Preah Vihear Temple Show

 

Preah Vihear Temple (Khmer: ប្រាសាទព្រះវិហារ Prasat Preah Vihear) is an ancient Khmer Hindu temple that was built by the Khmer Empire and is on the top of a 525-metre (1,722 ft) cliff in the Dângrêk Mountains, in the Preah Vihear province, Cambodia.

Affording a view for many kilometres across a plain, Prasat Preah Vihear has the most spectacular setting of all the temples built by the Khmer Empire. As a key edifice of the empire's spiritual life, it was supported and modified by successive kings and so bears elements of several architectural styles. Preah Vihear is unusual among Khmer temples in being constructed along a long north–south axis, rather than having the conventional rectangular plan with orientation toward the east. The temple gives its name to Cambodia's Preah Vihear Province in which it is now located, as well as the Khao Phra Wihan National Park, which borders it in Thailand's Sisaket Province though it is no longer accessible from Thailand. In 1962, after a lengthy dispute between Cambodia and Thailand over ownership, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague ruled that the temple is in Cambodia.[1] On 7 July, 2008, Preah Vihear was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.[2][3]

Location

The temple was built at the top of Poy Tadi, a steep cliff in the Dângrêk Mountain range which is the natural border between Cambodia and Thailand. The Temple is currently listed by Cambodia as being in Svay Chrum Village, Kan Tout Commune, in Choam Khsant District of Preah Vihear Province of northern Cambodia. The temple is 140 km from Angkor Wat and 418 km from Phnom Penh.

The Temple was listed by Thailand as being in Bhumsrol village of Bueng Malu sub-district (now merged with Sao Thong Chai sub-district), in Kantharalak district of the Sisaket Province of eastern Thailand. It is 110 km from the Mueang Sisaket District, the center of Sisaket Province. In 1962 the ICJ ruled that only the temple building belonged to Cambodia, while the direct way to access the temple was from Thailand,[4] but currently, as of at least 2015, the only access is from inside Cambodia.