Early medieval · Hindu · Cambodia

Preah Ko

Roluos, Siem Reap, Siem Reap · 13.3439°, 103.9728°

Shiva, honouring the royal ancestorsKhmer Empire—UNESCO World Heritage

Sacred since

879 CE

first attestation / structure

Standing structure

879 (Indravarman I)

Khmer Empire

History & significance

Built in 879 by Indravarman I soon after his accession, Preah Ko sets six brick towers in two rows on a single sandstone platform, its sanctuaries honouring three deified male ancestors and their wives in association with Shiva; the front central tower commemorates Jayavarman II, who founded the Khmer empire in 802. The towers were restored in the early 1990s with German government funding.

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