo * Tahra Palace, Cairo * Menelik Palace * Jubilee Palace * Guenete Leul Palace * Imperial Palace- ...

Angkor Thom Angkor Thom ( km, អង្គរធំ ; meaning "Great City"), alternatively Nokor Thom ( km, នគរធំ ) located in present-day Cambodia, was the last and most enduring capital city of the Khmer Empire. It was established in the late twe ...

north of Baphuon.

Description

The temple was the focal point of Suryavarman I's capital. The buildings there from his reign are enclosed by a wall 600 by 250 m, with five

gopuram A ''gopuram'' or ''gopura'' ( Tamil: கோபுரம், Malayalam: ഗോപുരം, Kannada: ಗೋಪುರ, Telugu: గోపురం) is a monumental entrance tower, usually ornate, at the entrance of a Hindu temple, in the Sout ...

, and include the Southern and Northern

Khleangs The Khleangs are two buildings of unknown purpose on the east side of the Royal Square in Angkor Thom, Cambodia, located just behind the twelve towers of Prasat Suor Prat and separated by the royal route that leads from the Angkor Thom Royal Pa ...

.Higham, C., 2001, The Civilization of Angkor, London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, The tower was originally crowned with a golden pinnacle, as Zhou Daguan described it in his report. According to legend, the king spent the first watch of every night with a woman thought to represent a

Nāga The Nagas (IAST: ''nāga''; Devanāgarī: नाग) are a divine, or semi-divine, race of half-human, half-serpent beings that reside in the netherworld (Patala), and can occasionally take human or part-human form, or are so depicted in art. ...

in the tower, during that time, not even the queen was permitted to intrude. Only in the second watch the king returned to his palace with the queen. If the naga who was the supreme land owner of Khmer land did not show up for a night, the king's day would be numbered, if the king did not show up, calamity would strike his land. Zhou Daguan:The Customs of Cambodia One of the

stele A stele ( ),Anglicized plural steles ( ); Greek plural stelai ( ), from Greek language, Greek , ''stēlē''. The Greek plural is written , ''stēlai'', but this is only rarely encountered in English. or occasionally stela (plural ''stelas'' or ...

states Jayavarman VII, while on a military expedition in

Champa Champa ( Cham: ꨌꩌꨛꨩ; km, ចាម្ប៉ា; vi, Chiêm Thành or ) were a collection of independent Cham polities that extended across the coast of what is contemporary central and southern Vietnam from approximately the 2nd ...

, learned that his father Dharanindravarman II had died, and "returned in great haste to aid King Yasovarman II. Jayavarman's second wife, Indradevi, "...composed in impeccable Sanskrit the inscription...

panegyric A panegyric ( or ) is a formal public speech or written verse, delivered in high praise of a person or thing. The original panegyrics were speeches delivered at public events in ancient Athens. Etymology The word originated as a compound of gr ...

of her sister" Jayarajadevi, which included biographical detail of Jayavarman VII.

Gallery

File:Phimeanakas, Angkor Thom, Camboya, 2013-08-16, DD 06.jpg, File:Phimeanakas, Angkor Thom, Camboya, 2013-08-16, DD 03.jpg, File:Phimeanakas, Angkor Thom, Camboya, 2013-08-16, DD 09.jpg, File:Phimeanakas, Angkor Thom, Camboya, 2013-08-16, DD 01.jpg, File:Phimeanakas, Angkor Thom, Camboya, 2013-08-16, DD 18.jpg,

References

Hindu temples in Siem Reap Province Angkorian sites in Siem Reap Province {{Hindu-temple-stub