Banteay Samré Temple

Address: Angkor Archaeological Park, Siem Reap province, Cambodia

Website: https://www.apsaraauthority.gov.kh

Hours: Daily (Angkor Park hours typically ~5am-6pm)

Admission: Included with Angkor Archaeological Park pass (e.g. 1‑day $37 / 3‑day $62 / 7‑day $72 - check current rates)

Banteay Samré is a compact 12th-century Khmer temple in the Angkor archaeological zone, built in an Angkor Wat style and commonly dated to the early 12th century. The temple is notable for finely executed bas-reliefs and a well-preserved central sanctuary.

The complex comprises a central towered sanctuary, entrance gopuras and surrounding galleries with carved lintels and devata figures; its decorative quality is often remarked on by specialists. It is smaller than Angkor Wat but retains much original stonework and architectural detail.

Scholars attribute the temple to the early Angkor period and to the same era that produced major monuments such as Angkor Wat, reflecting the religious and artistic programmes of that time. Later maintenance and some conservation work have helped preserve the reliefs and masonry.

Banteay Samré lies within Siem Reap province inside the greater Angkor area, a few kilometres east of the Angkor Wat group and accessible from the main circuit of archaeological sites.

• Why visit: Built in the Angkor Wat architectural style with well-preserved carvings, it is less crowded than the major temples and suited to short visits within the Angkor park.

What to See#

• Central sanctuary: The central sanctuary contains a small tower sanctuary and inner chamber with carved lintels and pediments typical of 12th-century Angkorian temples. Decoration shows high-quality bas-relief and devata figures.
• Gopuras and galleries: Gopuras and enclosing galleries surround the sanctuary, forming a compact temple plan that preserves much of its original stonework and decorative carving.

Two elevated causeways lead to the citadel from east and west: the eastern one lined with naga balustrades and guardian lions, the western running some 350 metres toward the dry edge of the East Baray.

Approaching the temple. Each of the four exterior gopuras carries its own lintel carvings, and dozens more crown the doorways inside - enough to occupy you for some time. It is best to walk from the northern entrance to examine the eastern causeway before entering from the east. Curiously, the eastern entry lacks the usual cruciform gopura; the temple was extensively rebuilt between 1936 and 1944 by anastylosis, so it is unclear whether a gate was ever intended here or the temple was simply left incomplete.

The first enclosure. Passing through the eastern entry, the raised path reaches a terrace beside the remains of a gallery that followed the high walls. Only its sandstone columns survive, though square holes in the enclosure wall show that wooden beams once carried a roof.

The central enclosure. Four cruciform gopuras, joined by a corbel-arched gallery, open into the central enclosure. Note the naga railings along its interior walkways: as the naga symbolises water and traditionally edged causeways over moats, they suggest this inner court once held pools or a moat, as around the round-columned pavilion at Preah Khan.

The central sanctuary. The eastern path continues through a mandapa, or antechamber, which holds a stone cistern of unknown purpose, then a short hall to the central tower - likely once home to a Vishnu statue, given the god’s prominence in the carvings. Each doorway into the sanctuary bears a carved lintel, and the mandapa walls carry shallow floral reliefs.

The lintels and libraries. Take time to wander the walkways around the moat and study the lintels above the doorways; most depict scenes from the Ramayana or events tied to Vishnu. Seek out the two free-standing libraries on the eastern side of the moat - the pediment above the northeastern library shows Vishnu reclining on the naga Ananta as Brahma rises from a lotus growing out of Vishnu’s navel at the dawn of a new cycle of the universe.

Banteay Samré lies inside the Angkor Archaeological Park near the other Angkor temples east of Angkor Wat. Visitors normally reach it from Siem Reap by tuk‑tuk, bicycle, motorbike or private car/tour arranged in town; ask your driver to include Banteay Samré on the Angkor circuit and you’ll follow the park roads between the main temple groups.

• Visit early morning or late afternoon for softer light on the carvings and far fewer tour groups than at Angkor Wat-Banteay Samré is one of the quieter Angkor sites at those times.
• Include Banteay Samré on the same circuit as Pre Rup or East Mebon to minimize extra travel time; it's compact so you can explore thoroughly in 30-45 minutes if you plan your route.
• Take the time to study the pediment and lintel carvings and walk the outer gallery-these architectural details are easy to miss if you only pause for photos at the central sanctuary.

Banteay Samré was commissioned by Suryavarman II, the king who also built Angkor Wat, and shares its early 12th-century Angkor Wat style. Unlike any other Angkor-era temple, it takes the form of a small citadel: a modest sanctuary ringed by a towering enclosure wall that once surrounded an interior “moat” and is covered with fine bas-relief carvings.

The Citadel of the Samre. The temple’s name - “the Citadel of the Samre” - comes from a legend about a gardener of the Samre, an ethnic minority from the Kulen Mountain area, who grew sweet cucumbers cherished by the king. Ordered to kill anyone entering the garden, the gardener one night mistakenly slew the king himself. With no heir arranged, the royal elephant charged with choosing the next ruler knelt before the gardener; lacking the support of the aristocracy, the new Samre king sheltered in his walled citadel until he had eliminated his rivals and could reign in peace.

A fortress in form. Whether or not the legend holds any truth, the temple’s citadel character is written into its architecture. It is enclosed by a laterite wall roughly six metres high - far taller than any other temple of its modest size - pierced only by gopuras at the four cardinal points, and set apart further by its now-dry interior moat.