Prasat Palilay ( Palilay Temple )

This small temple is located in a wooded area northwest of the Royal Palace. Although it was probably built in the late 13th or early 14th centuries--perhaps during the reign of Jayavarman VIII--it has several unusual features. First, and most importantly, it is the only Angkor-era temple with surviving Buddhist imagery. This is problematic as Jayavarman VIII was a notorious iconoclast who ordered the effacement of Buddhist images on all the other temples in the Angkor area. One theory (per Michael Freeman and Claude Jacques) is that it may have been built late in his reign when he became more tolerant of Buddhism.
Another usual feature is its tall, tapering central tower which is characteristic of later Angkor monuments. It may have originally been faced with another material which would make it unique, as this technique was never employed elsewhere. The tower may also have been a later addition built on top of the pre-existing base.

The layout of the temple comprises a 50-meter square laterite wall pierced by a single gopura on the east which is decorated with extensive Buddhist bas-reliefs. The central shrine is a 19-meter tall tower constructed above a three-tiered sandstone base with a total height of 6 meters. The lowest tier measures 25 meters on each side, whereas the highest is only 12 meters per side. The central chamber of the shrine is only 5 meters square with four porches facing the cardinal directions. To the east of the temple, a royal causeway measuring 33 meters extends eastward, and is topped with a cruciform terrace measuring 8.5 x 6 meters. In between the causeway and the gopura is a relatively modern Buddha figure under a wooden canopy.