Ancient and modern Neak Ta

Nice combination: small Neak Ta figure and ancient sandstone pedestal at Wat Chum

This fragment of lintel at Wat Chum is inside a small shrine next to the vihara

Whilst the painted Neak Ta figures are extremely interesting and often quite amusing, you can also find ancient carvings and statues included inside or near to the Neak Ta spirit houses that are found in the grounds of a pagoda or in a village. Essentially, the shrines or huts of Neak Ta literally contain anything, natural or man-made. The objects represent the land, water and spirit elements and mostly house a variety of figures or as we can see here, ancient artifacts. These photos were taken on my visit to eight pagodas west of Phnom Penh on Sunday afternoon. I was drawn to them by dots on the Kandal province Ministry of Culture/EFEO maps that I bought recently at Carnets d'Asie. These are a fantastic addition to my temple-hunting excursions and I recommend you buy the whole series and get on your bike and discover these sites for yourself. As I've said before, take a moment to look in these shrines on your own travels and see what treasures you can find - but never ever disturb the contents or you may face the wrath of the all-powerful Neak Ta spirits.

This sandstone pedestal is incorporated into this Neak Ta shrine at Wat Chhouk Va

A more modern Neak Ta at Wat Arun Vatei

A busy Neak Ta spirit house at Wat Kok Banhchan, on the outskirts of Phnom Penh