Ancient Indian Colonies in the Far East (Vol. I: Champa; Vol. II: Suvarnadvipa) v2.c21.s8.32

v2.c21.s8.32

The Vat Keo² is also a brick sanctuary, but it is in a much more dilapidated condition. The cella is square and approached by an ante-chamber in the east. Corresponding to this ante-chamber there are three chapels on three other sides. As Mr. Coedès has observed, its plan resembles that of Caṇḍi Kalasan. But its architecture "recalls closely the cubic art of Campā and the (Pre-Khmer of archaic type) Prasāt Krahām of Phnom Kulen (Cambodia)." "Thus we have the surprising phenomenon appearing here so unexpectedly of a single building combining some of the basic characteristics of the early buildings of Cham, Pre-Khmer and Javanese styles." Dr. H. G. Wales has justly emphasised the fact that the buildings to which Vat Keo bears strong points of resemblance are among the earliest of Indian colonial types, and that we have in Caiya the survival of very early non-specialized types of Indian colonial architecture¹.