Phimai Historical Park

[ Location ]
About 60 km from Korat city.
From the Highway No. 2, turn right to Road No.206.
Passing a bridge, the Museum is on the left.
And the Sanctuary on the right.

[ Outline ]
Open everyday
Admission time: 9.00 am.- 18.00 pm
Admission Fee: 40 Baht

Thailand's great Northeastern plateau is found to have numerous temples of varying sizes.
Most of these structures are believed to be about a thousand years old and built by the people of Brahmanic culture.
These buildings built of brick, and sandstone, or a combination of the both materials.
The basic structure is built from three to five-story surmounted by Buddhist statues, have a low base and their spires are not so tall.
Phimai is the most spectacular and the most important among all.

Geographically, this sanctuary is located on a plain a high plain surrounded by three large canals.
No one knows who actually built Phimai, or why it was built at the particular site it occupies.
However, one source declares,
"It was built in the 12th century and some years before Angkor Wat."
Monsieur H. Parmentier, the Angkorean expert, after a detail study at Phimai came to the conclusion that the temple was built in the reign of King Suriyavoraman (A.D. 1002-1049).
He held that its architectural style closely resembled Angkorean buildings.

Click this photo, can see a complete view.
(panorama, 124 k bytes)

Prasat Him Phimai which is the largest sandstone sanctuary in Thailand.
It almost situated in the center of ancient Phimai city.
Its rectangular shape is 655 meters wide and 1,033 meters long.
Nowadays, the Sanctuary looks magnificently restored and renovated.
This fascinating ancient Khmer architecture has been preserved as the National Historical Park.
The monument itself is surrounded with two red sandstone walls.
The external wall and the gallery are punctuated by gate towers (Gopura) at four cardinal points, North, South, East and West.

[ A high point ]
Phimai sanctuary is oriented to the south.
But the orientation is not to the south exactly, the axis points 20 degrees east of south.
It may be that it was meant in order to face the direction of Angkor Wat.
There are ancient routes from here to Angkor Wat.
It is recommended that visitors start to enter the Phimai sanctuary from the outer south Gopura which is the main entrance.

1. Office & Book shop

2. Khlang Ngoen

3. Naga Bridge

4. Outer southern Gopura

5. Passage Way

6. The base of Vihara

7. Inner southern Gopura

8. Central Sanctuary

9. Prang Hin Daeng

10. Prang Brahmadat

11. Twin Libraries

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