Sambor Prei Kuk Temple

The Sambor Prei Kuk temple complex is a historical and archaeological gem in the centre of Cambodia. Relatively few visitors take the time to inspect the area. For those that do, a richly rewarding discovery awaits them.

The Sambor Prei Kuk historical complex is located 37 km north of Kompong Thom provincial town, half way between Phnom Penh and Siem Reap by road. The ancient city where monuments of Sambor Prei Kuk are found today was identified originally as Isanapura, the 7th century capital of Chenla. Chenla was a former vassal of the Funan kingdom that was one of the first states in Southeast Asia. The kingdom at the height of its power ruled over much of present-day Cambodia, southern Laos and parts of Thailand.

The main temples in Sambor Prei Kuk are said to have been founded by King Isanavarman I, the son of King Citrasen. Many decorative details in Khmer architecture and sculpture are classified as “Sambor style”. The name was derived from the monuments dating from the first half of the 7th century. The century following the death of Jayvarman I, the last known king of Chenla in the 2nd half of the 7th century, heralded in a dark period in the history of Chenla.

According to a Chinese account, in the 8th century, Chenla was divided into land and water areas. King Mahendravarman reigned from 607 to 616, and was a son of King Isanavarman I.

Sambor Prei Kuk style personified Khmer archaeological talents. It embraced Indian influences but developed of itself in its own unique direction, culminating in Angkor, arguably the greatest ancient archaeological achievement in Southeast Asia. Today we can see 52 big and small temples and related structures in Sambor Prei Kuk, all in fairly good condition. A similar number are fallen and buried in the ground. Sambor Prei Kuk sanctuaries were built of brick and limestone with decorations of bas-relief on the walls. The foundation of the temples were mostly made of laterite, with gateways, lintels, false doors, diamond columns and the sculptures mostly being made of sandstone.

Sambor Prei Kuk Sanctuaries were divided into four groups:

Northern Sanctuary: The Northern sanctuaries group comprises 11 temples. They were built of brick and limestone and display accomplished Khmer artistic features. The Sanctuary was built on a rectangular hill (in total about 25,200 square meters or 5.52 hectares). The sanctuaries comprised 14 temples (only eight remain), and were surrounded by a two-wall rampart. These temples were constructed in various plans: square and octagonal.  The top of some temples were carved in lotus pedals of sandstone. However, some parts have fallen to the ground and reside there to this day.

Lion Temple Group (also called Central Temple Group): The Lion Temple Group comprises 18 temples with two ramparts close to a pond. The reason why people call it Lion Temple is because on the top of all stairs from four directions, there is a sitting a lion with its front legs raised, hind-legs down, head up and its mouth open.

The rampart outside was made of laterite and was 328 metres long, 310 metres wide, comprising a total of around 101,650 square metres. This rampart had Gopura facing in two directions (east and west). In between rampart one and two at the northern end there was a rectangular pond (42m x 34m). The small stairs of the southern side are made of sandstone.

Prasat Yeai Poeun Group:

Prasat Yeai Poeun Group comprise a total of 22 sanctuaries (five are octagonal) with a two-wall rampart, and was built in the 7th century (600-635) during the reign of Isanavarman I. The structures are dedicated to Siva.

The sanctuaries were built on a hill with Gopura from the eastern and western entrances joining to an outside rampart.

The total area here is 304m x 274m or 83,296 square meters. Eastern and western Gopura are visible. A large stone inscription (2.4m x 0.9m x 0.15m) inscribed with 17 lines of script was found buried here and is now in Kampong Thom museum.

Kroul Romeas Group: Behind Kroul Romeas group there were four more sanctuaries made of brick and built during the reign of King Suryavarman I (end of the 11th century). These sanctuaries were built on a rectangular hill, based to the east.

One of sanctuaries was unfinished. At the southeastern side, there were two temples deemed to be in the original ancient Khmer style.

History of Ester Island

Easter Island covers roughly 64 square miles in the South Pacific Ocean, and is located some 2,300 miles from Chile's west coast and 2,500 miles east of Tahiti. Known as Rapa Nui to its earliest inhabitants, the island was christened Paaseiland, or Easter Island, by Dutch explorers in honor of the day of their arrival in 1722. It was annexed by Chile in the late 19th century and now maintains an economy based largely on tourism. Easter Island's most dramatic claim to fame is an array of almost 900 giant stone figures that date back many centuries. The statues reveal their creators to be master craftsmen and engineers, and are distinctive among other stone sculptures found in Polynesian cultures. There has been much speculation about the exact purpose of the statues, the role they played in the ancient civilization of Easter Island and the way they may have been constructed and transported.

Early Settlement

The first human inhabitants of Rapa Nui (the Polynesian name for Easter Island; its Spanish name is Isla de Pascua) are believed to have arrived in an organized party of emigrants around 300-400 A.D. Tradition holds that the first king of Rapa Nui was Hoto-Matua, a ruler from a Polynesian subgroup (possibly from the Marquesa Islands) whose ship traveled thousands of miles before landing at Anakena, one of the few sandy beaches on the island's rocky coast.

The greatest evidence for the rich culture developed by the original settlers of Rapa Nui and their descendants is the existence of nearly 900 giant stone statues that have been found in diverse locations around the island. Averaging 13 feet (4 meters) high, with a weight of 13 tons, these enormous stone busts–known as moai–were carved out of tuff (the light, porous rock formed by consolidated volcanic ash) and placed atop ceremonial stone platforms called ahus. It is still unknown precisely why these statues were constructed in such numbers and on such a scale, or how they were moved around the island.

Phases of Island Culture

Archaeological excavations of Easter Island reveal three distinct cultural phases: the early period (700-850 A.D.), the middle period (1050-1680) and the late period (post-1680). Between the early and middle periods, evidence has shown that many early statues were deliberately destroyed and rebuilt as the larger and heavier moai for which the island is most famous. During the middle period, ahus also contained burial chambers, and the images portrayed by moai are thought to have represented important figures that were deified after death. The biggest statue found dating to the middle period measures about 32 feet tall, and consists of a single block weighing about 82 tons (74,500 kilograms).

The late period of the island's civilization was characterized by civil wars and general destruction; more statues were toppled, and many mataa, or obsidian spearpoints, have been found dating to that period. Island tradition claims that around 1680, after peacefully coexisting for many years, one of the island's two main ethnic groups, known as the Short-Ears, rebelled against the Long-Ears, burning many of them to death on a pyre constructed along an ancient ditch at Poike, on the island's far northeastern coast.

Outsiders on Easter Island

The first known European visitor to Easter Island was the Dutch explorer Jacob Roggeveen, who arrived in 1722. The Dutch named the island Paaseiland (Easter Island) to commemorate the day they arrived. In 1770, the Spanish viceroy of Peru sent an expedition to the island; the explorers spent four days ashore and estimated a native population of some 3,000 people. Just four years later, the British navigator Sir James Cook arrived to find Easter Island's population decimated by what seemed to have been a civil war, with only 600 to 700 men and fewer than 30 women remaining.

A French navigator, Jean-Francois de Galaup, comte de La Perouse, found 2,000 people on the island when he arrived in 1786. A major slave raid from Peru in 1862, followed by epidemics of smallpox, reduced the population to only 111 people by 1877. By that time, Catholic missionaries had settled on Easter Island and begun to convert the population to Christianity, a process that was completed by the late 19th century. In 1888, Chile annexed Easter Island, leasing much of the land for sheep raising. The Chilean government appointed a civilian governor for Easter Island in 1965, and the island's residents became full Chilean citizens.

Easter Island Today

An isolated triangle measuring 14 miles long by seven miles wide, Easter Island was formed by a series of volcanic eruptions. In addition to its hilly terrain, the island contains many subterranean caves with corridors that extend deep into mountains of volcanic rock. The island's largest volcano is known as Rano Kao, and its highest point is Mount Terevaka, which reaches 1,969 feet (600 meters) above sea level. It has a subtropical climate (sunny and dry) and temperate weather.

Easter Island boasts no natural harbor, but ships can anchor off Hanga Roa on the west coast; it is the island's largest village, with a population of roughly 3,300. In 1995, UNESCO named Easter Island a World Heritage site. It is now home to a mixed population, mostly of Polynesian ancestry and made up of the descendants of the Long-Ears and Short-Ears. Spanish is generally spoken, and the island has developed an economy largely based on tourism.