I went to see a temple nine miles east of Korat, called Penom-Wat. It is very remarkable, although much inferior in grandeur and beauty to those of Ongcor. The second governor lent me a pony and guide, and, after crossing extensive rice plantations, under a vertical and fiery sun, we reached the spot to which my curiosity had attracted me, and which, like an oasis, could be recognised a long way off by the freshness of its cocoa-trees and its rich verdure. I did not arrive there, however, without having taken an involuntary bath. In crossing the Tekon, which is nearly four feet deep, I, in order to escape a wetting, tried to imitate Franconi, by standing on my saddle; but, unluckily, according to the custom of the country, this was fastened on by two pieces of string, and in the middle of the stream it turned and sent me head foremost into the water. But there was no worse result from the accident than my having to remain for half an hour afterwards dressed in Siamese fashion.
Drawn by M. Catenacci, from a Sketch by M. Mouhot.
RUINS AT PAN BRANG, CHAIAPUME.
Penom-Wat is an interesting temple 36 metres long by 40 wide, and the plan resembles a cross with tolerable exactness. It is composed of two pavilions, with vaulted stone roofs and elegant porticoes. The roofs are from seven to eight metres in height, the gallery three metres wide in the interior, and the walls a metre thick. At each façade of the gallery are two windows with twisted bars.
This temple is built of red and grey sandstone, coarse in the grain, and in some places beginning to decay. On one of the doors is a long inscription, and above are sculptures representing nearly the same subjects as those at Ongcor and Bassette.
In one of the pavilions are several Buddhist idols in stone, the largest of which is 2 metres 50 centimetres high, and actually covered with rags.
You might here easily imagine yourself among the ruins of Ongcor. There is the same style of architecture, the same taste displayed, the same immense blocks polished like marble, and so beautifully fitted together, that I can only compare it to the joining and planing of so many planks.
The whole building is, without doubt, the work of the Khmerdôm, and not an imitation, and must be as old as the illustrious reigns which have left the traces of their grandeur in different parts of the empire. The exterior is not equal to the interior. Penom was the temple of the Queen, so say the Siamese; that of the King, her husband, is at Pimaïe, a district about 30 miles east of Korat.