View source for Ta Keo

{{Distinguish|Takéo}}

{{Infobox Hindu temple
| name               = Ta Keo
| image              = Ta Keo Temple (I).jpg
| alt                = 
| caption            = Ta Keo Temple
| map_type        = Cambodia
| map_caption        = Location within Cambodia
| coordinates        = {{coord|13.4447|103.882|type:landmark_region:KH|display=inline,title}}
| country            = [[Cambodia]]
| state     = 
| district           = 
| locale             = between the Gate of Victory of [[Angkor Thom]] and [[East Baray]]
| elevation_m        = 
| deity      = [[Shiva]]
| festivals= 
| architecture       = Khleang style
| temple_quantity  = 
| monument_quantity= 
| inscriptions       = 
| year_completed         = around 1000 
| creator            = [[Jayavarman V]]
| website            = 
}}
{{Contains special characters|Khmer}}

'''Ta Keo''' ({{langx|km|ប្រាសាទតាកែវ}}, {{lang|km-latn|Prasat Ta Kêv}} {{IPA|km|praːsaːt taːkaew|}}) is a [[Architecture of Cambodia#Temple mountain|temple-mountain]] in [[Angkor]] ([[Cambodia]]), possibly the first to be built entirely of [[sandstone]] by the [[Khmer Empire]].

==The site==

Ta Keo was the state temple of [[Jayavarman V]], son of [[Rajendravarman]], who had built [[Pre Rup]]. Like [[Pre Rup]], it has five sanctuary towers arranged in a [[quincunx]], built on the uppermost level of five-tier pyramid consisting of overlapping terraces  (a [[step pyramid]]), surrounded by moats, as a symbolic depiction of [[Mount Meru]].

Its particularly massive appearance is due to the absence of external decorations, as carving had just begun when the work stopped,<ref>[[#FreJac2006|Freeman, Jacques, 2006]], p.133</ref> besides an elaborate use of perspective effects. It is considered an example of the so-called [[Architecture of Cambodia#Periodization|Khleang style]].
[[File:Ta Keo 1.gif|thumb|left|Plan of Ta Keo]]
The main axis of the temple is east-west and a 500&nbsp;meters long causeway connects its eastern entrance to a landing stage on the [[East Baray]], with which Ta Keo was in a tight relationship.<ref>[[#Dumarç2001|Dumarçay at al., 2001]], pp.67</ref> The outer banks of the surrounding moats, now vanished, measured 255&nbsp;m by 195&nbsp;m.

The first terrace is 122&nbsp;m by 106&nbsp;m. Its wall of sandstone on laterite basis constitutes the outer enclosure. Along the east side there are two long galleries, whose roofs were made of wood and tiles.<ref>[[#Glaize1993|Glaize, 1993]], p.136</ref> They were illuminated by balustrade windows.

The second terrace is 5.5&nbsp;m higher. Each of the first two terraces has a [[Architecture of Cambodia#Gopura|gopura]] at the four cardinal points. Each gopura has three independent passages and a central tower with diminishing tiers.
 
A continuous gallery (1.4&nbsp;m width) constitutes the inner enclosure of the second terrace. It has windows only towards the interior and measures 80&nbsp;m by 75&nbsp;m. It has no door and seems purely decorative. It is a first example of Khmer [[Architecture of Cambodia#Gallery|gallery]] (together with [[Phimeanakas]]). Before Ta Keo (e.g., in Pre Rup) there were long buildings that followed the length of enclosures with some discontinuity.<ref>[[#FreJac2006|Freeman, Jacques, 2006]], p.135</ref> However, it hasn't got a stone vault; its roof was possibly made of wood and tiles.

Along the eastern side of the second terrace in the corners there are two buildings that are the shorter version of the long galleries of the first terrace. More towards the central axis<ref>There isn't axial symmetry, because of construction method: the five towers on the summit are shifted by 45&nbsp;cm from the E-W main axis, see [[#Dumarç2001|Dumarçay at al., 2001]], pp.68-69</ref> there are two little sandstone "[[Architecture of Cambodia#Library|libraries]]", opening to the west, with false windows on upper storeys.

The final pyramid rises 14&nbsp;m in three narrow steps from the second terrace. Its base is 60&nbsp;m square; the summit is 47&nbsp;m square and stands 21.5&nbsp;m above the ground. The four stairways that lead on the summit are continuous and very steep. At the foot of the eastern one there is a statue of a kneeling [[Nandi (bull)|Nandi]], which confirms that Ta Keo was a Shivaite temple. The absence of any decoration makes the final pyramid really massive. However, on the east face some damaged carvings of floral patterns are visible.<ref>[[#FreJac2006|Freeman, Jacques, 2006]], p.134</ref>

The four corner towers on the summit stand on 0.8&nbsp;m high basements and open to the four cardinal points with protruding [[Vestibule (architecture)|vestibules]]. In the central tower, which dominates the others from its basement 4&nbsp;meters high, the vestibules are doubled. Fragments of lingas and several statues were found in the sanctuary chambers (some 4&nbsp;meters wide) and around the towers. The central tower reaches a height of 45&nbsp;meters.<ref name="Dumarcayat">[[#Dumarç2001|Dumarçay at al., 2001]], p.68</ref>
{{Commons category|Ta Keo}}

==History==
[[File:Sculpture - Ta Keo - Angkor - Cambodia.JPG|thumb|250px|Detail of a sculpture at Ta Keo.]]
[[Jayavarman V]] was ten years old when he succeeded his father, Rajendravarman, in 968. His early years of reign were turbulent and the court officials dominated the royal politics. When he was 17 (in 975), he began the construction of his own state temple, whose modern name is Ta Keo, that was dedicated some time around 1000. In contemporary inscriptions it is called ''Hemagiri'' or ''Hemasringagiri'' ("the mountain with golden summits").<ref>[[#Higham2003|Higham, 2003]], p.79. 
In the 1950s scholars believed that it could have been Phimeanakas and Ta Keo was an 11th-century temple, e.g., {{cite journal|last=Briggs|first=Lawrence Palmer|year=1952|title=The genealogy and successors of Sivāchārya|journal=BEFEO|volume=46|pages=177–185|issn=0336-1519|url=http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/befeo_0336-1519_1952_num_46_1_5161|access-date=2009-08-30|doi=10.3406/befeo.1952.5161}}</ref>

It remained unfinished until the reign of Suryavarman I.<ref name=Coedes>{{cite book|last= Coedès|first= George|author-link= George Coedès|editor= Walter F. Vella|others= trans.Susan Brown Cowing|title= The Indianized States of Southeast Asia|year= 1968|publisher= University of Hawaii Press|isbn= 978-0-8248-0368-1}}</ref>{{rp|135}} [[Yogisvarapandita]], a high priest who became minister of [[Suryavarman I]] and "received" the temple from him many years later, says in inscriptions that a lightning strike hit the unfinished building, an evil omen, so the work stopped. Maybe work stopped simply because of the death of [[Jayavarman V]], as there was a struggle for succession. The temple worked continuously as a cult center until the 13th century,<ref>[[#Dumarç2001|Dumarçay at al., 2001]], p.70</ref> and even Yogisvarapandita worshiped the shrines at the first levels of the temple.

A term tightly linked to Hemasringagiri is ''Jayendranagari'' (which in Sanskrit means "capital of the victorious king"), the royal palace or maybe the new capital city of Jayavarman V.<ref name=Higham1>Higham, C., 2014, Early Mainland Southeast Asia, Bangkok: River Books Co., Ltd., {{ISBN|9786167339443}}</ref>{{rp|367}}<ref>according to [[Claude Jacques]] in {{cite journal |last=Jacques |first=Claude |year=1978 |title=Études d'épigraphie cambodgienne |url=http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/befeo_0336-1519_1978_num_65_1_3909 |journal=BEFEO |language=fr |volume=65 |pages=281–332 |doi=10.3406/befeo.1978.3909 |issn=0336-1519 |access-date=2009-08-30}}</ref> However, the remains of this large hypothesized ensemble are very scarce. Today only a tower in the southwest survives, similar to the corner towers of Ta Keo, with an unusual single door to the south.<ref name="Dumarcayat" />

== Gallery ==

{{Gallery
|File:Ta Keo, Angkor, Camboya, 2013-08-16, DD 14.JPG|Exterior of Ta Keo 
|File:Ta Keo, Angkor, Camboya, 2013-08-16, DD 04.JPG|Ta Keo 
|File:Ta Keo (Khmer ប្រាសាទតាកែវ) Angkor Cambodia タ・ケウ DSCF4015.jpg|Monks in the south gate 
|File:Ta Keo (Khmer ប្រាសាទតាកែវ) Angkor Cambodia タ・ケウ DSCF3999 Akiyoshi Matsuoka.jpg|Ruins in the interior.
|File:Ta Keo, Angkor, Camboya, 2013-08-16, DD 10.JPG|View of the complex from the top
|File:Ta Keo, Angkor, Camboya, 2013-08-16, DD 07.JPG|East side
|File:Takeo temple.jpg|Southwest view of Ta Keo temple
|File:នៅប្រាសាទតាកែវ ១ - at Ta Keo 1.jpg|នៅប្រាសាទតាកែវ ១ - at Ta Keo 1
}}

==See also==
*[[Architecture of Cambodia]]

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
*{{cite book
|last1=Dumarçay
|first1=Jacques
|last2=Royère
|first2=Pascal
|last3=Smithies
|first3=Michael
|last4=Kähler
|first4=Hans
|last5=Arps
|first5=Ben
|last6=Spuler
|first6=Bertold
|last7=Altenmüller
|first7=Hartwig
|title=Cambodian Architecture, Eight to Thirteenth Century
|year=2001
|publisher=Brill
|isbn=90-04-11346-0
|ref=Dumarç2001}}
*{{cite book
|last1=Freeman
|first1=Michael
|last2=Jacques
|first2=Claude
|title=Ancient Angkor
|year=2006
|publisher=River Books
|isbn=974-8225-27-5
|ref=FreJac2006
|url-access=registration
|url=https://archive.org/details/ancientangkor00free
}}
*{{cite book
|last1=Glaize
|first1=Maurice
|author-link1=Maurice Glaize
|editor1-last=Tremmel
|editor1-first=Nils
|title=The Monuments of the Angkor Group
|url=http://www.theangkorguide.com/images/download/angkor-guide.pdf 
|access-date=2009-08-01 
|edition=based on the 4th
|year=2003
|orig-year=1993, first published 1944
|ref=Glaize1993}}
*{{cite book
|last1=Higham
|first1=Charles
|title=The Civilization of Angkor
|year=2003
|publisher=Phoenix
|isbn=1-84212-584-2
|ref=Higham2003}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category}}
* [http://www.autoriteapsara.org/en/angkor/temples_sites/temples/ta_keo.html www.autoriteapsara.org] on Ta Keo Temple
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080916072228/http://www.cambodianonline.net/angkorwat523.htm Cambodiaonline.net] on Ta Keo Temple
* [https://adventurescambodia.com/blog/ta-keo-temple-angkor-wat-mystery-of-the-unfinished-masterpiece/ adventurescambodia.com] on Ta Keo Temple

{{Angkorian sites}}
{{SiemReapProvince}}

[[Category:Hindu temples in Siem Reap province]]
[[Category:Angkorian sites in Siem Reap province]]