Preau cruciform and Courtyards

1. Preau Cruciform

This hall (preau) on the west connects the gallery of the first enclosure with that of the second, providing a link between the first and second level of the pyramidal structure of the temple. Designed to gain more covered space, it is created by two galleries in a cruciform plan, raised over the surrounding courtyard, with four ‘basins’ between the arms of the galleries (due to the type of construction, when in use, the basins must have had a lot of seepage). The roof is supported by square pillars which are decorated, at the base, by reliefs of ascetics, now almost all badly corroded. Traces of the wooden ceilings have been found, sculpted with lotus motifs, with traces to painting and gilding. At the extreme ends of the galleries there are four small oblong pediments with the following subjects: to the West, the Churning of the Ocean of Milk; to the North, Vishnu sleeping on Ananta; to the East, the battle between Vishnu and asuras (including Ravana); and, to the South, the first three steps of Vishnu.

2. Courtyards

The doors of shrines, libraries, and galleries facing the courtyards of the first and second level, all have pediments richly decorated with mythological motifs. Most of them are eroded by weathering, and difficult to interpret. Amongst the most interesting are:

First level courtyard, South central pediment

Lakshmana goes into a coma after Indrajit, Ravana’s son, has used his magic arrows against him (188). Lakshmana was  able to survive, but would have died if the monkey general Sushena (father of Tara, Valin’s wife) had not administered a “sovereign remedy to Lakshmana’s nostrils” and restored him to consciousness. (Yuddha Kanda, chapter 92). On the pediments, the monkey are seen carrying pieces of rock from the mountain where the herbs of the remedy were growing.

Second level courtyard pediments

One of these pediments may recount the story of the arrival of Kaundinya(Bhandari, 1995), the first Indian prince, and the naga princess fighting him with an army of women, unique in Khmer art (189).

In another, a personage who is possibly the king, with his feet supported by the paws of a lion with a makara head, and surrounded by parasol carriers, stands over three registers of worshippers.

Vishnu (or Shiva), with his consort, also appears in this courtyard, shown in a small temple, over three registers of worshippers (190).(complete)