West Mebon

Remaining east wall and towers

The West Mebon (Khmer: ប្រាសាទមេបុណ្យខាងលិច) is a temple at Angkor, Cambodia, located in the center of the West Baray, the largest reservoir of the Angkor area. The temple's date of construction is not known, but evidence suggests the 11th Century during the reign of King Suryavarman I and Udayadityavarman II.^[1]^:96,103^[2]^:371

Location

In the dry season today, it is reachable by land. In rainy season, the waters of the 7,800-meter-long baray rise and the temple, located on a site higher than the baray's floor, becomes an island.

Symbolism

West Mebon from the water

Khmer architects typically surrounded temples with moats that represent the Hindu sea of creation. The West Mebon, located amid waters so vast that they can seem like a real sea, takes this religious symbolism to the ultimate level.

Architecture

Hinduism
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The temple was built to a square design, with sides measuring about 100 meters. Each side had three tower-passages crowned with stone lotus flowers and arrayed about 28 meters apart. In the center of the square was a stone platform linked to the eastern wall by a laterite and sandstone causeway.

Today the platform, causeway and much of the east wall and towers remain; the other sides are largely gone, though their outlines in stone are visible when the baray's waters are low. There is no central sanctuary to be seen, though the platform may have supported some comparatively small structure in times past.

The reclining Vishnu

In 1936, the West Mebon yielded up the largest known bronze sculpture in Khmer art, a fragment of the reclining Hindu god Vishnu. The fragment includes the god's head, upper torso and two right arms.

A local villager is said to have dreamt that an image of the Buddha was buried in the West Mebon and wished to be freed from the soil. Subsequent digging unearthed the statue of Vishnu.

The Chinese diplomat Zhou Daguan, who visited Angkor at the end of the 13th Century, wrote that the West Mebon had a large image of Buddha with cascading water. Zhou mistook the Vishnu statue for a Buddha image, and the West Mebon for the East Mebon.^[1]^:103,134

The statue, which in complete form would have measured about six meters long, entered the collection of the National Museum in Phnom Penh. It has also been shown abroad, including in Washington D.C.

References

1 2 Higham, C., 2001, The Civilization of Angkor, London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, ISBN 9781842125847
↑ Higham, C., 2014, Early Mainland Southeast Asia, Bangkok: River Books Co., Ltd., ISBN 9786167339443

Laur, Jean. Angkor: An Illustrated Guide to the Monuments. Flammarion 2002
Rooney, Dawn. Angkor. Airphoto International Ltd. 2002

Coordinates: 13°26′05″N 103°48′00″E / 13.434636°N 103.800112°E / 13.434636; 103.800112

Angkorian sites

Angkorian sites in Cambodia

Angkor

Ak Yum Angkor Wat Baksei Chamkrong Banteay Kdei Banteay Samré Banteay Srei Phnom Dei Bat Chum Chau Say Tevoda East Baray East Mebon Kbal Spean Krol Ko Neak Pean Phnom Bakheng Phnom Bok Phnom Krom Phnom Kulen Prasat Ak Yum Prasat Kravan Preah Khan Pre Rup Spean Thma Srah Srang Ta Keo Ta Nei Ta Prohm Ta Som Thommanon West Baray West Mebon Yasodharapura

Angkor Thom	Angkor Thom Baphuon The Bayon The Khleangs Mangalartha Phimeanakas Prasat Suor Prat Preah Palilay Preah Pithu Terrace of the Elephants Terrace of the Leper King

Roluos	Roluos Bakong Lolei Preah Ko

Elsewhere

Angkorian sites in Thailand

Isan

Khorat Plateau	Ban Anan Ban Bu Ban Chan Ban Chang Pi Ban Plai Ban Pluang Ban Samor Ban Sanom Chom Phra Don Tuan Huai Thap Than Khok Prasat Ku Ka Sing Ku San Tarat Ku Suan Tang Kuti Ruesi Ban Muang Khok Kuti Ruesi Ban Nong Bua Rai Muang Khaek Muang Tum Nang Ram Nong Plong Nong Ta Plaeng Phimai Pha Nom Wan Phnom Rung Phum Pon Pluei Noi Prang Goo Prang Phom ma Tat Ta Khwai Ta Leng Ta Muan Ta Muan Tod Ta Muen Thom Tra Piang Tia Ta Tom Thamor Sikhoraphum Wat Chao Chan Wat Dong Muang Tei Wat Kampang Lang Wat Prang Thong Wat Sa Kampaeng Noi Wat Sa Kampaeng Yai Yai Ngao

Sakonnakhon Plateau	Ban Panna Choeng Chum Dum Narai Cheng Weng Phu Pek