Thailand: Performers at the Khao Phanom Rung Festival, Prasat Hin Phanom Rung (Phanom Rung Stone Castle), Buriram Province, northeast Thailand

Phanom Rung is a Khmer temple complex set on the rim of an extinct volcano at 1,320 feet above sea level, in Buriram province in the Isaan region of Thailand. It was built in sandstone and laterite in the 10th to 13th centuries. It was a Hindu shrine dedicated to Shiva, and symbolises Mount Kailash, his heavenly dwelling.

The Phanom Rung Festival takes place annually in the month of April, this coincides with the April solar alignment. Four times a year the sun shines through all the sanctuary's 15 doors, at sunrise in April and September and at sunset in March and October.

Copyright:

CPA Media Co. Ltd.

Photographer:

Joe Cummings

Credit:

Pictures From Asia

Theme:

KHMER TEMPLES OF ISAN