Prasat Suor Prat () is a series of twelve towers spanning north to south lining the eastern side of a royal square in
Angkor Thom
Angkor Thom ( ; meaning "Great City"), alternatively Nokor Thom ( ), located in present-day Cambodia, was the last and most enduring capital city of the Khmer empire, Khmer Empire. It was established in the late twelfth century by King Jayavarman V ...
, near the town of
Siem Reap
Siem Reap (, ) is the second-largest city of Cambodia, as well as the capital and largest city of Siem Reap Province in northwestern Cambodia.
Siem Reap possesses French-colonial and Chinese-style architecture in the Old French Quarter ...
,
Cambodia
Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...
. The towers are made from rugged laterite and sandstone. They are right in front of
Terrace of the Elephants and
Terrace of the Leper King, flanking the start of the road leading east to the Victory Gate, on either side of which they are symmetrically arranged. Their function remains unknown.
The current tower's name in
Khmer means "The towers of the tightrope dancers," a romantic idea derived from the local belief that they were used to support a high wire stretched between them for acrobatics during royal festivals. This belief, however, is irrelevant.
Zhou Daguan
Zhou Daguan (; ; c. 1270–?) was a Chinese diplomat of the Yuan dynasty of China, serving under Temür Khan (Emperor Chengzong of Yuan). He is most well known for his accounts of the customs of Cambodia and the Angkor temple complexes during hi ...
describes in his records that the towers are used to settle disputes among Angkorian people.
The temple was possibly built during the reign of
Indravarman II.
[Higham, C., 2001, The Civilization of Angkor, London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, ]
Among the twelve towers, the structures identified as N1 tower and N2 antechamber were in danger of collapse and were reconstructed in 2001-2005 by JSA (Japanese Government Team for Safeguarding of Angkor) and
APSARA
Apsaras (, , Khmer language, Khmer: អប្សរា are a class of celestial beings in Hinduism, Hindu and Culture of Buddhism, Buddhist culture. They were originally a type of female spirit of the clouds and waters, but, later play ...
.
Gallery
File:Prasat Suor Prat 2014.JPG,
File:Angkor SiemReap Cambodia Suor-Prat-Towers-02.jpg,
File:Prasat Suor Prat, Angkor Thom, Camboya, 2013-08-16, DD 01.JPG
File:Angkor Thom plaça central.jpg
File:Prasat Suor Prat 5.jpg
References
Angkorian sites in Siem Reap province
{{Cambodia-struct-stub