Preah Ko (, "The Sacred Bull") was the first temple to be built in the ancient and now defunct city of

Hariharalaya Hariharalaya (, Hariharalaya) was an ancient city and capital of the Khmer Empire, Khmer empire located near Siem Reap, Cambodia in an area now called Roluos (temples), Roluos (Khmer language, Khmer: រលួស). Today, all that remains of the ...

(in the area that today is called Roluos), some 15 kilometers south-east of the main group of temples at

Angkor Angkor ( , 'capital city'), also known as Yasodharapura (; ),Headly, Robert K.; Chhor, Kylin; Lim, Lam Kheng; Kheang, Lim Hak; Chun, Chen. 1977. ''Cambodian-English Dictionary''. Bureau of Special Research in Modern Languages. The Catholic Uni ...

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 temple was built under the Khmer King Indravarman I in 879 to honor members of the king's family, whom it places in relation with the

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

deity

Shiva Shiva (; , ), also known as Mahadeva (; , , Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐh and Hara, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the God in Hinduism, Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions w ...

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Etymology

Preah Ko (Sacred Bull) derives its name from the three statues of sandstone located in the front of and facing the temple's central towers. These statues represent Nandi, the white bull who serves as the mount of

.Higham, C., 2001, The Civilization of Angkor, London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson,

History

After the Khmer king

Jayavarman II Jayavarman II (; – 850, reigned –850) was a Khmer prince who founded and became the ruler of the Khmer Empire (Cambodia) after unifying the Khmer civilization. The Khmer Empire was the dominant civilization in mainland Southeast Asia from t ...

founded the

Khmer empire The Khmer Empire was an empire in Southeast Asia, centered on Hydraulic empire, hydraulic cities in what is now northern Cambodia. Known as Kambuja (; ) by its inhabitants, it grew out of the former civilization of Chenla and lasted from 802 t ...

in 802 A.D., he finally established his capital at

, where he died. Indravarman I was the nephew of

. When he ascended to the throne, he ordered the construction first of Preah Ko, which was dedicated in 879, and later of the temple-mountain known as the Bakong. It is likely that this building program was made possible by the king's peaceful reign and his ability to draw income from the expanding empire. A restoration of the towers took place in early 1990s, financed by German government.

Site

Preah Ko consists of six brick towers arranged in two rows of three towers each perched on a sandstone platform. The towers face east, and the front central tower is the tallest. The sanctuaries are dedicated to three divinized forefathers of Indravarman and their respective wives. The front central tower is dedicated to

, the founder of the Khmer empire. The tower to the left is dedicated to Prithivindreshvara, King Indravarman's father; the tower to the right to Rudreshvara, his grandfather. The three rear towers are dedicated to the wives of these three men.Ohio State University
The central towers all bear images of the

god

.Higham, C., 2014, Early Mainland Southeast Asia, Bangkok: River Books Co., Ltd.,

Gallery

File:Preah Ko 2.jpg, File:Preah Ko 3.jpg, File:Roulos Group - 003 Preah Ko (8588894346).jpg, File:Roulos Group - 002 Preah Ko (8588893064).jpg, File:Roulos Group - 001 Preah Ko (8588892040).jpg, File:Preah Kô4.JPG, File:Gardien de porte du temple Preah Kô (Angkor) (6823876122).jpg, File:Gardienne du temple Lolei (Angkor) (6969557243).jpg, File:Gardienne du temple Lolei (Angkor) (6826225808).jpg, File:Gardienne du temple Preah Kô (Angkor) (6823876596).jpg, File:Fausse-porte du temple Preah Kô (Angkor) (6821828786).jpg File:Linteau du temple Preah Kô (Angkor) (6969999537).jpg, File:Chinhe Preah Ko Cambodia0602.jpg, File:Nandi Preah Ko Cambodia0573.jpg, File:Taureaux Nandin du temple Preah Kô (Angkor) (6967953405).jpg,

Footnotes

References