Prasats Suor Proat

Prasats Suor Proat literally means ‘towers of the rope walkers/dancers’, and local legend suggests that they were used during festive events at the Royal Plaza. From the vantage of the Elephant Terrace one can only imagine what spectacular events were performed here for such powerful kings. They are best appreciated from across the Royal Plaza, while standing on the Terrace of the Elephants or Terrace of the Leper King.

While standing on either the Elephant Terrace or Terrace of the Leper King, as you look across the Royal Plaza you will notice a row of tall laterite towers, identical to one another, running from north to south, six on either side of the Victory Way. Prasats Suor Proat, the “towers of the rope dancers” are so called from an unusual legend that acrobats once performed upon tight-ropes between the towers.

Twelve in all, the towers are evenly spaced, though not in a direct north-south orientation as two towers are slightly offset towards the sides of two small ponds. Although the legend of the acrobats is unsubstantiated, Chinese emissary Zhou Dugan reported that the towers were used to settle disputes, while western archaeologists and historians have suggested they were royal depositories or chambers for provincial leaders to take an oath of allegiance to the king (both theories also ascribed to the Khleangs).

As there is very little adornment on the structures, they are not worth visiting up close (unless you have a dispute to settle!), though access from nearby Vihear Prompil Loveng where the southern of the two ponds is located is a particularly scenic picnic spot.