Banteay Prei Temple

This guide to Banteay Prei temple in Siem Reap centers on a puzzle unsolved since its first survey in 1904: unlike neighbors Preah Khan and Ta Prohm, this small temple built under Jayavarman VII carries no inscription naming its founder or purpose. It walks the ring-shaped layout, the naga balustrade and garuda at the crossing, and the surviving apsara and Buddhist carvings confirming it as a Mahayana shrine. Few visitors find their way here, so take a quiet moment in the empty gallery.