Pre Rup

Pre Rup, yet another state temple built by King Rajendravarman II, is about 1km south of the East Mebon. Like its nearby predecessor, the temple consists of a pyramid shaped temple-mountain with the uppermost of the three tiers carrying five square shrines arranged as a quincunx. The brick sanctuaries were also once decorated with a plaster coating, fragments of which still remain on the southwestern tower; there are some amazingly detailed lintel carvings here. Several of the outermost eastern towers are perilously close to collapse and are propped up by armies of wooden supports.

Pre Rup means ‘Turning the Body’ and refers to a traditional method of cremation in which a corpse’s outline is traced in the cinders, first in one direction and then in the other; this suggests that the temple may have served as an early royal crematorium.

This is one of the most popular sunset spots around Angkor, as the view over the surrounding rice-fields of the Eastern Baray is beautiful.