Private Tour: Beng Mealea Jungle Temple, Lolei and Bakong temple

What's Included

Meeting and pickup

Itinerary

• 1
  Prasat Beng Mealea

  Beng Mealea was built as a Hindu temple, but some carvings depict Buddhist motifs. Its primary material is sandstone and it is largely unrestored, with trees and thick brush thriving amidst its towers and courtyards and many of its stones lying in great heaps. For years it was difficult to reach, but a road recently built to the temple complex of Koh Ker passes Beng Mealea and more visitors are coming to the site, as it is 77 km from Siem Reap by road. The history of the temple is unknown and it can be dated only by its architectural style, identical to Angkor Wat, so scholars assumed it was built during the reign of king Suryavarman II in the early 12th century.[1] Smaller in size than Angkor Wat, the king's main monument, Beng Mealea nonetheless ranks among the Khmer empire's larger temples.

  3 hours • Admission ticket not included
• 2
  Lolei

  Lolei (Khmer: ប្រាសាទលលៃ) is the northernmost temple of the Roluos group of three late 9th century Hindu temples at Angkor, Cambodia, the others members of which are Preah Ko and the Bakong. Lolei was the last of the three temples to be built as part of the city of Hariharalaya that once flourished at Roluos, and in 893 the Khmer king Yasovarman I dedicated it to Shiva and to members of the royal family. The name "Lolei" is thought to be a modern corruption of the ancient name "Hariharalaya,"[1]: 98, 112  which means "the city of Harihara." Once an island temple, Lolei was located on an island slightly north of centre in the now dry Indratataka baray,[2]: 60  construction of which had nearly been completed under Yasovarman's father and predecessor Indravarman I. Scholars believe that placing the temple on an island in the middle of a body of water served to identify it symbolically with Mount Meru, home of the gods, which in Hindu mythology is surrounded by the world oceans.

  1 hour • Admission ticket not included
• 3

  Bakong (Khmer: បាគង [ɓaːkɔːŋ]) is the first Khmer temple mountain of sandstone constructed by rulers of the Khmer Empire at Angkor near modern Siem Reap in Cambodia. In the final decades of the 9th century AD, it served as the official state temple of King Indravarman I in the ancient city of Hariharalaya, located in an area that today is called Roluos. The structure of Bakong took shape of stepped pyramid, popularly identified as temple mountain of early Khmer temple architecture. The striking similarity of the Bakong and Borobudur temple in Java, going into architectural details such as the gateways and stairs to the upper terraces, suggests strongly that Borobudur was served as the prototype of Bakong. Contact is inferred to have occurred between the Khmer kingdom and the Sailendra dynasty in Java, who would have transmitted to Cambodia not only ideas, but also technical and architectural details of Borobudur, including arched gateways in corbelling method.

  1 hour • Admission ticket free

Additional info

• Wheelchair accessible
• Infants are required to sit on an adult’s lap
• Transportation options are wheelchair accessible
• Not recommended for travelers with poor cardiovascular health
• Suitable for all physical fitness levels
• A dress code is required to enter places of worship and selected museums. Please dress modestly and cover your shoulders.

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