"Lolei temple is one of the temples which grouped in the temples of Roluos Group and it is the last temple in the ancient city of Hariharalaya. It was built in the 9th century and was a Hindu temple dedicated to Shiva. It was once an island temple, but the reservoir where it was built has long since been dried".
Temple Info
Lolei temple was the last major temple to be built in what was once the capital city of the Khmer empire before King Yasovarman I moved the capital to what is now Phnom Bakheng.
The name "Lolei" is thought to be a modern corruption of the ancient name "Hariharalaya," which means "the city of Harihara." Once an island temple, Lolei was located on an island slightly north of center in the now dry Indratataka Baray, construction of which had nearly been completed under Yasovarman's father and predecessor Indravarman I. Scholars believe that placing the temple on an island in the middle of a body of water served to identify it symbolically with Mount Meru, home of the gods, which in Hindu mythology is surrounded by the world oceans.
Lolei consists of four brick temple towers grouped together on a terrace. The king built Lolei for his ancestors. One for his grandfather, one for his grandmother, one for his father, and one for his mother.
The front two towers are for the males while the two towers at the back are for the females. The two taller towers are for his grandparents while the two shorter towers are for his parents. Originally, the towers were enclosed by outer wall access through which was through a gopura, but neither wall nor gopura has survived to the present. Today, the temple is next to a monastery, just as in the 9th century it was next to an ashrama.
The temple towers are known for their decorative elements, including their false doors, their carved lintels, and their carved devatas and Dvarapalas who flank both real and false doors. Some of the motifs represented in the lintels and other sandstone carvings are the sky-god Indra mounted on the elephant Airavata, serpent-like monsters called Makaras, and multi-headed nagas.
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| This sandstone carving at Lolei shows a fanged Dvarapala armed with a trident standing in an arched doorway. At the level of his elbows, two Makara |
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| Inscriptions carved on the pillars of the tower of the Lolei temple. |
Temple is not much visited as other temples in the small and grand circuits, however, it still gets a large number of visitors each day. Normally, the temple of the Roluos Group is also often combined with a visit to Beng Mealea or a floating village tour of Kampong Phluk, or Kampong Khleang. Moreover, nearby it there is the Bakong temple which is great the temple was built in the latter part of the 9th century and was the state temple for King Indravarman I.
Temple Facts
Name: Lolei Temple (One of popular temple in the Roluos Group)
Date: 893 AD (9th century)
Religion: Hinduism
Built By: Yasovarman I
Dedicated to: Shiva
Style: Preah Ko / Bakheng
Getting There
Lolei temple is located in the east of Siem Reap town about 15km in Bakong commune and Bakong district.
To get to Lolei temple, you'll go from Siem Reap town along National Road 6 towards Phnom Penh. After you pass the turning to Bakong temple and Bakong commune hall, there is a turning on the left side about a few hundred meters from the main road.
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