The start of the Temple Mountains in SEA
Back when I had an early morning bike to West Baray and visited the very early khmer temple Ak Yum Prasat Ak Yum , Khmer: អកយំ, is a very ancient temple in the larger Angkor Archeological area. It is situated on the south bank of West Baray. Parts of the temple area are covered by and probably got partly destroyed by the building of the giant water reservoir. From the southwest dike of West Baray, visitors look down on this pre-khmer empire temple. The temple is considered the oldest surviving temple mountain in Southeast Asia. Its base is 100 meter square, and the the three floors are appx 7 meter tall. A truly unique feature is a well from the top of the temple leading to an underground cellar 12,25 meter below the top. This cellar is 2,6 meter square and 2,7 meter tall. This type of temple cellar cave is not found in later temples built the next 650+ years of the Khmer Empire. The last capital before the Empire The first inscriptions found on the site points ...