khmer

Beng Mealea (Khmer: Prasat Beng Mealea) is a temple in the Angkor Wat style located 40 km east of the main group of temples at Angkor, Cambodia, and 77 km from Siem Reap by road. It is largely unrestored, with trees and thick brush thriving amidst its towers and courtyards and many of its stones lying in great heaps. For years it was difficult to reach, but a road recently built to the temple complex of Koh Ker passes Beng Mealea and more visitors are coming to the site.

The temple was built during the reign of King Suryavarman II in the early 12th century. Smaller in size than Angkor Wat, the king’s main monument, Beng Mealea nonetheless ranks among the Khmer empire’s larger temples. Its primary material is sandstone. Surrounded by moats, it is oriented toward the east but has entranceways from the other three cardinal directions. The basic layout is three enclosing galleries around a central sanctuary. Structures known as libraries lie to the right and left of the avenue that leads in from the east. There is extensive carving of scenes from Hindu mythology, including the Churning of the Sea of Milk and Vishnu being borne by the bird god Garuda. Causeways have long balustrades formed by bodies of the seven-headed Naga serpent.