Prasat Ta Muean Thom

Prasat Ta Muean Thom is an ancient Hindu sanctuary dedicated to Shiva. The sanctuary is at Ban Nong Khan Na in Ta Mieng Sub-district of Phanom Dong Rak Minor District in Surin Province. The site is situated in the border area between Cambodia and Thailand near the Chong Ta Muean Pass in the Dongrak Mountains within the dense forest. The Chong Ta Muean Pass was a pass used to travel between the lower and upper Khmer regions and the sanctuary as thus was located strategically. The sanctuary belongs to the Ta Muean Group, comprising three separate sites within a few hundred metres of each other and indicates the location was an important stop on the Angkor - Phimai route.

The Khmer Rouge occupied the temple, and the many skirmishes in the area wreaked structural havoc on the temple in the late 70s. The Khmer Rouge raided the site, as well as treasure seekers, in search of valuable sandstone sculptures from the temple's facade. The sanctuary is heavily guarded as the border area is disputed. Clashes occurred in April 2011 CE in which several soldiers were killed on both sides and villages were evacuated because of artillery shelling. The area is also not completely cleared of mines.

Prasat Ta Muean Thom, located on a natural hill near a stream, is the largest sanctuary in the Ta Muean group. The site is a walled complex of sandstone blocks on a square laterite base, which comprises a principal tower, two small sandstone towers, laterite libraries and a small baray outside the sanctuary area to provide water for ceremonies. The baray is lined with laterite stones.

Ta Muen Thom is dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva as seen from a svayambhu linga (a natural rock linga) on a pedestal hewn directly from the bedrock. The temple is believed to have been built in the Baphuon style at the beginning of the 11th century CE. Prasat Ta Muean Thom is oriented more or less towards the south as is Prasat Hin Phimai.

The svayambhu linga on a pedestal determined the site, as the garbhagriha encloses it. The central tower was built on a natural rock platform that extends as far as the east and west gopuras and has been carved with several holes and insets. A soma sutra follows a natural channel in the bedrock that leads out from the garbhagriha. The latter indicates the relative importance of this site. A massive laterite staircase leads down from the southern gopura into Cambodia, and some 20 metres beyond this is a platform at the edge of a stream.

A landing platform constructed near the stream is at the foot of a monumental staircase leading up the hill, a distance of about 30 metres. The surrounding gallery of the temple has four gopuras, with the main entry being on the south. Inside the gallery, the central sanctuary and two additional prangs to the north are built of a pink-grey sandstone. Two intact laterite buildings are also found in the courtyard, one of a rectangular plan near the eastern wall and another square cell located by the western wall, as well as the foundations of other buildings.

Ayutthaya Historical Research