There's more to Krol Ko

The sign announces Krol Ko, situated 100 metres from the main road

This pediment represents Krishna lifting Mount Govardhana with one hand to protect the grateful farmers and animals shown on the lower registers from the wrath of Indra

For what is regarded as an unimportant temple by most visitors hence one of its attractions being its solitude, the Jayavarman VII-built temple of Krol Ko has a surprising wealth of interesting iconography, including its half dozen Lokeshvaras, which I covered in an earlier post. In addition, it hosts two more interesting pediments in the form of Krishna lifting Mount Govardhana and a dancing version of Shiva, together with a number of defaced lintels still in situ and numerous devata (female deities) in niches on the sanctuary walls. It's located close to the temple of Neak Pean and is well worth a look next time you are in that area.

The gorgeous dancing figure is Shiva as Nataraja, king of the dance and he is supported by none other than Brahma and Vishnu and a series of worshippers

This fragment of a tower pediment shows Buddha in meditation

This devata has suffered at the hands of temple thieves in recent times

A fragment of a pediment showing the face of Lokeshvara alongside a flying apsara

This is the best quality lintel on display at Krol Ko and features a defaced central character above a grinning kala flanked by two upright dancing lions