Prasat Chau Say Tevoda
Twelfth-century sandstone sanctuary rebuilt stone by stone after thousands of its carved blocks were lost.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to Prasat Chau Say Tevoda in Siem Reap opens with a puzzle: how do you rebuild a twelfth-century sanctuary when four thousand of its carved stones have gone missing, some sunk in the Siem Reap River, others hauled off as landfill. You'll hear how the temple, built under King Suryavarman the second and paired with its twin Thommanon, kept collapsing long after that neighbor was restored, and how a Chinese heritage team eventually took on sorting the wreckage by hand. Along the way it traces the shrine's shift between Hindu and Buddhist imagery on its gateway carvings.
This audio guide was created using AI.
Similar places
Thommanon Temple
Single-towered sandstone sanctuary with finely carved devatas, painstakingly rebuilt stone by stone.
Baphuon Temple
Five-tier sandstone temple-mountain later reshaped into a giant reclining Buddha from its own dismantled stones.
Banteay Samre Temple
Angkor Wat-style sandstone temple encircled by galleries, guarded by lions along a naga-lined walkway.
Prasat Preah Pithu Group
Cluster of five ruined Hindu and Buddhist sanctuaries with finely carved mythological lintels.
Phnom Krom Temple
Ruined hilltop towers honoring Vishnu, Shiva and Brahma, with sunset views over Tonle Sap Lake.
Ta Som
Bayon-style shrine whose eastern gate is engulfed by a strangler fig, roots woven through the ancient sandstone.