Environmental specialists prep two temple sites

EN V I R O N M E N T A L specialists are currently clearing the forest surrounding two recently discovered temples and preparing a road leading to them, Ratanakkiri provincial Department of Environment director Phon Khemerin said.

Khemerin told The Post on Sunday that the O’Preah – one of the temples – was discovered in 2008 in Lumphat district wit hin Lumphat Wildlife Sanctuar y. Yak Nang – the other temple – was discovered in 2006 in O’Yadav National Park.

He said O’Preah temple’s foundation was made of lateritic stone, while remnants of the temples were made of sandstone. The temple faces east and is located about 400m west of the Srepok river.

According to Khemerin, the temple may have been built during the Angkor era bet ween the 10th and 11th

centuries. The team found two broken pedestals. Each pedestal has two holes which were used to hold deity statues. The specialists also found remnants of pottery and clay at the back of the temple.

He said the Yak Nang temple was made of sandstone and a lso faces east. The temple has suf fered extensive damage ever y where. The western side has been completed destroyed.

The Yak Nang temple may have been built at the beginning of the Angkor era, or possibly before t hat, he said.

“Right now, we are clearing the area and preparing a road into the area. In particular, we will continue to study and survey the nearby area. We suspect there may be other temples in Lumphat Wildlife Sanctuary or O’Yadav, but we are not certain of the exact location as yet,” he said.

Pra k Sunnara, t he directorgenera l of the Department of Heritage under the Ministr y of Culture and Fine Arts, told The Post on Sunday that the t wo temples were being caref ully protected while the government carries out its tasks.

He said t he specia lists had no plans for excavation due to a lack of f unds.

Sunnara said the Yak Nang temple was discovered in 2006 by experts from the Ratanak k iri prov incia l Department of Culture and Fine Arts operating i n Lumphat Wildlife Sanctuar y. Government specia lists a lso discovered the O’Preah temple.

“The entrance to t he [O’Preah] temple is easy to travel to now, but we need to cross the Srepok river because t here is no bridge. As for plans to preser ve t he temple, we hire v illagers as securit y guards to protect it.

“We don’t plan to excavate . . . we’ll reser ve our f unds to restore other temples which were discovered before,” he said.