The temple of Preah Khan (Sacred Sword)
The temple of Preah Khan (Sacred Sword) is a good counterpoint to Ta Prohm, though it gets far fewer visitors. Preah Khan was built by Jayavarman VII(it may have served as his temporary residence while Angkor Thom was being built), and like Ta Prohm it is a place of towered enclosures and shoulder-hugging corridors. The central sanctuary of the temple was dedicated in 1191, Preah Khan's role as a center for worship and learning.
Preah Khan covered a very large area, but the temple itself is within a rectangular enclosing wall of around 700m by 800m. Four processional walkways approach the gates of the temple. These gates are flanked, gods carrying a serpent, as in the approach to Angkor Thom. From the central sanctuary, four long vaulted galleries extend in the cardinal directions. Many of the interior walls of Preah Khan were once coated with plaster held in place by holes in the stone.
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