Eatern Prasat Top

Eatern Prasat Top

                                                                             Eastern Prasat TopDate:                               Built in late thirteenth century

Religion:                         Hinduism

King:                               Jayavarman VIII (1243-1295)

Posthumous name:    Paramesvarapada

Two inscriptions, one still visible on a doorjamb of the sanctuary entrance, and another engraved on the four sides of a stela now conserved in Siem Reap, provide relatively detailed information on the history of this small sanctuary - the last Brahmanic temple known to have been constructed in Angkor Thom, and inventoried as "Monument 487".

The significance of this site lies less in its architectural or artistic refinement than in the testimony it bears to the somewhat obscure period following the Mahayana Buddhist reign of Jayavarman VII and preceding the progressive establishment of Theravada Buddhism in Cambodia over the centuries to come. The temple was founded by King Jayavarman VIII in the late 13th century in honor of a Brahman priest called Jaya Mangalartha and his mother, Subhadra, in association with an avatar of Vishnu and his consort.

The cult to this mother-son couple was maintained by subsequent generations of the royal family into the 14th century. The founding King Jayavarman VIII was related by marriage to this family whose roots could be traced back to a priest having travelled from Narapatidesa (Burma?) earlier in the 13th century to serve King Jayavarman VII.

While Mahayana Buddhism was not perpetuated after Jayavarman VII's death, this monarch's reign, along with its distinctive architecture and iconography, were to play an important role in the Khmer historical conscience for centuries to come.As a vivid example of continuation of tradition even as the Angkorian Empire went into those worshipping here more than a century after Jayavarman VII's death proudly claimed descendance from this famous monarch and one of his court priests.