Prasat Preah Ko is located at Roluos between Bakong and
Lolei; it is mid-way between Bakong and the road. A enter and leave the temple
from the east. It was built in late ninth century (879) by the King Indravarman
I, dedicated to Siva (Hindu) funerary temple built for the king's parents, maternal
grandparents, and a previous king, Jayavarman II and his wife, replica to Prah
Ko style of art.
LAYOUT
The complex of Prah Ko is square and surrounded by four
enclosing walls with entry towers successively smaller in size. The first two
walls are in a ruined state with only vestiges remaining. The first, or outer, enclosure
is 450 by 800 meters (1,476 by 2,625 feet) square with entry towers on the east
and west sides.
The central area is rectangular and consists of six brick
towers arranged in two rows on a low platform. The towers to the front of the
platform are than those at the back; the middle one in the front is the largest
and set slightly back from the other two. the three in the front row are for
paternal ancestors, with male guardians flanking the doorways; the three in the
back row are for maternal ancestors and have female divinities flanking the
doorways.
The back row of towers is curiously unevenly spaced with the
right-hand one closer to the center tower than left-hand one. It has been
suggested that the placement of the two towers close together in the back may
signify that those two ancestors loved each other during their earthly life.
A small terrace in the shape of a cross (largely destroyed) precedes
the literate entry tower to the east. Additional beings on the east and west
sides lead to a literate causeway. Sandstone pillars and windows with thick
balusters carved with rings, which give the appearance of being turned like
wood, complete the remains of the temple complex. A step at the entrance in the
shape of a moonstone is note-worthy for its graceful form.
In the courtyard there are the bases of two galleries, which
run parallel to the east wall. Close to and parallel to the north and south
walls of the enclosure ate two long halls. On each side of the causeway, and
closer to it, are two galleries with a porch opening to the east (mostly ruined).
Between the long hall and the gallery on the left is a square brick building
that may have been a crematorium, with a tiered upper portion and a porch
opening to the west. It is distinguished by rows of holes (perhaps for
ventilation) and a row of figures of ascetics in niches above the holes on the
upper portion of the building.
Continuing along the causeway one comes to the brick wall of
an enclosure, which has two entry towers, one in the east and another directly
opposite it on the west. They are simple square buildings with columns and fine
lintels depicting Visnu on a Garuda. An inscription was found in the entry
tower on the east. Past the entry tower at the east in the courtyard there are
the remains of three crouching sacred bull aligned in a row
CENTRAL AREA (BASE AND TOWER)
The base of the Central Sanctuaries has three stairways
along the eastern side. The landings are decorated with make and female figures.
Sandstone lions on the stairways guard the temple. The only other access to the
central level is a single stair way on the west side.
The central towers are square on the lower portion with a
porch in each of the cardinal directions. Each of the six towers of the Central
Sanctuary group was covered with stucco. Traces of the original material can be
on the tower on the right of the back row.
The thickness of the stucco and the sandstone motifs of the
false doors are features on this tower. The columns, which are octagonal, are 'incontestably
the most beautiful of Khmer art ', according to French conservators. The frame
of the door is cur in four parts and the corners where the pieces meet are
mitered, like wood, by cutting the ends of two pieces at identical angles and
fixing the cut faces together.
Sandstone lintels above the doors of the tower in the front
row on the right are decorated with small horsemen and figures mounted on
serpents. The lintel on the false door of the middle tower of the back row have
a Garuda in the center, surmounted by a row of small heads.
Corner niches of the central tower in the front row have male
guardians in niches carved in sandstone and encased in brick.
The decoration on the three towers in the back row is if
inferior quality to that on those in the front row. The corner niches contain
female deities. A curious feature of the center tower in the back row is that
the false door is brick coasted with stucco whereas the other false doors are
of sandstone. Each tower originally contained an image of a Hindu god with whom
the deceased was united.
Tip: Looking east from the platform of the Central
Sanctuaries one can see the laterite roadway and remains if the entry towers of
the four enclosing walls.
Leaving the Central Sanctuary from the west one passes
through a simple square entry tower with a stairway (mostly demolished). The
courtyard on this side is narrow and contains two rectangular galleries
parallel to the west wall.
