Preah Palilay Drone – Cambodia – FESCH.TV

Preah Palilay Drone – Cambodia & FESCH.TV:

Preah Palilay (Khmer: ប្រាសាទព្រះបាលិលេយ្យ) is a small but fascinating ancient temple located in Angkor Thom, only a short walk to the north-west of Terrace of Leper King and Tep Pranam. The site’s contemporary name, Preah Palilay, has the meaning Sacred Forest of Palilay whilst the original site name is unknown.

At its eastern entrance it features a beautiful, but ruinous, 30m long cruciform-shaped sandstone terrace featuring an arrangement of seven-headed naga balustrade that featured Dvarapala (guardians) and lion statues at its entrance, remnants of which can still be seen. The terrace leads to a seated Buddha statue in the style of the late/post-Angkor era (14-15th century on).

The walled enclosure that follows features a single gopura (gate), cruciform shaped with three entrances, and features some spectacular and controversial pediment reliefs that we’ll return to later. Inside, the singular sanctuary rises from an incredibly ornate three-tiered base, offering a staircase at each cardinal point leading up the tiered base to its doorways on each side. This sanctuary is also of a cruciform layout featuring doorways at each cardinal point, as mentioned that lead into a small chamber all joining to the central chamber where a statue of the Buddha was uncovered by French archaeologist, Henri Marchal.

The Buddha statue was noted to be very deteriorated, likely over 2m tall, seated in the attesting to the earth position, and still retaining black and red lacquering, and gold gilding. Remnants of that Buddha still remain among the mass of stone masonry rubble inside the temple. Marchal also noted it likely, as evidenced by matching grooves, that the central chamber had wooden doors.

Above the central chamber, the temple rises up in the shape of a chimney with its facade lost to time and the point of a great mystery. The earliest research at the site did not provide a solution to this problem nor remnants that would have covered the structure. Some have compared its current state to that of the central feature of the Bayon, noting the similarities, suggesting that Preah Palilay may have supported a face tower, but it remains speculation. This theory would seem unlikely once looking inside and noting that the upper section of the tower is created of recycled masonry, many of which feature carvings similar in fashion to that of the remnants north of the Leper King Terrace.