Heritage site
Banteay Prei Nokor
បន្ទាយព្រៃនគរ
Banteay Prei Nokor (បន្ទាយព្រៃនគរ, Banteay Prei Nokor) is a temple complex of sandstone and laterite near Kampong Cham city, Cambodia.[1] It stands less than 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) north-west of the city.[2] It is also called Wat Nokor, and local people sometimes call it Wat Angkor.[1]
History
Accounts of the temple's age differ. One gives the 11th century and the reign of King Suryavarman II for its core.[3] Another says it was finished under King Jayavarman VII, though whether he ruled from here is unclear.[4]
Theravada Buddhism spread through Cambodia between the 14th and 16th centuries, and the sanctuary slowly became a Theravada monastery. Wooden and masonry buildings rose among the older stone.[3] By the 20th century it was a living monastery with resident monks, daily offerings and new halls decorated with Buddhist stories.[3] Monks still sweep its courtyards, and local women bring offerings.[3]
The site was added to the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List in 1992.[1]
Architecture and layout
The complex faces east, and its outer enclosure is more than 400 meters (1,300 feet) long.[3] A double enclosure, both parts with galleries, surrounds a cross-shaped central temple and two libraries.[5] Inside are galleries, courtyards and shrines that lead toward the central sanctuary.[3]
It is built of black sandstone and laterite,[4] unusual at a time when most temples were built of brick or reddish sandstone.[1] A modern Buddhist pagoda, built in the 1930s, stands among the ruins, so buildings of different eras now stand together.[2][3]
The temple was surrounded by a baray, or reservoir, which stored water and stood for the cosmic ocean.[3]
Art and inscriptions
The French scholar Philippe Stern placed its art in the 12th century, between the first and second periods of the Bayon style. Over the entrance to the central temple, a lintel and pediment show a bodhisattva, painted in gold.[5] The complex has false doors and windows framed by small columns, and carved sandstone lintels, the stone beams over doorways, showing deities and scenes from myth.[3] A stele in the prayer hall in front of the central temple carries an inscription of 1566 in Pali and Khmer.[5]
A modern vihara, or prayer hall, stands inside the old enclosure. It holds seated Buddha images and offerings, and its walls carry brightly colored murals of the life of the Buddha and the Jataka stories of his earlier lives.[3] The new paintings stand out against the older, darkened sandstone.[3]
Visiting
A sign at the entrance names it Nokor Bachey Temple (ប្រាសាទនគរបាជ័យ).[3][5]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 nogoodnamesleft.net, Banteay Prei Nokor (December 8, 2019)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Cambodianess, Paul Valdebouze, Combining Ancient and Recent History around Religion at Wat Nokor (March 2, 2026)
- ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 The Traveler, Kampong Cham Temples Explained: Wat Nokor and Ancient Ruins (2026-02-14)
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Happy Frog Travels, How to Visit Nokor Bachey Pagoda in Kampong Cham (undated)
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Hello Angkor, Rodney Charles L'Huillier, Nokor Bachey Temple (updated January 1, 2026)