Staff Writer

Located in the northeastern province of Buriram, Prasart Hin Phanom Rung ('Phanom Rung Historical Park') features an impressive Khmer-era temple complex.

Built using sandstone and laterite, the structures stand at a height of about 400 meters above sea level. Just a few kilometers-away, at a lower altitude, you'll see another historic site known as Prasart Hin Muang Tam ('Muang Tam Stone Sanctuary'). Built about a thousand years ago, up to a hundred years before Angkor Wat, this smaller site is not as well known as the Phanom Rung Historical Park it is well worth a visit.

Tourist guide Toed Kha-chaintra, told us that Muang Tam Stone Sanctuary was originally a site for worshipers of Shiva, the Hindu God of destruction. It was built during a Khmer artistic period known as Baphuon. In fact it is very similar in style to the Khao Phra Viharn ('Preah Vihear') temple site in Cambodia, which is currently at the center of a territorial dispute between Thailand and Cambodia. The structures were built during the reign of Khmer monarch King Suriyaworaman I (ruler of the city of Phra Nakhon Luang).

Prasart Hin Muang Tam was built using the same materials that were used to construct Prasart Hin Phanom Rung. Buriram province's Ban Kruad district is a local source of this material, and this locally-mined laterite is known for being highly durable.

Although Prasart Hin Muang Tam is fairly small, there are quite a number of interesting places to explore. The sanctuary itself is square with a series of three-meter high walls surrounding the building. A lotus with eight petals has been secured with a wooden fence and sits just behind the gopura (archway) behind the entrance to the main building. The late professor H.S.H. Prince Subhadradis Diskul once noted that the lotus flower is a symbol of purity. Whoever worships and touches the carving is said to be “safe from demons” and ready to worship Shiva.

A gallery, in the form of a two-meter-wide sandstone passageway set within an enclosure,

leads to an inner entrance (a second gopura). Unfortunately, time has taken its toll on some parts of the building and so the wooden ceiling and columns have worn away. The gallery and enclosure once acted as a form of protection for two libraries and five pagodas located at the center of the sanctuary. The libraries were once used to house scriptures and other religious texts.

The five pagodas at the center of the building were built from brick and represent the focal point of the site. Based on laterite foundations, the pagodas are said to represent the five peaks of Mount Meru, a sacred mountain said to be at the center of the universe in Buddhist cosmology. Set in two rows, there are three pagodas in the front row and two at the back.

The central pagoda on the front row was once used to enshrine a linga, a representation of Shiva in the form of a phallic symbol. This can now be seen at the Phanom Rung Information Center.

All five pagodas' tops have broken over the years with only one remaining on the ground. The weight of these parts are of such concern that the Fine Arts Department decided against putting the remaining one back in position.

There are four L-shaped ponds featuring stairs from the every corner leading between the gallery and enclosure. Each pond is decorated with five-headed nagas (half human, half serpent creatures commonly found in Hinduism and Buddhism). The heads of these figures are quite unusual since they don't feature any auras or other ornamental headgear. Actually, when used in the Baphuon style, these figures are more snakelike than other similar forms. The ponds are thought to have been used in rituals, while they also symbolize the four oceans said to surround Mount Meru.

Intricate details

As well as the main structures, several details around the site of the sanctuary also offer important reference points, such as the decorative work along the gopuras, the lintels depicting (Hindu God) Indra sitting alongside various kala (decorative, monster-like faces, said to provide a form of protection), as well as Shiva riding his Nandi bull (Shiva's vehicle) with Uma (a demon princess in Hindu mythology) sat in his lap, Varuna (a God of the sky, rain and celestial ocean) riding a swan, and other religious-related depictions. If you take a closer look around the inner entrance, you'll see examples of Khmer text.

The Fine Arts Department spent at least nine years restoring the sanctuary using the Anastylosis method. This careful, time-consuming method involves marking each and every bit of the ancient building before removing them and putting them back together again.

Prasart Hin Muang Tam is located in Buriram province's Prakhon Chai district and is open daily during 8.30 am-4.30 pm. Admission is 40 baht (US$1.16). For further information, call Tel: +66 (0)4 421 3666. - Translated into English and republished with the kind permission of Manager Online.

Transport connections:

Car: From Bangkok, take Highway 1 then Highway 2 to Nakhon Ratchasima via Saraburi. It is also possible to reach Nakhon Ratchasima by taking Highway 304 from Bangkok via Chachoengsao province. From Nakhon Ratchasima, head for Ubon Ratchathani province on Highway 24. You can reach Prasart Hin Muang Tam by taking a right-hand turn at the junction of Prakhon Chai.