Prasat Ku Santarat Temple

Hello and welcome to Forgotten Temples with myself Mr B. I have crossed through Cambodia, I have crossed through half of Thailand and I'm heading towards the border of Laos. As always seeking out those ancient temples and this is my next stop and this is what I've discovered. Now as you can see it is adorned with all these well pictures and there's kind of a reason for it because this temple which was built by Jayabhaman VII when they dug around a bit they discovered some small statues including one of Buddha. So for some reason all these pictures have been placed here but I've got to tell you something, they're really rather tacky. I just don't think they should be here, I don't think they suit this environment at all but that's just my opinion, others of course may disagree. Now this side which I say was built by Jayabhaman VII is yet another hospital. We keep bumping into them in this area and I'm starting to develop a bit of a theory about this and I'll tell you that later on but what is inside this doorway is something that's rather unique so let me show you that first. Have a look at the position of that sun, it's going down now it's late in the day that way is west and it's directly above this doorway and here if I move to the left to get out of the sun we can see those images which I don't much like here but there is something I do like and have a look somebody has put yellow carnations all throughout this wall and it's not just this wall it goes through the entire temple so keep your eyes they're dotted everywhere but there's something else and for that something else I'm gonna have to lower my voice this is terribly sweet I'm removing my microphone because I want to show you something now this has an element of danger because wild dogs are a real issue for me traveling bear in mind I've done well over 50,000 kilometers so the mother's not here at the minute so let's have a look can you see them they are all alive I assure you that one is just asleep but the mother has used this temple as a place of sanctuary for her puppies and keep in mind this is a hospital so that's kind of relevant isn't it and here is the center of it all and it is here the tale can be told as to what this hospital was all about hospitals it would be fair to say are quite forbidding places they're really places of pain and often of death but this is very different because at hospitals just like this and there was about 70 of them if I recall they were built by Jayavarman VII it was a whole new world and not just one world because we have to think of this mighty empire that forged these incredible temples they did so by trade their tentacles spread out across many nations India China and way beyond and as they traded goods they also traded information and the way I look at it is those trade routes that spiraled out from the center of the empire were like an ancient internet for down those roads and those trackways knowledge also traveled I mean for goodness sake let's have a a it is a Hindu temple they were built for Hindu gods those are very much the realm of India so we can see how powerful the influence was of those trade routes so as trade is going up and and what could be the most vital element to any person and that is knowledge about health because what could be more valuable than to know how to preserve a life or to heal somebody who was sick so although to you this may look very primitive it isn't back in its day it was quite simply magical and you can take that literally because we have two levels of care here we have the first level let's say medicine in its purest form put on some leaves and add a bit of bark or whatever and then you have the second level of care and that is what this building is all about it's all about coming to see the gods and asking for their help so we have two levels of care not just the one that you would have in the modern world and believe me to come to a place such as this which was a power base of knowledge as I say grabbed from all the four kingdoms of the empire you would have had to have gone on an incredible journey because there wasn't so many of these you could have spent days on the back of an ox cart bumping down dusty roads with a broken leg a fever malaria who knows what but when you got to here it all changed you can just imagine the relief that washed over people after all that journey and all that pain to know that at long last there was a chance that they may be cured look at that sun perfectly aligned atop of the temple like some sort of crown it's very late in the day it's been an incredibly long day i'm tired i'm worn i'm covered in dust and i could be very much like those ancient patients that came here looking for help and they would have received it without a doubt thousands would have been cured by the knowledge that was harvested from many foreign lands but here as we take these final few steps is where that second level of care would come for they would come in here and kneel before the gods and ask them for help and as i take the last step down i'm very pleased to say even now there is an ancient buddha right at the heart of it all this room you see me coming out of was an ancient library well that is what it's quoted as but i'm sure it had many functions but it's incredible to think isn't it that right here was wisdom beyond wisdom wisdom that was so precious it was almost locked away and these huge stones there is nothing gentle about this it's like one enormous safe and why wouldn't it be because as i said the knowledge that was held within this room could literally not just save a single life but let's say an epidemic a pandemic malaria broke out a waterborne disease then the answer to saving a village or a town could well have been in a room like this but there's a note of tragedy because none of it survived and i mean none of it it all disappeared so what ancient wisdom dwelled within well we will never know but i do know for a fact that they weren't stupid that's for sure and the people that came here certainly found aid and many of them had their lives saved by those scholars and those doctors that worked right here and even to this day we have a ward shall we say that's occupied because the puppies are in there as they start their life i very much hope you've enjoyed this little trip around the temple that's far away in a mystical land and if by chance you can help me build up a library of sites such as this often forgotten and sometimes neglected then i would be exceedingly grateful and how you do that is very easy it's www.patreon.com forward slash temples simple as that so until next time as always i wish you absolutely nothing but of course the very best you be sure to take good care now