Category:Wat

Buddhist temples listed in this category may or may not be of historic interest in their own right, however, we're including the numerous sites where sculptures, carvings or just fragments have been deposited at a temple for safe-keeping. The objects are sometimes simply lying around the temple compound, occasionally presented in the form of exhibits or frequently, in the case of smaller rural temples, housed in a neak ta shrine. In this case, the site is listed in our wat category.

Any subjective modern Wat's that may have been listed on other databases, that do not have any visible historic objects or foundations, may have been omitted from BA's listing, though we may still list some of them for discussion and exploration.

A second, sub-category, includes Buddhist wats that incorporate older elements (Phnom Penh's Wat Ounalom being a fine example) or were clearly constructed over the top of ancient foundations. (For example Wat Mohar near Sambor Prei Kuk.) In these circumstances where clear evidence of a historic structure can be seen or there are historical records stating so, these particular sites have also been categorised as Small/Medium - Tuol/Ruin/Prasat, depending on condition and size.

Finally, many sites in Laos and Thailand in particular, that were constructed as early Hindu or Mahayana Buddhist temples, are today referred to as wats, even if they have not been consecrated as such with Wat Phu being a prime example. For simplicity's sake, we've kept to the common, colloquial name for such sites rather than using the Khmer description, Prasat.

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  Ancient sema stone lying discarded in a corner of Wat Botom, Phnom Penh

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  Wat Mohar, constructed over the laterite foundation of an older temple

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  An ancient sandstone prasat incorporated into Phnom Penh's Wat Ounalom

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  Wat Phu, Laos

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  Wat Chom Cheun, Chaliang, Thailand. A 14th-century temple built over the foundations of a Jayavarman VII site