Preah Khan Temple, Siem Reap: The Sacred Sword of Jayavarman VII

The king built it to honour his father, on the ground where he had beaten the Cham army. It was more than a temple. Its Sanskrit stele describes a working city and a Buddhist university, served by 97,840 attendants and servants. Built on the northern edge of the Angkor Archaeological Park, the flat, single-level complex is guarded by walls and a moat, as Khmer temples and cities were. Its galleries hold Buddhist carving, and three side shrines honour Shiva, Vishnu and the royal ancestors, with Krishna lifting Mount Govardhan on one pediment. Silk-cotton trees still grow out of the roofs, as they do at Ta Prohm, but here the World Monuments Fund has propped and stabilised the stone since 1991, so you can walk the whole main axis.

Opening hours, history and site measurements on this page were checked against the APSARA National Authority, which manages Angkor, on 3 November 2026.

Preah Khan at a glance

History of Preah Khan, the city of the sacred sword

In 1177 a Cham fleet sailed up the Tonle Sap and sacked the Khmer capital. Jayavarman VII drove them out, took the throne in 1181 and spent the next three decades rebuilding. Inscriptions place Preah Khan on the site of his decisive battle against the Cham army, and in 1191 he dedicated its main image to his father. He had honoured his mother the same way at Ta Prohm five years earlier. Tradition also says the king lived here while Angkor Thom was being rebuilt, and earlier royal palaces may have stood on the site.

The name is a rare survivor. Most Angkor temples carry names given centuries later, but Preah Khan kept its original one. The founding stele, written entirely in Sanskrit, calls it Jayasri, and that was also the king's own coronation name. Preah is Khmer for sacred or royal. Khan comes from khadga, the Sanskrit word for sword.

The stele also reads like a census. It lists 97,840 attendants and servants attached to the temple's service, including 1,000 teachers and 1,000 dancers, and 430 other deities with shrines of their own, each given rice, clothes, perfume and even mosquito nets. Those people did not all live inside the walls. The town that filled the outer enclosure was built of wood and has gone. The "100,000 inhabitants" in older guides is a loose rounding of the stele's list, which counted people who served the temple, not residents. The "5 sq km city" does not fit either, because the outer wall encloses about 56 ha.

Preah Khan's story did not stop with its builder. Jayavarman VIII, a Hindu king of the mid-13th century, had the Buddha images in its niches chiselled away. You can still see the blank, scraped panels. Later, in the Middle Period after Angkor's decline, a stone stupa replaced the statue of Lokesvara in the central sanctuary.

The World Monuments Fund took a deliberate line here. Instead of rebuilding fallen towers, it stabilised what stands and kept the large trees wherever they were not a danger, so Preah Khan still looks half-ruined while being safe to walk. Its Adopt a Garuda programme asked donors for US$25,000 to restore one of the 72 garudas on the outer wall.

What to see at Preah Khan, west gate to east gate

Preah Khan runs east to west on one long axis, and most visitors walk it from the west gate to the east gate. That way you finish at the terrace on the baray, where your tuk-tuk can wait. Allow 1.5 to 2 hours and do not leave the main axis without a guide, because the side galleries look alike and the forks are easy to miss.

The west causeway and the outer wall. You cross the moat on a causeway lined with stone devas and asuras pulling a giant naga, the same scene as at Angkor Thom's gates, though most heads are now missing. The laterite outer wall carries 72 garudas, each about 5 m tall and holding nagas, set every 50 m. The ones flanking the gates are the easiest to photograph.

The western gopura and the corridors. The third western gopura has two Hindu pediments worth stopping for: a chess game and the Battle of Lanka from the Ramayana. Beyond it, low, dim corridors with high door sills lead to the centre.

The central sanctuary and stupa. Where the statue of Lokesvara once stood, you now find a bell-shaped stone stupa from the Middle Period. The walls around it are pocked with small holes. They are often explained as fixings for bronze plates that once lined the chamber. Monks and nuns still leave candles and lotus flowers here.

The Hall of Dancers. East of the centre, on the main axis, is a pillared hall whose lintels carry rows of dancing apsaras. The name is modern, taken from those carvings, but it suits a temple whose stele lists 1,000 dancers.

The two-storey building. North of the Hall of Dancers is a building with round columns and an upper floor. Only traces of similar buildings survive elsewhere at Angkor, at Ta Prohm and Banteay Kdei, and nobody knows what it was for. The historians Michael Freeman and Claude Jacques suggest a granary.

The trees. APSARA's own list of must-sees includes the "fromagers", the giant silk-cotton trees that grip the galleries. The biggest tree on the site grows beside the east gopura, and its roots frame a doorway.

The eastern terrace on the baray. Past the east gate, a stone terrace with steps runs down to the Jayatataka reservoir. This was the king's boat landing for Neak Pean, the island temple at the centre of the baray. APSARA restored it between 2022 and 2023. Neak Pean is about 2 km east by road, so ask your driver to wait for you here.

Shiva and Vishnu shrines in a Buddhist temple

Preah Khan is Buddhist at its heart and Hindu at its edges. The central sanctuary was built for Lokesvara, the bodhisattva of compassion. Three satellite temples stand around it inside the third enclosure, and none of them is Buddhist. The north temple belongs to Shiva, the west temple to Vishnu, and the south temple to the king's ancestors, earlier kings and queens.

The carving shows it. On the north temple, one pediment shows Vishnu reclining on the serpent Ananta (APSARA names it a must-see) and another shows the Trimurti of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. On the west temple, Krishna lifts Mount Govardhan to shelter the cowherds of Vrindavan from Indra's storm. Indian visitors will know the story from the Bhagavata Purana. Add the Battle of Lanka on the west gopura, the linga and yoni near the centre and a founding text in Sanskrit, and Preah Khan reads as a Buddhist temple with a Hindu court around it.

That mix was normal at Angkor. Jayavarman VII was a Mahayana Buddhist, but his kingdom's rituals, priests and epics were still Indian and largely Hindu, and he made room for both. Angkor Wat, from the first half of the 12th century, was built as a Vishnu temple; our guide to Angkor Wat as a Vishnu temple explains its carvings. For more temples with Indian roots, see our overview of temples in Cambodia and Banteay Srei, Angkor's pink-sandstone Shiva temple.

Preah Khan entry fee and Angkor Pass

The Angkor Pass covers the Preah Khan entrance fee. The temple itself has no separate entry fee or ticket. Staff check passes at the gate, so keep yours on you. Prices are in US dollars, and 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, and they carry your photo, which the 1-day pass does not. Buy only through Angkor Enterprise. Its five channels are the ticket counter on Road 60, self-service kiosks, angkorenterprise.gov.kh, the official app, and a licensed guide. A pass resold by anyone else is not valid. If you buy a 1-day pass for the next day after 4:45 pm, it also gets you in that evening for sunset. For Angkor Wat ticket rules and sunrise entry, see our Angkor Wat guide.

Preah Khan timings and best time to visit

APSARA lists Preah Khan as open daily from 7:30 am to 5:30 pm. Angkor Enterprise, which sells the pass, gives 7:00 am to 6:30 pm on its own Preah Khan page, and Google shows "Opens 7:30 am". Plan your visit inside 7:30 am to 5:30 pm and treat anything earlier or later as a bonus. Ask your driver the evening before.

The best times are 7:30 to 9:30 am, when the corridors are cool and the Grand Circuit groups have not arrived, or after 2:30 pm. The west causeway and its giant figures face the afternoon sun. Photographers who want them lit should come late and walk the route in reverse. The hours around noon are the hottest, though the covered galleries help.

How to reach Preah Khan

Preah Khan is about 13 km from central Siem Reap, which takes 25 to 30 minutes by car or 30 to 40 minutes by tuk-tuk at park speeds. Pass Angkor Wat, drive through Angkor Thom past the Bayon, and leave by the north (Dei Chhnang) gate. The west entrance of Preah Khan is 1.2 km further on. APSARA was upgrading the access roads from the north gate in 2026, so allow a few extra minutes in case of works. Take a tuk-tuk from Siem Reap town and ask the driver for the Preah Khan west entrance.

Get dropped at the west gate and agree to meet at the east gate, which is a 1.6 km drive round the north side. If you would rather not split up, walk through to the east terrace and back along the outside of the wall to the west gate, about 20 minutes on foot.

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. Most Siem Reap tour packages include a Grand Circuit day that starts at Preah Khan.

Grand Circuit plan from Preah Khan to Pre Rup

Preah Khan is the first and biggest stop on the Grand Circuit, the loop north and east of Angkor Thom. It runs through Neak Pean, Ta Som and East Mebon and ends with sunset at Pre Rup. Do it in that order and you stay ahead of most groups.

Start at Preah Khan at 7:30 am and you reach Neak Pean before 10 am, with time for lunch before the afternoon stops. Ta Som has a strangler fig growing over its east gate, the closest thing on the circuit to the trees at Preah Khan.

On a 2-day visit, a common plan is Angkor Wat, the Bayon and Angkor Thom 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.

Preah Khan vs Ta Prohm, which should you visit?

Both temples were built by Jayavarman VII for a parent, both are tree-covered and both are flat mazes of galleries. If you can, see both. If you have time for only one, this table helps.

Pick Preah Khan if crowds put you off or if you want the Hindu side of Angkor. Pick Ta Prohm for the most famous tree-and-stone scenes. Our Ta Prohm guide covers its visit plan.

Tips for visiting Preah Khan

Preah Khan takes 1.5 to 2 hours on foot over uneven stone. Buy the Angkor Pass first, start at the west gate, keep to the main axis and carry water. Most visitors come by tuk-tuk as the first stop of the Grand Circuit.

Before you go

• Buy the Angkor Pass before you set out. The US$37 one-day pass (about Rs 3,500) covers Preah Khan, and the entry fee table has the 3 and 7-day prices. Buy only from Angkor Enterprise.
• Go early. Arrive at 7:30 am, APSARA's opening time, and the corridors stay quiet for the first hour, before the Grand Circuit groups arrive. Angkor Enterprise lists 7:00 am, so ask your driver if earlier entry is possible (timings and seasons). If you can't make the morning, the last two hours before closing are quieter too, after the tour groups have moved on.
• Hire a licensed guide, or read up first. A guide points out the Buddha images chiselled out of their niches and the side shrines with the Shiva and Vishnu pediments. Most visitors on their own walk straight past both.

What to wear and carry

• Wear comfortable clothes, and cover your shoulders and knees. The weather is hot and humid most of the year, so loose cotton or linen works best. As at every Angkor temple, wear a top with sleeves, plus trousers, a long skirt or shorts that reach below the knee. A scarf thrown over a sleeveless top may not pass a dress check.
• Wear comfortable, closed shoes with grip, not flip-flops. You walk well over a kilometre, over door sills up to knee height and fallen blocks, and the stone turns slick from June to October.
• Carry water and a snack, and wear sunscreen. Don't count on buying food or drinks inside the walls. Drink stalls and toilets sit across the road from the west gate, so stock up there and bring at least a litre each for the 2 hours. Add a hat and sunglasses, and mosquito repellent if you are walking out to the terrace on the baray.
• Bring a small torch or use your phone light. The inner corridors are dark, and the floor is uneven.

At the temple

• Walk west to east, and keep the axis in sight. Enter at the west gate and follow the main axis through the central sanctuary and the Hall of Dancers to the east gate, where the biggest tree on the site grows. Just north of the Hall of Dancers, step aside for the two-storey building with round columns, rare at Angkor. For the side shrines to the north and south, double back to the centre along the same axis and turn off there. Step into a side courtyard for the trees and devatas, then return to the axis, because the side galleries look alike and the forks are easy to miss. Agree the pickup gate with your driver before you go in. The east gate is easiest if Neak Pean is next (what to see).
• Respect the props and ropes. Timber and steel props hold up many lintels. Do not climb on fallen stone or lean on the propped beams, and do not touch or lean on the carvings.
• Know your limits. The layout is flat but not step-free. Wheelchair users and anyone unsteady on their feet should stay on the west causeway and the outer approach, and arrange the pickup at the west gate too.
• Leave the drone at home. Drone flights over Angkor's temples have been banned without a permit since 2016.

Not to be confused with Preah Khan of Kompong Svay

A second, much larger Preah Khan stands in Preah Vihear province, roughly 100 km east of Angkor. Preah Khan of Kompong Svay (Prasat Bakan) is a remote complex on UNESCO's tentative list, and it is a long day trip from Siem Reap, not a stop on the Angkor Pass. This page is about Preah Khan at Angkor. If you are heading north to that region, our guides to Koh Ker and Preah Vihear temple cover the other big sites there.

Plan your trip

Preah Khan rewards an early start and a slow walk. Enter at the west gate at 7:30 am, give it 2 hours, and continue round the Grand Circuit to Neak Pean and Ta Som. Book a Siem Reap tour package with a Grand Circuit day. The 3-night Angkor Wat and Cambodia package covers the main temples, or browse all Cambodia tour packages to pair Angkor with Phnom Penh.

Sources: APSARA National Authority, Preah Khan Temple (apsaraauthority.gov.kh, 2021); APSARA, "Preah Khan: Great Architecture and a Symbol of Victory", 7 May 2026; APSARA, eastern terrace restoration notices, 17 October 2022 and 15 August 2023; Wikipedia, Preah Khan and Preah Khan Reach; World Monuments Fund, Preah Khan; Angkor Photography Tours, Preah Khan conservation history; Angkor Enterprise (angkorenterprise.gov.kh).

Edited by TravelTriangle