Constructed in the late ninth century CE, Bakong is the earliest sandstone temple mountain built during the Khmer Empire. It functioned as the official state temple for King Indravarman I within the capital city of Hariharalaya, now called Roluos, near Siem Reap in Cambodia. The temple's design features a stepped pyramid structure, an early example of the temple mountain style characteristic of Khmer architecture.
The complex includes multiple enclosures and galleries surrounding the central pyramid, which rises in tiers symbolizing Mount Meru, a sacred mountain in Hindu cosmology. Carvings and stonework detail religious iconography, reflecting the temple's original Hindu purpose before later Buddhist influences. The site provides insight into early Khmer religious and architectural practices.
