Prasat Bakong District

Prasat Bakong District is a district located in Siem Reap Province, in north-west Cambodia.

Administration

The district comprises 8 communes and covers an area of 341.75 km²

According to the 1998 census of Cambodia, it had a population of 54,129; the population had increased to 61,425 in the 2008 census.

See

Roluos (temples) - the three early Angkor temples known as the "Roluos group" are located to the north-west of the village of this name (not to be confused with Roluos, in the Svay Chek District, Banteay Meanchey Province), in the western part of the district and 13 km east of the provincial capital of Siem Reap.

Roluos is a Cambodian modern small town and an archeological site about 13 km east of Siem Reap along NH6. Once it was the seat of Hariharalaya, first capital of Khmer Empire north of Tonlé Sap (as the first capital in the strict sense of the term could have been Indrapura, identifiable with Banteay Prey Nokor).

Among the "Roluos Group" of temples there are some of the earliest permanent structures built by Khmer. They mark the beginning of classical period of Khmer civilization, dating from the late 9th century. Some were totally built with bricks, others partially with laterite or sandstone (the first large angkorian temple built with sandstone was possibly Ta Keo)

At present it is composed by three major temples: Bakong, Lolei, and Preah Ko, along with tiny Prasat Prei Monti. At both Bakong and Lolei there are contemporary Theravada Buddhist monasteries.

Three temples Bakong, Lolei and Preah Ko 11 Kilometers (6.8 miles) southeast of the Siem Reap Market, comprise the Roluos group of monuments they are close together and extend over an area of three kilometers (1.9 miles) east of the Great Lake.

The Roluos group, dating from the late ninth century, is the earliest site of the 600 years Angkor Period that is open to visitors.

BACKGROUND

Roluos is the site of an ancient center of Khmer civilization known as Hariharalaya (the abode of Hari-hara'). Some 70 years after Jayavarman II established his capital on Mount Kulen in 802 inaugurating the Angkor Period, the king moved the capital to Hariharalaya, Perhaps for a better source of food or for defense purposed. He died at Roluos in 850. It is generally believed that his successors remained there until the capital was moved to Bakheng in 905.

Architecture: The buildings of the Roluos Group are distinguished by tall square-shaped brick towers on pedestals. They open to the east, with false doors on the other three sides. As is typical of this period, brick was used for the towers and sandstone for carved areas such as columns, lintels and decorative niches.

A wall originally enclosed the temples though only traces remain today. It was intersected on two or more sides by an entry tower, an innovation of this period, of perhaps slightly earlier. The early examples were square with a tiered upper portion. The library also made also appearance at Roluos. It is a rectangular building with a curved roof and pediments. A temple often has two libraries, one on each side of the entry tower preceding the Central Sanctuary.

DECORATION: The characteristic decorative features of the Roluos group are: a Kala (monster head), the Hindu god Visnu on his mount the Garuda, female figures with abundant jewelry, and a preponderance of guardians and Apsaras. Columns are generally octagonal and intricately adorned with delicate leaves. Decoration on the lintels at Roluos is, according to some art historians, ' the most beautiful of all Khmer art '.

Source https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prasat_Bakong_District

http://www.tourismcambodia.com/attractions/angkor/roluos-group.htm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roluos_(temples)