Prasat Pueai Noi: Khon Kaen's Great Khmer Sanctuary in the Rice Fields
Most Khmer temples in Thailand sit on hills or in forests. Prasat Pueai Noi sits in a rice field. Coming down the road from Khon Kaen city, the first thing you see is the silhouette of three red-brick towers rising out of the flat green plain — no hill, no forest, just towers, sky and paddy. It is startling, and it is the reason this small sanctuary is worth a half-day of your time. Pueai Noi is the largest Khmer sanctuary in upper Isan. It was built in the 11th century, in the reign of King Suryavarman I, as a Hindu shrine to Shiva, and it predates the great Khmer works at Phimai and Phanom Rung by a century. Today the towers stand restored, quiet and almost empty. You will probably have it to yourself. The three towers The sanctuary is a classic Khmer layout on a small scale: three brick towers (prang) on a single laterite platform, facing east, with a sandstone door frame and a library building to the side. The central tower is the tallest, about 12 metres, and the three are join...