Phanom Rung (extinct volcano), Buriram · 14.5319°, 102.9410°
A Shaiva temple-mountain on the rim of an extinct volcano in Thailand's Khmer corridor, aligned so that at four moments a year the rising or setting sun pierces all fifteen doorways in a single shaft. The repatriation of its stolen Phra Narai (reclining Vishnu) lintel from the Art Institute of Chicago in 1988 became a national cause célèbre and a landmark of heritage return.
The sanctuary maps Shiva's Kailasa onto the volcano: the processional way crosses naga bridges — the passage from the human world across the cosmic ocean — before the mountain-summit sanctum where the hermit-prince Narendraditya retired as an ascetic.
coordinates: wikipedia-2026-08-26 · sources retrieved 2026-08-26 · dynasty page: Khmer (Angkor)