Beng Mealea or Bung Mealea (Khmer: ប្រាសាទបឹងមាលា, its name means “lotus pond”) is a temple in the Angkor Wat period located 40 km east of the main group of temples at Angkor, Cambodia, on the ancient royal highway to Preah Khan Kompong Svay.
The temple
Map of Beng Mealea, from a drawing by Leon de Beylie (1849-1910). In red the partially equipped path used to visit the temple.It was built as a Hindu temple, but there are some carvings depicting buddhist motifs.[1] Its primary material is sandstone and it is largely unrestored, with trees and thick brush thriving amidst its towers and courtyards and many of its stones lying in great heaps. For years it was difficult to reach, but a road recently built to the temple complex of Koh Ker passes Beng Mealea and more visitors are coming to the site, as it…
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