Prasat Pre Rup ( Pre Rup Temple )

Pre Rup was built during the reign of King Rajendravarman and served as the state temple of his capital. Rajendravarman (r. 944-68) was responsible for returning the capital to Angkor following the power struggle that erupted after the death of Jayavarman IV, who ruled at Koh Ker. Initially, Jayavarman's son Harshavarman II took power but Rajendravarman succeeded him several years later after his death. The site of Pre Rup was located at the south side of the East Baray, which was already in existence in Rajendravarman's era. The temple may have been founded on the site of a Shivaite ashrama, one of four ashramas built by king Yasovarman I in the previous century.
As the center of the capital, Pre Rup was likely surrounded by a wall in the manner of Angkor Thom several centuries later, though no traces of the wall survive today. Within the temple proper, the outer 'walls' are actually a series of eight long galleries (two on each side) with gaps in between. Pre Rup was the last of the temples at Angkor with this feature, as all succeeding temples employed continuous galleries forming unbroken corridors around the perimeter.