Indian Architecture (Buddhist and Hindu Periods) c44.19

c44.19

The other temple of Khmer attribution at Lopburi is that of P'ra Prang Sam Yot, so different in character from the preceding example that it is difficult to connect it with the same phase of development. This difference may however be due to two factors, on the one hand it is presumed to be considerably later in date, possibly built during the end of the Khmer supremacy in Siam, and on the other it displays certain elements, which associate it not with the prevailing Buddhism but with the Brahmanical faith. A triple temple the Sam Yot consists of three detached shrines each surmounted by its tower, and these superstructures which are the most distinctive features appear to be more closely affiliated in style to the later Cambodian type Broader and even more suggestive of the fir-cone *simile*, the *sikharas*, although basically in zones are so overlaid with decorative details, in which the "acroteria" or *kudu* form predominates, that they recall the embellishment so profusely encrusted in strata on the gopurams of Southern India. Yet, unlike the Khmer examples, these too terminate in the "amalasıla" as in the blunted finial of the p'ra-prang. Another temple not in Lopburi, but in old Suk'ot'ai an ancient site considerably further north on the Yom river, is that of Wat Sisawai, also composed of triple towers and presumably of Khmer extraction. Built of laterite below and brick above, with ornamentation in stucco liberally applied between the massive string-courses of its upper dımınishing portion the entire treatment implies no little originality of pattern. The diversity of style in these provincialized Khmer buildings is remarkable, being traceable either to strong indigenous local influences, or to the importation of artisans from a Cambodian source working in a specialized regional mode. Several other significant examples of the effect of the Khmer domination may be referred to, such as a temple at Pimai, built towards the end of the tenth century, another at Panom Wan possibly dating from the eleventh century, and that at Panom Rung of the twelfth, which, if these dates are confirmed, will give a series of examples showing the progressive development of the style The temple at Pimai, the earliest, is richly decorated with carving in bas-relief, some of the border patterns, both in design and modelling, being almost exact replicas of similar ornamentation on the remains of the Pala structures at Gaur in Bengal of the ninth century At Panom Rung the ruins include a range of buildings which may be identified as a palace, with corrugated roofs over the corridors of that distinctive type seen at Angkor. The list might be extended with references to the temple of Culamani at Pitsanulok of the twelfth century, built of laterite having additions in stucco, the temple of Wat P'ra Pai Luang at Suk'ot'ai, and "a truly magnificent temple at P'ra Vihara on the summit of the Dangrek range"¹, to mention only a few. Finally there is the temple of Maha-Tat at old Suk'ot'ai comprising a complex of structures, some of which are of Khmer ascription, while others belong to the succeeding phase of Siamese architecture, that referred to as Tai, the third division of the style.