Prasat Hin Khao Phanom Rung The eastern approach to the sanctuary from the Naga bridge

Surrounding Meru, this universe unfolds in concentric circles or squares representing seven continents alternating with cosmic oceans. Beyond the seventh continent stretches an infinite ocean interrupted solely by four 'corner' continents. In more advanced Khmer temple complexes, moats and ponds around and amongst the towers and pavilions may have been intended to represent the oceans in this cosmic universe.

Plan of Prasat Muang Tham	Prasat Muang Tham

Sometimes referred to as 'high Cambodia,' the provinces of Buriram, Surin, Nakhon Ratchasima, Surin and Sisaket became an choice locale for the development of these Meru microcosms. Although Thai folk belief once held that the larger, cruciform-plan monuments served as 'palaces' for Angkor's all-powerful kings, in fact these buildings were designed as temporary abodes for Shiva, Vishnu, Maitreya and other Hindu or Buddhist deities called to earth via religious ritual. To the east of Isan's temple-dotted plateaus lay the river valleys of 'low Cambodia', the monarchical capital of the Angkor civilization.

View overlooking "Low Cambodia"

From Asia's earliest bronze-age culture 4000 years ago to present-day Thai nationhood, Isan has played a role in virtually every key historical transition mainland Southeast Asia has seen. While Theravada Buddhism dominated central Thailand's Dvaravati kingdom from the 6th to 10th centuries, archaeological evidence suggests that by the 7th to 9th century AD, Mahayana Buddhism had reached Isan, most probably from the east.

During the 10th and 11th centuries, the Khmers added Hinduism to the region, but after a period of mixing the two religions, Hinduism prevailed and Buddhism declined. Mahayana Buddhism was revived during the reign of last great Angkor king, Jayavarman VII (1181-1219 AD).

Prasat Hin Phimai

However the grand Prasat Phimai temple complex served as a Mahayana Buddhist center (of the Tantric variety) in the early 12th century, suggesting that the Mun River Valley area may have supported an earlier Buddhist tradition. Meanwhile in the more elevated terrain around Prasat Phanom Rung, Isan's second most significant Khmer temple, Hinduism prevailed.

A sacred 'superhighway' linked Prasat Phimai with 12th-century Angkor Wat, the largest and most complex of the Khmer temples. Angkor rulers were at the time considered to be devaraja or 'god-kings', and to maintain that vaunted status they and their priests periodically travelled between key monuments to perform complex ceremonies involving fire, water, and linga (sanctified stone sculptures representing Shiva's phallus).

Monuments en route offered spiritual and temporal support along these potentially arduous journeys, including 102 'houses with fire' and 121 'hospitals' or 'healing stations'. These structures became so important to the sanctity of the Angkor empire that some 300 Khmer shrines were erected between the 7th and 13th centuries. Temple construction reached its zenith in the 12th and 13th centuries.

Although often overlooked in favour of the famed Angkor city complex in Cambodia, the Khmer monuments of Isan represent key architectural milestones in the development of Angkor design and ritual. In fact virtually every Angkor-period monument played a role in an elaborate cosmology that linked the entire network, half of which lay in what is today Thailand.

Prasat Ta Muen A chapel at a "house with fire" or rest house built along major roads of the Khmer empire. 17 such buildings were constructed on the road from the capital to Phimai.		Prasat Ta Muen Toch The chapel of a hospital said to be built by King Jayavarman VII (1181-1219). During the 13th century, this would have been the first hospital encountered by travellers on the road from Angkor and Lower Cambodia en route to Phanom Rung and Phimai.

	APRIL 3-5, 2006 ASTRO-ARCHAEOLOGICAL PHENOMENON AT PRASAT HIN KHAO PHANOM RUNG Phanom Rung Historical Park, Chalermphrakiat district, Buri Ram province Please click to view