Prasat Muang Tam

Prasat Muang Tam Review

Scattered around the area are other Khmer prasats in various stages of decay, many of them overgrown by vegetation. One of these has been rescued by Thailand's Department of Fine Arts. Prasat Muang Tam is only a couple of miles from the base of Phanom Rung hill. It's estimated to be 100 years older than its neighbor, starting off as a 10th-century Hindu sanctuary. Its main building symbolically represents the universe, with lesser towers emanating from the center. Today four towers remain, all containing carvings of Shiva and his consort Uma, Varuna on a swan, Krishna with cows, and Indra on the elephant Erawan. The complex is flanked by ceremonial ponds, with five-headed nagas (water serpents that appear in Buddhist folklore) lying alongside it.