Place of worship
Prasat Bat Chum
Angkor Archaeological Park, Krong Siem Reap 17000
Trio of tenth-century brick shrines whose doorjamb inscriptions name the minister who engineered them.
This guide to Prasat Bat Chum in Siem Reap follows Kavindrarimathana, a Buddhist court engineer serving King Rajendravarman in the 940s, who broke Angkor's convention by having the doorjambs praise himself rather than his king. It traces the reservoirs and temple mountains he oversaw elsewhere at Angkor, and the possibly first Buddhist sanctuary raised in a still overwhelmingly Hindu kingdom. Look at the three doorjambs in front of you, each signed by a different hand.
Audio guides are written and narrated by AI.