Neak Pean

Neak Pean was built at the end of the twelfth century under Jayavarman VII on an artificial island in the middle of the Jayatataka reservoir - the northern baray of Angkor Thom, about three and a half kilometres long. The layout repeats the Buddhist lake Anavatapta: a central square pond with a tower in the middle and four smaller ponds at the cardinal points.

The base of the tower is coiled about by two stone nagas whose tails are intertwined at the back - hence the name, translated as "entwined serpents". Water flowed out of the smaller ponds through spouts shaped as the heads of an elephant, a horse, a lion and a man, and it is believed that ritual ablutions for healing were performed here.

At the eastern edge of the main pond stands the stone horse Balaha: according to legend the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara took this form to carry drowning merchants to safety. The baray dried out for centuries and has filled with water again, so a long wooden boardwalk leads to the island across the flooded forest.

A long wooden boardwalk leads to the island across the flooded forest; going down to the ponds is not allowed, as this is a museum site. It is covered by the single Angkor ticket; the baray is not always kept full, and in the dry season the ponds grow shallow. Neak Pean is usually seen on the "grand circuit" together with Preah Khan.

Address

Grand Circuit, Siem Reap

On the map