Bakong, 881, built by King Indravarman as his central pyramid temple, at Hariharalaya (Roluos). The central image was called Indreshvara, named after the king (Indra) and Shiva (ishvara) combined.

Description

The Bakong temple has five sandstone terraces rising to a height of 15 m. Its central tower dates to the late 11th c., but the 12 small towers around the fourth terrace are original (881) and each once contained a statue (not a lingam), perhaps of other deities as well as Shiva. A stairway leads up the pyramid on each side, highlighted by a pair of seated lions at each terrace level. On the corners of the terraces are large stone elephants. These will remain standard features on several temples through the 12th c. A total of 8 brick towers surround the pyramid at its base. The niches in the 4 eastern towers contain male images (dvarapala) and the niches in the 4 western towers, females. We do not know which female deities were on the west, but each eastern tower had a Shiva lingam according to inscriptions.

There were originally 4 enclosures around the central pyramid that alternated between (from the inner enclosure out) a wall, a moat, another wall, and an exterior moat measuring 850 x 650 m. The enclosing walls have a gateway on each side.

A shaft went down 20.4 m. below the central sanctuary, to a depth of 5.6 m. below the current ground level. The top 1.3 m. of the shaft is walled in brick, and below that point, the walls are of laterite blocks. The laterite blocks stop at 18.4 m. down, where there seems to have been an incursion into the central area of the temple (thieves looking for a buried treasure). The whole southeast corner of the lower terrace was demolished so that the thieves could enter the central shaft from that side of the monument. (The Bakong was completely restored in 1936/37.)

General Information

A naga (snake) balustrade appears for the first time down the main causeway leading to the eastern steps of the Bakong. In this instance, however, the balustrade railing lies flat on the ground. Statues of Nandin were once in front of each of the stairways going up the sides of the monument, facing the temple. The number of steps in the stairways diminishes with each terrace, and the height of each terrace diminishes as well. In agreement with this effort to emphasize the effect of perspective, the lions also get smaller towards the top of the monument. At this point in time, the skirts of the female images and sampots of the male images show pleating down the central fold of cloth for the first time.