Banteay Kdei

At this Mahayana Buddhist monastic complex at least two
different styles are evident, relating to Angkor Vat and
Bayon styles. Various sanctuary towers were also apparently
joined only after their construction by a system of galleries
and vestibules that exploit the use of the cloister. Changes
and additions to the design following the original construction
result in the sometimes confused and unbalanced present-day
layout.

Terrace with naga and garuda-balustrades

The ensemble is on a single
level and consists, within two successive enclosure walls,
of two concentric galleries from which emerge towers, preceded
to the east by a cloister. This temple is similar in design
and architecture to Ta Prohm and Preah Khan, although smaller
and less complex.

There is no information concerning the exact dedication
of this temple, and a 10th century inscription found in
the western gopura of the second enclosure has been noted
to have been sculpted on re-used stones possibly from the
neighbouring temple of Kutisvara.

The east gopura entrance in the outer laterite enclosure
(as are the other axial entrances) is surmounted by smiling
Lokesvara visages similar to those at Ta Prohm, and the
doorway flanked by garudas in each corner. The large Buddhist
cruciform terrace immediately in front of the temple is
slightly raised and decorated with naga and garuda-balustrades
and lions that are in the Bayon style.

As at Ta Prohm and Preah Khan, there is a vast rectangular
hall that perhaps served as a space for ritual dance. The
square columns, like those at the entrances to the Bayon,
are decorated with paired or single dancing apsara sculpted
in low-relief. Bas-relief dvarapala flank the entrances,
surrounded by devata. The central sanctuary, which still
carries some traces of sculpture, was probably rough-cut
in order to receive a metal facing.

The gopura of the third enclosure is cruciform in plan,
has internal columns and is covered by vaults. In the internal
courtyard and walls of porches are Buddha images defaced
in the period following Jayavarman VII's reign. The vaults
of these outer galleries, constructed in both laterite and
sandstone, has in places, collapsed. Access from the rear
of this complex leads to the eastern entrance of Ta Prohm
temple.

In 2001, a team from the University of Sophia (Japan)
uncovered 274 fragment pieces of Buddhist sculpture while
pursuing a research excavation in Banteay Kdei. Most of
the excavated statues are sculpted from sandstone and these
were found together with a small number of metal artifacts.