Preah Vihear – Cambodia

Preah Vihear lies in Sisaket province of Cambodia and directly on the edge of the Thai border.  This spectacular temple stands at a height of 1,720 feet on a triangular promontory 500 feet long and 525 feet wide that juts out southwards about halfway along the Dangrek mountain chain.  This natural barrier, which encloses the Cambodian plain, was crossed by a number of roads that led to the sacred sites dedicated to the god Shiva of Wat Phu in Laos and Phimai in present day Thailand.

The building is recorded to have started in 893 by Yashovarman I, who dedicated this temple to Shiva Shikhareskvara (lord of the summit).  Subsequent kings, especially Suryavaraman II, and his spiritual advisers, renovated the older buildings and added new ones to the complete structure one sees today.

Until recently, the temple was remotely accessed from the Cambodian side with the majority of visitors coming in from Thailand, a mere few hundred metres away.   That is all about to change with the rapid development of a major road project up the cliff face from the Cambodian access road down below.  Once this road is built larger vehicles will be able to transverse all the way from Siem Reap in a matter of hours, although still requiring an overnight in the area.  It is obvious this new road is being built with rapid speed to counteract the Thai approach on the other side.   The temple has received notoriety of late in border tensions with its Thai neigbour that have led to numerous shootings of soldiers and the threat of invasion or war.

After two years of high alert the area is calmer now, however, Preah Vihear still remains closed on the Thai side and the ever presence of the Cambodian Army is made apparent with their dugouts, shacks and small camps scattered all around the site, not to mention patrolling soldiers with their AK47′s!

It won’t be long before this once rarely visited temple will no longer be inaccessible for the average tourist.   In that respect, my visit was timely as I was the only foreign visitor wandering the site, along with my police escort entourage of about 5 others!

I hadn’t chosen to visit Preah Vihear by road but by helicopter from Siem Reap.  The last time I did this was 8 years ago but, at the time, I was so enamored with the place that I neglected to capture much of the site on film (this was pre digital!). Hence, it was my mission to record this exquisite temple in a way that has not been recorded before.  You will find a few of the aerial shots of the site and its location on the escarpment edge further down the post below, although shots like these really need to be seen on the large screen or in print to gain an understanding of the scale of the site and its magnificent location.

Besides the glorious structure of the temple itself, its location overlooking the sweeping escarpment of the Cambodian countryside below was equally enthralling and I tried to capture this setting with a lone monk (who was taking care of the only shrine inside the temple) looking out beyond (see above).

Preah Vihear was the missing link for me photographically.  Now I can add it to my list of remote temple sites away from an overly crowded Angkor.  I will always, however, be ready to come back although I will be well aware of the fact that I may not have the privilege to enjoy it on my own again.

I will endeavor to add more images of Preah Vihear as I process them to this blog post.  Thanks for viewing !

Paul Levrier

This entry was posted on Friday, January 21st, 2011 at 9:54 pm. It is filed under Assignments, Latest Images, Post Slider. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.