Neak Pean Temple (Neak Poan), Siem Reap: The Healing Island of Angkor

It is not as famous or as grand as Angkor Wat or Angkor Thom, and you can see the whole thing from one walkway. What you get instead is a temple built around water: a shrine rising from a round lotus base in a square pool, stone animal heads that once poured water over pilgrims, and a 300 m walk across a reservoir to reach it.

Hours, the history and the site measurements on this page were checked against the APSARA National Authority, which manages Angkor, on 2 November 2026.

Neak Pean at a glance

What is Neak Pean? History and meaning

Neak Pean was built by King Jayavarman VII, the same Khmer ruler who drove the Cham out of Angkor in the 1180s, made Angkor Thom his capital and raised the Bayon at its centre. He was a devoted follower of Mahayana Buddhism, and Neak Pean is another expression of that faith. APSARA dates it to before the end of the 12th century.

The temple stands in the middle of a reservoir. A baray is a man-made water body, and Khmer kings built them across the empire. This one was called Jayatataka, "the reservoir of Jayavarman VII", and it belonged to Preah Khan, the great temple on its western shore. Neak Pean sits at its centre the way East and West Mebon sit in theirs. It measured 3.5 km by 900 m. The reservoir later dried out, and local people still call it Veal Reach Dak, "the plain of the royal reservoir". APSARA began refilling it in 2011.

The name comes from the two snakes coiled around the base of the shrine. Neak is the Khmer form of the Sanskrit naga, and pean (poan) means entwined. The two nagas are traditionally identified as Nanda and Upananda, the serpent kings of Lake Anavatapta.

That lake explains the whole design. In Buddhist cosmology Anavatapta is a lake in the Himalayas whose water cures every illness, and four great rivers flow out of it through the mouths of a lion, an elephant, a horse and a bull. Neak Pean is a model of it: one central pool for the lake, four smaller pools at the cardinal points, and a stone head over each outlet. An inscription calls it "a sacred island, drawing its charm from its ponds and clearing away the sins of those who approach it". The four outer pools are usually read as water, earth, fire and wind, and a pilgrim may have been sent to the pool that matched their ailment.

Was it a hospital? Not in the modern sense, though you will read that it was. Jayavarman VII did build hospitals, and the stele at Ta Prohm lists 102 of them across his kingdom. Neak Pean was something different: a place of ritual bathing, where healing and the washing away of sin were the same act. Treat any "ancient hospital" claim online as a story, not a record.

What you'll see at Neak Pean

You reach the island along a wooden walkway from the north road and see the complex from an observation platform. The pond area itself has been closed to visitors for years, so you look across the water at the shrine rather than walk around it. A zoom lens or binoculars help with the carving on the false doors.

The central shrine. A single tower stands on a round, double-lotus base in the middle of the square main pool. The bodies of Nanda and Upananda circle the base, and their tails twist together behind it. The shrine opens to the east. On its other three sides, false doors carry large figures of Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva of compassion to whom the temple was dedicated.

The Balaha horse. In the water east of the shrine is a stone horse with men clinging to its sides. This is Balaha, a form of Avalokiteshvara, carrying shipwrecked sailors away from an island of ogresses. Four sculptures once stood in the pool; the horse is the only one left.

The four pools and their spouts. Small vaulted chapels at the four sides of the main pool hold the stone heads that let water out into the smaller pools. Pilgrims poured water in from the main pool and it ran out through the mouth over them.

In the wet months the small chapels can stand almost up to their roofs in water. In the hot season you see the stone floors and steps of the pools instead. The French conservator Henri Marchal cleared the site in 1924, and Maurice Glaize rebuilt the central shrine stone by stone in 1938.

Neak Pean entry fee and Angkor Pass

There is no separate Neak Pean ticket. Neak Pean is inside the Angkor Archaeological Park, so the Angkor Pass covers it. Keep the pass on you, because staff can check it at any temple. Prices are in US dollars; the rupee figures are at about Rs 95 to the dollar.

The 3-day and 7-day passes do not have to be used on consecutive days. Buy only through Angkor Enterprise: its ticket counter on Road 60, self-service kiosks, angkorenterprise.gov.kh, the official app, or a licensed guide. A pass sold by anyone else is not valid. If Neak Pean is one stop on a Grand Circuit day, a 3-day pass usually works out cheaper than two single days. For Angkor Wat ticket rules, sunrise entry and photo requirements, see our Angkor Wat guide.

Neak Pean timings and best time to visit

APSARA's page for Neak Pean lists 7:30 am to 5:30 pm every day. Since an APSARA notice in August 2024, most Grand Circuit temples open from 6:00 am to 6:30 pm, and local operators reported Neak Pean on those longer hours in 2026, so 7:30 am to 5:30 pm is the safe window and early or late visits are usually possible. Ask your driver the evening before.

The best time to visit is from 7:30 to 9:30 am, before Grand Circuit groups arrive from Preah Khan, or after 3:30 pm, when the light turns warm on the water. The walkway has no shade, so avoid the hours around noon.

How to reach Neak Pean

Neak Pean is about 17 km from central Siem Reap, about 30 minutes by car or 35 to 45 minutes by tuk-tuk, because of the slow speed limits inside the park. From Angkor Thom, leave by the north gate and follow the road towards Preah Khan, then keep going east along the same road; Neak Pean is about 2.5 km past Preah Khan on your right. Coming the other way from Ta Som, it is about 2 km west. Most visitors arrive by tuk-tuk on a Grand Circuit day, by bicycle or e-bike, or on a group bus tour.

Your driver stops at the parking area on the north side of the baray, which has a row of drink stalls. From there a flat walkway runs about 300 m across the water to the island, about 500 m in all from the road to the temple, or 7 to 8 minutes on foot each way.

Flying in from India? IndiGo flies Kolkata to Siem Reap three times a week (Monday, Thursday and Saturday), and Air Cambodia flies Delhi to Phnom Penh nonstop. Our Siem Reap from New Delhi guide compares the routes, and most Siem Reap tour packages include a Grand Circuit day with Neak Pean.

Neak Pean on the Grand Circuit and nearby temples

Neak Pean is a short stop between bigger temples, and it makes most sense on the Grand Circuit, the 26 km loop north and east of Angkor Thom. Preah Khan is its parent temple across the water, Ta Som is 2 km east, and East Mebon and Pre Rup finish the loop.

Start at Preah Khan at 7:30 am and you reach Neak Pean around 9 am, ahead of the tour buses. Krol Ko, a small Jayavarman VII-era shrine just north of the Neak Pean road, is a 10-minute add-on if you like your temples empty. Ta Som has a strangler fig growing over its east gate.

On a 2-day visit, a common plan is Angkor Wat, the Bayon and Ta Prohm on day one and this circuit on day two. With a third day, add Beng Mealea or Banteay Srei. Our list of places to visit in Siem Reap covers the rest.

Neak Pean boat ride and restoration

Neak Pean was built to be reached by water. Its outer laterite wall has steps at each cardinal point, once guarded by stone elephants, and pilgrims arrived by boat. In February 2022 APSARA announced a new visitor circuit here with three parts: the inside of the temple, the outside, and a boat tour, with the old east and west landings reopened. A new access bridge for visitors was completed the same year.

In 2024 APSARA started community boat rides on the North baray, run by local villagers, from Preah Khan's side of the water to Neak Pean's western landing. The ride is about the forest, the birds and the sunset over the reservoir. Tickets are booked by phone rather than at a counter, so ask your driver or guide to call the day before and confirm it is running.

Restoration continues. In June 2024 APSARA began repairing the stairs and floors around the eastern, northern and western chapels, so parts of the island may be screened off while work is under way.

Tips for visiting Neak Pean

Go early or late, carry water for the exposed walkway, and take a guide or read up first, because the meaning of Neak Pean is in its symbols.

• Visit in daylight. The pools and the carving on the shrine show best in sun, and APSARA lists closing at 5:30 pm. Morning light falls on the east face and the Balaha horse.

• Read up before you go, or take a guide. Without the Anavatapta story Neak Pean is a tower in a pond. A licensed guide explains the myth, the pilgrims and the role the temple played in the Khmer empire in 40 minutes.

• Cover shoulders and knees. Wear cotton or linen trousers or capris that cover the knee and a top that covers the shoulders, the same dress code as every Angkor temple.

• Wear comfortable shoes or sandals. The walkway is flat, but the car park and the verges are uneven and muddy after rain.

• Bring water and a hat. There is no shade on the walkway. Drinks are sold at the stalls by the car park, not on the island.

• Stay on the walkway and the platform. The pond area is closed to visitors for conservation; do not climb down to the pools or onto the chapels.

• Leave the drone at home. Drone flights over Angkor's temples have been banned without a permit since 2016.

• Look for reflections. On a still morning in the wet months, the shrine reflects in the main pool when you see it from the north side.

Is Neak Pean worth visiting?

Yes, if you are doing the Grand Circuit anyway. It costs you 40 minutes, it is unlike any other temple at Angkor, and the walk across the water is a welcome break from galleries and steps. It is also one of the easiest Angkor sites for older travellers, with no climbing at all.

Skip it if you have only one day at Angkor, or if you visit in April or May and want to see water. You cannot walk into the pools, and the temple is small. Spend the time at Preah Khan instead. Seen in the right order, between Preah Khan's long corridors and Ta Som's tree-covered gate, Neak Pean is the quiet stop of the day.

Neak Pean for Indian travellers

Indian visitors will recognise more here than most. Anavatapta, the lake Neak Pean models, is the Anotatta of Buddhist texts, often identified with Lake Manasarovar below Mount Kailash, and the Ganga is named among the four rivers that flow from it. The temple's word for its serpents, naga, is Sanskrit, and Avalokiteshvara, to whom the shrine is dedicated, is the bodhisattva honoured across India and Tibet. To see the Hindu side of Angkor's carving, read our guide to Angkor Wat as a Vishnu temple, and our overview of temples in Cambodia covers the rest of the country. For a ready plan, the 3-night Angkor Wat and Cambodia package covers the main temples and can add a Grand Circuit day.

Plan your trip

Neak Pean is a 40-minute stop that rewards good timing. Go early, in the wet or cool season, and slot it between Preah Khan and Ta Som. Book a Siem Reap tour package with a Grand Circuit day, or browse all Cambodia tour packages to pair Angkor with Phnom Penh.

Sources: APSARA National Authority, Neak Pean (apsaraauthority.gov.kh); APSARA restoration notice, 26 June 2024; Wikipedia, Neak Pean; HelloAngkor, Neak Pean; Angkor Temples in Cambodia (angkor-temples-in-cambodia.com), Neak Pean; The Star / Xinhua, 19 February 2022; Cambodgemag, APSARA community boat ride service, 2024; Angkor Enterprise (angkorenterprise.gov.kh).

Edited by TravelTriangle