Prasat Preah Vihear

Recently Preah Vihear has become a hot issue between Cambodia and Thailand again. What is special about the historic temple? You will see how great it is after seeing its photos, studying its architecture, reading its history and watching its videos.
Location
Preah Vihear Temple is located in a pleasant environment with an attractive countryside slightly east of the mid section of Dongrek Mountains. It perches on the edge of a giant cliff, about 625 meters in Preah Vihear Province, north of Cambodia, about 625km from the capital city Phnom Penh. It is also close to Thai border.
The Structure of the Temple
The temple has four levels and four courtyards comprising of five Gopuras ( entrance pavilions some times surmounted by tower )Palace Building or Gopuras on the third level.
The group of buildings was the King’s residence when he came to pay homage to the mighty God , and the two wings were the shelters for the pilgrims. The main temple are used for high-ranking supreme divinities. This mighty group of building is considered as the center of the whole temple complex.
The front stone stairway : this main passage is on the North side. The stairway is 8 meters wide and 78 meters long. The first flight has 162 steps. At the first landing is a large stone singa statue on stone block. Another 54 flight of steps, 4 meters wide and 27 meters long, leading up to the second landing is also decorated with stone signa statue.
The Nagaraj Courtyard : this stone-paved is 7 meters wide by 31.8 meters long. From here the stairway leads up to the first-level Gropura. The stair heads are in the form of seven-headed snakes called "Ngu Suang " facing North towards the Prasat. The heads and tails of nagas on both sides look like ordinary snakes, characterizing and early example of this type of animal figures. The head portion of the naga on the west side looks very impressive because it is made from a single solid stone.
The first level Gopura : this is a pavilion in Greek architecture style with cross plan on an elevated, rebates angle base on each of the roof doorway . Stone lions are placed on each of the roofs doorway.
Accessibility to the Temple
The temple can be reached by crossing the Cambodia-Thai gateway border from the Ubon Ratchantani Province of Thailand. Currently the visits are from 8.00 till 16.00 hours.The Grandeur of its site
For all the grandeur of its site, perched on the edge of a giant cliff and with a commanding view over northern Cambodia, Preah Vihear is difficult to visualize as a whole. The experience is truly a memorable one – the series of ascents over the best part of a kilometer, the ornate Gopuras and the wealth of decorative detail truly staggers one’s imagination.

Click on the title link for its history. Preah Vihear authority website: http://www.preahvihearauthority.org/contents/biograpy.php

Preah Vihear videos on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhg49PtU-ss&eurl=http://www.preahvihearauthority.org/contents/biograpy.php