Bat Chum

{{Infobox Buddhist temple | name = Bat Chum | religious_affiliation = Buddhism | image = Bat Chum 2020 - 13.jpg | image_upright = | alt = | caption = | map_type = Cambodia | coordinates = {{coord|13|25|29|N|103|54|27|E|type:landmark|display=inline, title}} | map_caption = Location in Cambodia | other_names = | sanskrit_translit = | country = Cambodia | province = Siem Reap | district = | locale = Angkor | deity = Buddha | festivals = | architecture = Khmer (Pre Rup style) | architect = Kavindrarimathana | temple_quantity = 3 towers | monument_quantity = | inscriptions = 3 (1 in each 3 towers) | year_completed = Mid 10th century AD | creator = Rajendravarman }} '''Bat Chum''' ({{langx|km|ប្រាសាទបាទជុំ}}) is a Buddhist temple built by Kavindrarimathana, a learned Buddhist minister of Khmer king Rajendravarman,<ref name=Coedes>{{cite book|last= Coedès|first= George|authorlink= George Coedès|editor= Walter F. Vella|others= trans.Susan Brown Cowing|title= The Indianized States of Southeast Asia|year= 1968|publisher= University of Hawaii Press|isbn= 978-0-8248-0368-1 |page=116}}</ref> at the middle of the 10th century. It is about {{convert|400|m|-2|sp=us}} south of Srah Srang, at Angkor, Cambodia.

It consists of three inline brick towers (in poor conditions at present), standing on the same platform, surrounded by an enclosure and a moat, with a single gopura to the east.

On the doorjambs there are Buddhist inscriptions that mention Kavindrarimathana, the "architect" (or official in charge for construction) who built Srah Srang, East Mebon, and maybe planned the temple-mountain of Pre Rup.<ref>Freeman and Jacques, 2006, p.158</ref> The latter was dedicated in 960 AD, shortly before death of the architect. There were houses and a Buddhist monastery near the temple, but these wooden structures have been gone for a long time.<ref>''Ancient Angkor'' guide book, by Michael Freeman and Claude Jacques, published in 2003.</ref>

During the excavations in 1952, in the northern and central towers, flagstones showing a yantra were found, which George Coedès was able to reconstitute and with extreme difficulty link to the Buddhist divinities mentioned on doorjambs.<ref>Dumarçay ''et al.'', 2001, pp.18-19</ref>

In every tower there is a different inscription signed by three different persons. The last verse of each of the three refers to the elephants as "dyke breakers".<ref>Freeman and Jacques, 2006, p.155</ref>

==Footnotes== <references/>

==References== *{{cite book |last1= Dumarçay |first1= Jacques |last2= Royère |first2= Pascal |last3= Smithies |first3= Michael |last4= Kähler |first4= Hans |last5= Arps |first5= Ben |last6= Spuler |first6= Bertold |last7= Altenmüller |first7= Hartwig |title= Cambodian Architecture, Eight to Thirteenth Century |year= 2001 |publisher= Brill |isbn= 90-04-11346-0 |ref=Dumarç2001}}

*{{cite book |last1= Freeman |first1= Michael |last2= Jacques |first2= Claude |title= Ancient Angkor |year= 2006 |publisher= River Books |isbn= 974-8225-27-5 |ref= FreJac2006 |url-access= registration |url= https://archive.org/details/ancientangkor00free }}

==External links== *{{Commons category-inline|Bat Chum}} {{Angkorian sites}}

Category:Angkorian sites in Siem Reap province Category:Buddhist temples in Siem Reap province Category:10th-century Buddhist temples Category:Former Hindu temples in Cambodia