Phnom Bakheng

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View of Angkor Wat from Phnom Bakheng

Phnom Bakheng was the state-temple of Yasorvarman I, (who also built Lo Lei and the East Baray). The construction is of bricks, laterites, and sandstone in late 9th and early 10th centuries.

This temple marks the centre of the new capital city Yashodharapura. The whole of the top of the mountain was cut away to make way for the construction of the temple on its summit. 8.5 million cubic meters of sandstone had to be hewn from the Kulen hills some 50km away.

A visit to the top shows the huge stairway cut directly into the mountain stone. All the stone blocks for the temple itself would have been carried up the mountain by elephant, a truely mammoth(!) task.

Bakheng temple is a busy gathering place for tourists wishing to catch the sunset over the temples and Western Baray (one of the several man-made lakes in 11th century that remain in use even today.

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