Cambodia

Preah Khan

 

	Preah Khan is a huge, highly explorable monastery complex, full of carvings, passages and photo opportunities. It originally served as a Buddhist monastery and school, housing over 1000 monks. For a short period it was also the residence of King Jayavarman VII during the reconstruction of his permanent home in Angkor Thom. Preah Khan means "Sacred Sword". In harmony with the architecturally similar Ta Prohm, which was dedicated to Jayavarman VII's mother, Preah Khan is dedicated to his father. Like most of Jayavarman VII's monuments, the Buddha images were vandalised in the later Hindu resurgence. Some Buddha carvings in the central corridor have been crudely carved over with Bodhisattvas, and in a couple of odd cases, a lotus flower and linga.
	Horrendous Tuk-Tuk jam at the South Gate of Angkor Thom
	Entrance to Preah Khan