Main Tower; Prasat Bakong

The shift of the capital ot Hariharālaya (nowadays Rolous) was taken place during the reign of Jayavarman II. Thereafter, King Indravarman I constructed Prasat Bakong, the stepped-pyramidal temple for dedicating to himself as the incarnation of Śiva. This temple is one of the first complete stepped pyramidal temple in Khmer art and this temple becomes the prototype for several later temples.

While the subsidiary temples are made of brick, the main tower is surprisingly constructed of sandstone and decorated with the later-period Angkor Wat-styled motif. This differs from the normal date of Prasat Bakong which is assigned to Prah Ko style. Possibly, the main tower was constructed later during the period of Angkor Wat for replacing the original brick temple which is possible to be dilapidated during that period. The characters of Angkor Wat style of temple are the redent body and the decoration of Apsara (female deities) at the corner of the temple as well as the decoration of the antefixes at the superstructure.