The colorful flowered approach at Prasat Sikhoraphum today is almost certainly not as the Khmer originally intended it—but I couldn't resist taking this shot of the view.

Dating from the 12th century, Prasat Sikhoraphum was built on a raised, rectangular, laterite platform and laid out in the form of a quincunx: one tower at each of the corners and the main tower in the center—a common plan for Khmer sanctuaries in Cambodia but one not found elsewhere in Thailand.

Created as a Hindu place of worship, Sikhoraphum was later adapted for use as a Mahayana Buddhist temple, with the tops of its brick and sandstone towers surmounted by the lotus-bud shape favored by the later religion. Only one of those lotus-bud finials remains in place today, seen on the tower just to the left of the central tower here. Others are now displayed on the temple grounds.

Portions of the five towers are visible here; three have lost their superstructures altogether.

With Khmer society hierarchically structured under a god-king, the central sanctuaries of their temples were entered only by the priests and by royalty—possibly by local officials or donors in outlying provinces. Accordingly, the holy space containing the image representing the honored deity was quite small.

On either side of the door to the sacred space that held the image of the deity to whom Sikhoraphum was dedicated stand a male guardian, or dvarapala, and a female apsaras, a kind of heavenly dancer-entertainer for the gods.

Each apsaras has a parrot by her shoulder and is holding a lotus in her hand. The pose, though somewhat static, suggests movement with the tilt of the head, gentle sway of the hips, and graceful gesturing of the arms and hands.

The style is Cambodian, including the anatomically-challenging sideways positioning of the feet. In fact, such apsarases appear in profusion at Angkor Wat and other Cambodian temples of the period, but Sikhoraphum is one of only two where they are found in Thailand.

The richly carved lintel over the opening to the sacred space of the central tower features Shiva dancing on a small platform supported by hamsa or geese, who in turn are perched atop the head of a kala demon clasping a singh or lion in each hand. Other deities to the left and right of Shiva's feet are Uma, Vishnu, Brahma, and Ganesh, Shiva's elephant-headed son.

The columns to either side of the doorway are capped by decorative finials featuring a tiny half-bird half-human garuda. Above is a five-headed naga emerging from the mouth of a crocodile-like makara.

Dvarapala to the left of the entrance to the sacred space

Dvarapala to the right of the entrance to the sacred space

The tower at left rear is the only one with the later lotus-bud finial still in position.

View from the southwest of three of the towers. (The others are blocked from view by the tower in front here.)

Prasat Ban Phluang consists of a single sandstone tower on a laterite platform, probably dating from the late 11th century. If the tower had a superstructure, there was no evidence of one at the time of its restoration, in 1972. The T-shaped laterite platform on which it sits is wide enough to have accommodated an additional tower to either side of the existing one; but, again, there is no evidence to indicate this may have been the case or the plan.

Elaborately carved details at Ban Phluang exhibit a very high degree of skill. The god Indra appears on three of the four sides of the structure (the west side has an uncarved pediment and lintel), and information at the site suggests that the temple would have been dedicated to him. But the pediment over the entrance to the sacred space (and the Indra lintel below) depicts Krishna lifting Govardhana Mountain, an act of defiance against Indra's power—which would seem to leave the ultimate interpretation of the temple's dedication nebulous.

As at most Khmer temples, only the east side of the central tower provided an opening to the sacred space, with false doorways on the other three sides. The lintel on the south side, seen here, depicts the god Indra on Erawan, or Airavata, his traditional multi-headed elephant mount. The iconography on the pediment is largely unreadable.

Indra appears again atop Erawan (who here has only a single head) on the pediment on the north side of the tower. This somewhat unusual repetition of appearances by Indra on a single tower would seem to lend at least some credence to the idea that the sanctuary was in fact dedicated to him.

The lintel on the north side of the tower depicts Krishna doing battle with the multi-headed serpentlike naga Kaliya.

Floral carvings and a meditating yogi or rishi embellish colonettes at the sides of doorways.

According to on-site information, the tower and its platform were surrounded by a U-shaped pool, which seems to be no longer in evidence.