page_title: Prang (architecture)
section_title: Khmer temples
hierarchical_section_title: Prang (architecture) / History / Khmer temples
caption_attribution_description: English: Middle tower of Angkor Wat temple is located on upper most level of the main buliding.
context_page_description: A prang is a tall tower-like spire, usually richly carved. They were a common shrine element of Hindu and Buddhist architecture in the Khmer Empire. They were later adapted by Buddhist builders in Thailand, especially during the Ayutthaya Kingdom and Rattanakosin Kingdom. In Thailand it appears only with the most important Buddhist temples.
context_section_description: Originally the Khmer prang temples were for the worship of the Hindu gods, such as Shiva and Vishnu. The space within the prang tower, the cella, was relatively small for two reasons:
  The rituals which were held in them were reserved for a small elite (in the capital of the Khmer only the god king could enter the shrine).
  The technology of the Khmer could not yet make large airy halls. (Ringis, 1990)
  The cella was entered via a small porch, usually aligned to the east, which was called the Mandapa. Over the cubic cella rose the central tower, the bud-shaped prang, modeled after the cosmic mountain Meru, crowned by a top stone in form of a lotus bud.
  The Khmer prangs resembled north Indian temples' shikhara and rekha (temple towers) elements. The early 10th century and the late 12th century prangs in Thailand were influenced by the Khmer architects of the great temple complexes of Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom.
caption: The central prang of Angkor Wat temple symbolizes the mount Meru.
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