PRASAT PHNOM CHISO

This is located at a height of 120m, on a mountain surrounded by rice­ field, in the province of Bati, now Ta Keo, a few kilometers to the west and a little north of the ancient capital of Angkor Borei. It seems to have been the first great monument erected by the Kings of Kambuja in the ancient Funan region. It i.s one of the most accessible and most visited monuments of Cambodia. It is now being restored. The monument consisted of the central sanctuary and its accessory edifices, surrounded by a series of galleries, forming an enclosure, about 45x50m in extent, oriented to the east, a long stairway and causeway , running down the east slope to the plain below, and some edifices along the causeway in the plain.
Two large rectangular brick libraries, on platforms, with long porticos
and stairway in front, were symmetrically placed and regularly oriented. They were lighted on each side by two highly-placed rectangular windows, with balusters. Two redented square brick towers, one on each side of the central sanctuary, were oriented to the east. Two other towers, by stairways with both the outside and the inside, as did the smaller halls on  each  side  of  them.  The short halls, extending to the corners, communicated by widows, two each, toward the east. The north and south sides were each divided into three galleries, which did not communicate with each other. The longer central galleries opened on the interior by a vestibule with stairway. Each was lighted by six balustered windows. The windows of the South side were square and normally placed, those of the north were rectangular and out of reach. These galleries are supposed to have been "palaces, "that at the North for the women. The end galleries were lighted from the interior. The two in the west-end opened by doors on the exterior, those at the east opened only by windows on the interior. They were of laterite, with sandstone 'foundations, doors windows, and decorations. The vaults, of corbelled brick, have fallen." It is the only specimen of long vaults in brick which the monuments of Cambodia present". Most of the decorations are unfinished and are said to be crude. The colonettes are octagonal, with rings. The lintels are of type IV, Indra on an elephant, the churning  of the  sea, Vishnu  on Ananta,  etc  . According to Coomaraswamy, the central sanctuary once held the figure of a seated king, probably  Suryavarman I, now  in the  Chicago Art Institute. A steep stairway, about 10 meters long, led down to a landing and then a succession of stairways and landing, with a laterite wall on each side, led down to a rectangular terrace, through densely -wooded slope, to the foot of a hill, from where a causeway, 215m long- one of the
longest   causeways   of  any  monument   of  Cambodia     led  to  a   great rectangular basin, now overgrown.
Two cruciform edifices stood exactly in the axis of this causeway, one a few meters from the foot of the hill, the other more than half way to the basin. The windows of their lateral wings faced each other. Lunet de Lajonquiere suggested that they may be entrances of the large enclosure of a palace which was never built.
similar but smaller, were just behind .them. The only dissymmetry was a single brick tower with a long porch, at the southeast corner of the central sanctuary. From its position it may have been the primitive sanctuary, older than the rest of the ensemble.
The galleries surrounding this enclosure have some points of difference
from any others in Khmer mi. The opposite sideswipe symmetrical or nearly so. The east and west sides were each divided into five halls. The long middle halls with long porches in place of Gopuras, communicated by stairways with both the outside and the inside, as did the smaller halls on each side of them. The short halls, extending to the corners, communicated only by widows, two each, toward the east. The North and south sides were each divided into three galleries, which did not communicate with each other. The longer central galleries opened on the interior by a vestibule with stairway. Each was lighted by six balustered windows. The windows of the South side were square and normally placed, those of the North were rectangular and out of reach. These galleries are supposed to have been "palaces, "that at the North for the women. The end galleries were lighted from the interior. The two in the West-end opened by doors on the exterior, those at the east opened only by windows on the interior.  They were of laterite, with sandstone foundations, doors windows, and decorations. The vaults, of corbelled brick, have fallen." It is the only specimen of long vaults in brick which the monuments of Cambodia present". Most of the decorations are unfinished and are said to be crude.The colonettes are octagonal, with rings. The lintels are of type IV, Indra on an elephant, the churning of the sea,Vishnu  on Ananta,  etc  .According  to Coomaraswamy, the central sanctuary  once  held the  figure  of  a  seated king,  probably Suryavarman I, now in the Chicago Art Institute. A steep stairway, about I0 meters long , led down to a landing and then a succession of stairways and landing, with a laterite wall on each side , led down to a rectangular terrace, through a densely -wooded slope, to the foot of a hill, from where a causeway, 215m long- one of the longest causeways of any monument of Cambodia- led to a great rectangular basin, now overgrown.
Two cruciform edifices stood exactly in the axis of this causeway one a few meters from the foot of the hill, the other more than half way to the basin . . The windows of their lateral wings faced each other.Lunet de Lajonquiere suggested that they may be entrances of the large enclosure of a palace which was never built.