This massive Buddhist complex built during the reign of King Jayavarman 7th just outside the gates of Angkor Thom, on a site where the king defeated the invading Vietnamese (the "Cham" in the 12th century). It has four concentric enclosure walls. Inside the outermost wall there is jungle today, but in the temple's day it housed monks and students. Within the other walls are a dense concentration of temples and shrines which were originally Buddhist, but later altered by Hindu rulers as sites of worship for Vishnu and Shiva.
As in Ta Prohm, which we visited the next day, some of the structures coexist with giant kapok and fig tree roots. In the center of the complex is the "Hall of Dancers" where all the door-lintels have little dancing apsaras on them. One large two-story pavilion is reminiscent of Greek or European architecture with large supporting columns.
