Kampong Thom Province : Kuk Nokor Temple

Kuhanok Temple is located in Tradak Village, Tradak Pong Village, Pong Commune, Baray District. The site covers an area of ​​200 x 200 m2 = 40,000 m2, 96 km from Phnom Penh. Kuhanok Temple is located in the compound of Wat Kahanok. The temple is similar in shape to the Tonle Bati Temple, which was built of sandstone in the 11th century during the reign of King Suryavarman I. Kuhanok Temple is 45 meters long and 35 meters wide, surrounded by a 3-meter-high sandstone fence. Kahanok Temple is divided into three parts:

-The first part is 8 meters high

-The second part is 12 meters high

-The third part is 15 meters high

Kuknokor Temple was built during the reign of King Suryavarman I in the 11th century in the Khleang style. The temple is built on a flat land, on a rectangular mound made of sandstone and sandstone, facing east, with a wall surrounding it, extending from east to west, 35 meters long and 25 meters wide, and has three gopuras (gates through the temple walls). The eastern gopura is 9 meters high and has three entrances. The central door is narrow and a little dark, and there are two more on either side. The western gopura is small, with one door to the inside but no exit. The southern gopura, attached to the temple, is not in the middle of the wall. There is a door from the temple to the inside, but it is not possible to go outside the wall. There is only a groove that is pierced through the wall to the outside for pouring water when the water is poured on the Shivalinga (Sthanatroni). In the middle there is a tall single tower, with a room and a long balcony facing east, and in front there are octagonal diamond pillars on both sides. At the top of the writing is a decorative pattern, a dragon's body curved around, with its head protruding to either side, and a moon flower. On this diamond pillar is a platform, a panel designed in the Pho style, and in the center of the platform is a statue of Indra riding a three-headed elephant. This central tower is decorated from the bottom to the top. At the top of the top is a lotus pattern, many levels representing the entire universe. Near the tower (southeast), near the eastern gopura, there is a single stele (library) made of sandstone, facing west, opposite the direction of the temple, with an average height of 1 meter, built on a stilt. According to the information from the old inscriptions there, to the east of the temple there is a drawbridge paved with sandstone across a pond, which looks like the pond was dug around the temple, but was later removed to make room for the pagoda. Therefore, we see that the entire temple body seems to be in the courtyard of the pagoda. Originally, in front of the temple there was a large pond that held the dam around it, and there was a drawbridge from the west of the pond that connected to the temple body, crossing this drawbridge. Currently, the dam, the pond, and the surrounding area have all become a burial ground, completely changing the appearance of the entire pond. The area south of the pond, which originally had many large trees and provided shade for the grandmother's meditation, has also become a burial ground.