Preah Khan is one of the more complex temple to visit due to its history across different kinds. The temple was built by Jayavarman VII and it was dedicated to his father. As Buddhism thrived during his time, the temple was first built with Buddha statues and carvings.

However, as Hinduism returned to Khmer Empire during the time of Jayavarman VIII, some of the Buddhism carvings were removed and replaced with Hinduism carvings. There are also some brilliant carvings, which is close to perfect to date! Examples include the carvings of dancing Apsaras, fight of Lanka from Ramayana epic and Brahmin carvings. There as also some Buddha carvings which were not removed.

This temple is relatively well restored as compared to other temples, except for the roof and middle part of the temple. There is a place where you can get to the second floor and take great picture of the whole temple and dancing hall (where the carvings of Apsara is). Similar to Ta Phrom (Tomb Raider temple), the temple collapsed due to vegetations. However, most of the trees has been cut down to reduce further damage to the restored temple.

00:00 Introduction
01:20 Restoration works
01:45 Why visit this temple?

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