Terrace of the Leper King

Leper King's altar

The Terrace of the Leper King (or Leper King Terrace) (Khmer: ព្រះលានស្តេចគម្លង់, Preah Lean Sdach Kumlung) is located in the northwest corner of the Royal Square of Angkor Thom, Cambodia.

It was built in the Bayon style under Jayavarman VII, though its modern name derives from a 15th-century sculpture discovered at the site. The statue depicts the Hindu god Yama, the god of death.

The statue was called the "Leper King" because discolouration and moss growing on it was reminiscent of a person with leprosy, and also because it fit in with a Cambodian legend of an Angkorian king Yasovarman I who had leprosy.[1] The name that the Cambodians know him by, however, is Dharmaraja,[2] as this is what was etched at the bottom of the original statue.

The U-shaped structure is thought by some to have been used as a royal cremation site.

References

  1. ↑ Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos & the Greater Mekong by Nick Ray, Tim Bewer, Andrew Burke, Thomas Huhti, Siradeth Seng. Page 212. Footscray; Oakland; London: Lonely Planet Publications, 2007.
  2. ↑ Dharmaraja, 'King of Dharma' is a title of Yama.

Coordinates: 13°26′54″N 103°51′31″E / 13.44833°N 103.85861°E / 13.44833; 103.85861

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