Ak Yum

Ak Yum (Khmer: ប្រាសាទអកយំ) is an ancient temple in the Angkor region of Cambodia.[2]:350,352 Helen Jessup dates the temple to the 8th century, and states it is the oldest known example of "temple mountain" in Southeast Asia.[3][4]

Ak Yum
Ruin of the temple
Religion
AffiliationHinduism
ProvinceSiem Reap
DeityGambhiresvara
Location
LocationAngkor
CountryCambodia
Location within Cambodia
Geographic coordinates13°25′28″N 103°46′36″E
Architecture
TypeKhmer (Kompong Preah style[1])
Completed2nd half of the 8th century AD

The origins and repair history of the temple are unclear. Stone carrying inscriptions, including one with a date corresponding to Saturday 10 June 674 AD during the reign of king Jayavarman I. The first structure on the site was a single-chamber brick sanctuary, probably constructed in the latter part of the 8th century. Later it was remade into a larger stepped pyramid structure, with a base approximately 100 meters square. The expansion probably took place in the early 9th Century during the reign of King Jayavarman II, who is widely recognized as the founder of the Khmer Empire. When the West Baray reservoir was built in the 11th Century, Ak Yum was partially buried by the southern dike. The site was excavated in the 1932 under the direction of archaeologist George Trouvé.

References

  1. Ancient Angkor guide book, by Michael Freeman and Claude Jacques, p.30, published in 2003
  2. Higham, C., 2014, Early Mainland Southeast Asia, Bangkok: River Books Co., Ltd., ISBN 9786167339443
  3. Helen I Jessup (2004), Art & Architecture of Cambodia, London: Thames & Hudson, ISBN 978-0500203750, pages 60-61
  4. Michael W. Meister (2006), Mountain Temples and Temple-Mountains: Masrur, Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, Vol. 65, No. 1 (Mar., 2006), University of California Press, pp. 39- 44;
  • Higham, Charles. The Civilization of Angkor. University of California Press 2001. p. 96

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.