Angkor Tom - Preah Pithu

General information, history

Group of buildings Preah Pithu (Preah Pithu Group) is located in the northeastern part of Angkor Thoma, away from the main facilities.

It is a group of five temple buildings united together with the common name Prea Pitu, however, each temple has been assigned names for scientific identification: T, U, X, V, Y.

Dedicated to Hinduism and Buddhism, mixed style (Angkor Wat, Bayon).

They were built during the XII century . Part of the structures was built by Suryavarman II (Suryavarman II, ruled 1113-1150), part by Jayavarman VII (Jayavarman VII, ruled 1181-1215). Cleaning of the territory was carried out at the beginning of the XX century.

Orientation, tips for inspection

It is located a little away from the main cult attractions. You can get there on foot to the north from the parking lot of vehicles, which is located on the site of the Royal Square. If you go from the Warm Pranam, then you need to cross the road, and move deeper, through the forest.

Since these facilities are not in the best condition and are badly destroyed, they are practically not visited by group tours. Therefore, if you have plenty of time, you can look here, otherwise you can skip this place.

Inspection time is half an hour.

It is better to take photos here after lunch, or being away from objects on the eastern side, but in the morning.

Construction, architecture

Five temple structures, four of which were built in worship of Hinduism, one - Brahmanism (X).

Since the true name of each of the temples is unknown, they are designated as T, U, X, V, Y. Some temples were surrounded by moats filled with water, of which no trace remains.

The temples were built of sandstone, so today they are badly destroyed, only the foundations and the remains of the superstructures have survived.

If you go from Tepe Pranam across the road to the east in a straight line, the first temple becomes a temple under the designation T. It is approached by a cross-shaped two-level road framed by figures of many-headed nagas (snakes). The dimensions of the wall surrounding the temple are 45 m by 40 m. The main entrance is oriented to the west. The entrance to the courtyard of the temple was carried out from the west and east.

Temple T itself is a multi-stage pyramid with three tiers, with a total height of 6 m. There is an axial staircase on each side. On the first tier, you can even walk around the temple. At the top was a sanctuary facing the four cardinal directions. There is a lingam inside it. In some places, images of apsaras and devatas are well preserved on the walls from the outside of the sanctuary.

Next to Temple T a little to the east is Temple U. It is surrounded by a rectangular wall measuring 35 m by 28 m, with one entrance to the courtyard on each side. The temple is similar to the previous one, only slightly smaller in size, the base is cruciform, there are also four axial staircases and exits to the four cardinal directions. The walls of the building are covered with images of gods.

After passing from temples T and U, a little to the northeast, about 30 m, stands Temple X. The dimensions of the base of the temple are 40 m by 40 m, the height of the platform is 4 m. It has four axial staircases, along which there were statues of lions. The sanctuary is two-tiered, has false windows. The walls of the sanctuary are ornamented in some places with images of the Buddha. The temple is oriented to the east.

Turning from Temple X to the northwest, Temple V is installed. A 40-meter embankment road leads to it. Temple V stands on a low elevation with axial stairs, the dimensions of its base are 3.8 m by 3.8 m. Inside the sanctuary is a lingam, 1.5 m high. The sanctuary is surrounded by statues in the form of gopuras around the perimeter. The entrance to the temple is oriented to the east, you can enter here through one of two passages.

To the north of Temple V (30 m) is Temple Y, consisting of two buildings connected by a passage. The western building measures 3 m by 3.5 m, its western entrance is closed by a false door. There is a lingam installed inside, about a meter high. Statues of bird heads can be seen around the perimeter of the building.

The second building (the eastern one), measuring 7 m by 8 m, is almost destroyed. In some places, images of the god Krishna and garudas and asuras have been preserved on the outer walls.