Preah Ko stands as a remarkable ninth-century funerary temple in Cambodia, constructed with six brick towers and embellished with intricate sandstone carvings and plaster reliefs. The temple’s name means “Sacred Ox,” reflected in the guardian lions positioned at its entrance. Its design includes beautiful door posts and plaster carvings adorning the spaces above doorways. As a funerary structure, the temple faces eastward, a traditional orientation for such sacred spaces.
Built in 879 and dedicated the following year, Preah Ko was commissioned by Indravarman I to honor his ancestors. The temple’s stucco reliefs, a lime-based plaster mixture, are some of the best surviving examples of plaster reliefs in Angkor.
The temple’s six towers carry gender symbolism: front towers relate to male ancestors and deities, while rear towers commemorate female ancestors and goddesses, evidenced by carved female figures within the niches. A stone slab, or stele, documents Indravarman I’s genealogy and records the foundation of three Shiva and Devi statues established in 879, serving as both commemorative and historical record.
