(best seen in original size)

Phnom Bakheng was the first significant temple built at Yasodharapura,
the city which came be known as Angkor. It was constructed in the
late 9th, early tenth centuries as the state temple of
King Yasovarman I, who moved the capital here from Roluos,
about 13 kilometers to the southeast. The site was selected
because the hill upon which the temple stands towers
70 meters above the otherwise flat countryside. From here,
Yasovarman could gaze upon his capital city which covered
at least four square kilometers, bounded by earthen walls.