Heritage site
Prasat Baset
ប្រាសាទបាសែត
Prasat Baset (ប្រាសាទបាសែត) is an 11th-century Angkorian temple east of the city of Battambang (បាត់ដំបង). It stands in Baset village, Ta Pon (តាប៉ុន) commune, Sangkae (សង្កែ) district, about 14 kilometers (9 miles) from the provincial hall, beside the pagoda of Wat Baset (វត្តបាសែត).[1][2] Its old name was Jayakshetra (ជ័យក្សេត្រ).[1][3]
History
Kim Sophoan (គឹម សោភ័ណ), director of Battambang's Department of Culture and Fine Arts, told Thmey Thmey 25 that the temple was built in the 11th century for the worship of the Hindu god Shiva. He placed it in the reign of King Suryavarman I (សូរ្យវរ្ម័នទី១, 1002 to 1050).[1] The province's tourism book dates its building to 1036 and 1042.[4]
Several inscriptions name the temple. One, known as K.212, was found in Ta Ngaen village, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) west of Battambang. It records servants and land given to Jayakshetra on the order of Suryavarman I in 949 of the Saka era, the year 1027. Another, K.207, is at the temple itself and lists goods, rice fields and many servants given to Jayakshetra. Two more inscriptions at the temple, K.205 and K.206, name a place called Mangalapura (មង្គលបុរៈ), the older form of the name of Mongkol Borei (មង្គលបុរី) district.[3]
Kim Sophoan said that nature, war and people looking for valuables or taking its stones damaged the temple over the centuries.[1] In the Khmer Rouge period it was pulled down almost to the ground when its stones were dug out.[4] Chin Phy (ជិន ភី), a retired officer of the provincial culture department who guards the site, told Koh Santepheap that stones from the temple went into a dam on a stream at Sala Ta On (សាលាតាអន). Other parts were buried, he said.[2]
Restoration
In 2018 Kim Sophoan named Prasat Baset as one of the five old temples in Battambang province whose form survives, with Banan (បាណន់), Ek Phnom (ឯកភ្នំ), West Snoeng (ស្នឹងខាងលិច) and East Snoeng (ស្នឹងខាងកើត), and as the most ruined of the five.[4] The Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts began repairs in 2015 with money from the government, reusing the temple's own stones and following its first design.[1] Kim Sophoan said the work had four main stages: a small tower standing apart from the others in 2015, and the large towers from 2016 to 2018.[2]
The site
Two temple towers stand on the site, with carvings on their lintels and door columns. Loose stones from the temple lie around them, under large shade trees.[1] The temple is built of sandstone and laterite, inside a wide enclosure.[4] It stands on a mound, and its grounds hold an old pond 20 meters (66 feet) long, 12 meters (39 feet) wide and 10 meters (33 feet) deep, with laterite steps on every side. The pond gives water in the dry and wet seasons to the pagoda and to the homes nearby, and villagers come to the temple to pray for their wishes.[2]
A statue of Brahma with four heads from Wat Baset is in the Musée Guimet in Paris.[5]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Thmey Thmey 25, Nhem Chan, Prasat Jayakshetra, or Baset, an old religious and cultural site for visitors in Battambang (December 22, 2021; in Khmer)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Koh Santepheap, Prasat Baset becomes an attractive place to visit (July 8, 2019; in Khmer)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 AMS Khmer Civilization, A study on the origin of the name of Battambang province (July 10, 2021; in Khmer, with an English summary)
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Koh Santepheap, Chhom Pisamai, Get to know the temples of Battambang province (July 13, 2018; in Khmer)
- ↑ CambodgeMag, Pascal Médeville, France and Cambodia: Khmer art at the Musée Guimet (May 28, 2024)