Phnom Krom
| Phnom Krom | |
|---|---|
| ភ្នំក្រោម | |
 View of Phnom Krom at dawn | |
| Highest point | |
| Elevation | 140 m (460 ft) |
| Coordinates | 13°17′09″N 103°48′44″E / 13.28573°N 103.81218°E[1] |
| Geography | |
  Phnom Krom Location of Phnom Krom in Cambodia | |
| Location | Siem Reap Province, Cambodia |
| Geology | |
| Mountain type | Sandstone |
| Climbing | |
| Easiest route | Drive, then hike |
| Phnom Krom temple | |
|---|---|
 view of Phnom Krom temple | |
| Religion | |
| Affiliation | Hinduism |
| Province | Siem Reap |
| Deity | Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma |
| Location | |
| Location | On Phnom Krom hill, about 10km southwest of Siem Reap |
| Country | Cambodia |
  Location in Cambodia | |
| Geographic coordinates | 13°17′08″N 103°48′44″E / 13.28556°N 103.81222°E |
| Architecture | |
| Type | Khmer (Bakheng style) |
| Creator | Yasovarman I |
| Completed | Late 9th to early 10th century AD |
| Temple(s) | 3 towers |
Phnom Krom (Khmer: ភ្នំក្រោម) 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" (Khmer: ប្រាសាទភ្នំក្រោម). Prasat means "temple".
Location
Phnom Krom is about 12 kilometers southwest of Siem Reap town.
Phnom Krom hill is very rocky; local legend has it that the rocks were exposed by the monkey general Hanuman during a hunt for medicine in the Ramayana epic. The area beyond the temple’s west gate affords a spectacular view of the Tonle Sap lake.
Phnom Krom temple
There is an Angkorian temple named "Prasat Phnom Krom" on top of the hill. It is a Hindu shrine dedicated to Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma.
The temple was built at the end of the 9th century, during the reign of King Yasovarman (889 A.D.-910 A.D.).[2]: 65 [3]: 113
Oriented toward the east, the hilltop temple is enclosed by a wall built of laterite blocks. Along the walls' top runs a cornice. 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 which must have been built at the same time.
They were built of sandstone; much of their carving and detail has been lost to erosion including the lintels, in very poor condition, that feature garlands and inward-facing makaras. 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 and Phnom Bok.
Phnom Krom railway
Phnom Krom was at the southern end of the Phnom Krom railway, a narrow-gauge French colonial railway that was most likely constructed to take stone from the now-defunct quarries on Phnom Krom to Siem Reap.
Gallery
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Tonle Sap lake and Phnom Krom hill -
Tonle Sap lake and Chong Kneas village viewed from Phnom Krom hill -
The main temple complex on the hill -
Sugar palm trees on the hill
See also
References
- ^ Google Earth
- ^ Higham, C., 2001, The Civilization of Angkor, London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, ISBN 9781842125847
- ^ Coedès, George (1968). Walter F. Vella (ed.). The Indianized States of Southeast Asia. trans.Susan Brown Cowing. University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 978-0-8248-0368-1.
External links
Media related to Phnom Krom at Wikimedia Commons- Nick Ray, Cambodia
