Thailand > Surin > Phanom Dong Rak District > Prasat Ta Muen

“Prasat Ta Muen. This building which looks like a Christian chapel might have served as a hospital along the royal Angkorean road between Phimai and Angkor Wat”

Just near the border of Thailand and Cambodia is the beautiful town of Ban Ta Muang home to a Khmer temple called Prasat Ta Muen. Although tourists loveto visit this temple it is best to check with the local Tourism Authority of Thailand in Surin before going there. This is because of the temple's location. Prasat Ta Muen was constructed in the 10th century and even after so many hundreds of years, you can still see many prangs or pagodas. Prasat Ta Muen is, in fact, a complex of temples and the single pagoda in the center is the main one.

The principal pagoda is representative of Mount Meru, the heavenly and mythical abode of God. There used to be 4 smaller pagodas around it but today you can see just three. These three pagodas a located on three corners of the main pagoda, and each one represents a lower grade mountain where the less powerful Gods lived.

Prasat Ta Muen is surrounded by a sandstone cloister and just outside the cloister there is a pond. At the cloister you can still see an inscription in Khmer language which refers to a man named Phra Kalapa Krisna.

According to archaeologists, Prasat Ta Muen was build for the Hindu god Shiva but one cannot see any traces of a linga here. However, within the main prang, there is a big rock, which is a phallic symbol, and it is similar to the rock found in a temple in Champasak located in southern part of Laos.