Category:Neak Ta

Neak Ta, or spirit shrines are frequently seen throughout Cambodia, Laos and Thailand (Thai - cea ti). (Strictly speaking, the neak ta is the spirit to which offerings are made but the shrines themselves are colloquially known in Khmer as neak ta.) This animist belief is pre-Buddhist and pre-Hindu and holds that spirits, residing in certain inanimate objects or sites, require regular offerings as appeasement. This could be a tree, cave, rock, stream, pond for example or equally a temple yard, field, or, on occasions a temple ruin. (The daily offerings made at spirit houses in homes, restaurants, offices etc, is a similar principle.)

These shrines contain collections of miscellaneous items; candles, incense bowls, figurines, small items of a religious nature etc however on occasions fragments of stone carvings and found items of a historic nature and these are the neak ta we're specifically concerned with, at Beyond Angkor.

If a neak ta shrine has been constructed on an obvious historic 'tuol', we have simply categorised them as a 'small' or 'medium' tuol, rather than as a neak ta.

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  A neak ta at Wat Khone Tai, South Laos, with wooden spirit figure and inscription

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  Carved spirit image on Phnom Kulen

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  Collection of random items, including a fragment of lintel, at Prasat Kuk Roka