Angkor Monuments in context I: 6th to 11th centuries - best informed at angkorguide.net

The pre-Angkorian monuments of Sambor Prei Kuk ('The City of Shiva in the Forest of Kuk Trees') are located 25 km north-east of Kampong Thom, near the west bank of the Saen River. Researchers recovered dikes which framed a nearly square city, 2 by 2 km. It was the capital of a regional kingdom.

Three groups of temples were built at the East of the city:

The central tower is raised on a platform, and surrounded by smaller towers. The towers sheltered a lingam in a pedestal or a statue of the god and goddess. Generally each tower has an entrance to the East and false doors at the other faces.
Each group is enclosed by two concentric brick walls.
The whole complex is symmetrical to its east-west axis.
These temples were linked to the river by straight avenues.

The Phnom Kulen is a plateau dominating the plain of Angkor.
Here, at Mahendraparvata, King Jayavarman II in 802 proclaimed Cambodia an independent and unified kingdom.

Hariharalaya ('The City of Harihara'), near today's Roluos, in the South-East of the Angkor region, was the first capital of the Khmer empire. Map.
(Commonly the Angkorian period is regarded as starting about 100 years later.)

Trapeang Phong (early 9th century), in the South of the Roluos Group, has a stately and fine decorated tower.

Bakong (consecrated in 881), was the first big state temple. The temple complex, centred by a pyramid, and adjusted to the cardinal directions, was a microcosm. The king created a new world in geometrical order and harmony. Shiva should be enticed to take his abode in the central tower of the new state temple and thus make Angkor the centre of the world.
The Bakong defines the pattern of the Khmer pyramid temple. Later temples will maintain these principles.

Preah Ko (879), and Lolei (893) are dedicated to the memory of the kings' ancestors. Both temples are famous for their outstanding reliefs in stucco and sandstone.

Yasodharapura ('Angkor')

Phnom Bakheng . At the end of the 9th century, King Yasovarman I moved the capital to central Angkor and built a pyramid temple on top of a phnom, a steep hill, incorporating the whole phnom into the temple complex.
Marking the centre of the new capital Yasodharapura (later called Maha Angkor) for four centuries, this ruin is now mostly visited at sundown.

Other monuments of the Bakheng era: Phnom Bok, & Phnom Krom.

Lingapura (Koh Ker)

From 921 to 944 AD, there was a second capital in Koh Ker, some 80 km north-east of Angkor. A tall pyramid was built, together with many other impressive temples.Then the capital was in Angkor again.

Yasodharapura II

Baksei Chamkrong (947), located close to Phnom Bakheng, is a small and elegant pyramid, built of laterite. Baksei Chamkrong became a model for the steep pyramid as it is built in Angkor from then on.

East Mebon (952) and Pre Rup (961) are pyramid temples made of laterite and brick. For the first time we can see five towers arranged in a quincunx (like the five points on a dice).

Prasat Kravan (921) and Banteay Srei (967) are private temples, built by high ranking dignitaries. Both temples show remarkable reliefs.
Other private temples of the 10th century: Bat Chum (950, Buddhist) and
Prasat Enkosei (in northern Siem Reap).

Ta Keo (1007) is a precursor of Angkor Wat: a huge steep sandstone pyramid, topped by five sandstone towers. Each tower is open in all directions. Doors are preceded by porches; that makes the ground plan of the tower cruciform. For the first time there are galleries, here they are vaulted with brick. The construction of Ta Keo seems to have been stopped; there are almost no reliefs. The overall picture is that of a cubist sculpture.

Phimeanakas is a small pyramid in the compound of the Royal Palace. It shows the first perfect gallery. The tower, now destroyed, sheltered the royal chapel.

Baphuon (1060), just south of the Royal Palace, consists of a huge pyramid, topped by "the tower of bronze, even higher than the golden tower [of the Bayon]", as a Chinese chronicler remarked. Perfect galleries frame the tiers of the pyramid. The entrance of the temple is marked by a large pavilion with three doors. From here a long causeway, raised on four rows of round pillars, runs to the pyramid. It is interrupted by a cruciform pavilion.
There are remarkable Reliefs in a naive style. Some of them tell myths in consecutive scenes; each one is in a rectangular frame.
The pyramid has since collapsed and has been reconstructed.

Other monuments of the Baphuon era: West Baray, West Mebon, Kbal Spean, Chau Srei Vibol, and, more remote, Phnom Chisor, in the South, and Preah Vihear in the North.

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