Ta Keo Temple

This guide to Ta Keo Temple in Siem Reap follows the bare, uncarved sandstone blocks stacked here since the reign of Jayavarman V, who began this temple mountain around nine hundred seventy five as Angkor's first built entirely of solid stone rather than cheap brick and laterite. It traces the decades of hauling and stacking that raised a five-tier pyramid toward its towers, right up to the moment sculptors arrived for the final stage of carving. Look for a building that was never finished, and ask what that says about who was paying for it.