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Criterion ii: "The archaeological site of Koh Ker exhibits in an exceptional way the interchange of human values that resulted in the Koh Ker Style, a sculptural expression featuring bold, expressive imagery and a dynamic sense of movement that resulted from the fusion of Indian religious and artistic symbolism with local design concepts and artistic craftsmanship." (OUV) – "ICOMOS considers (...) that the Koh Ker Style is the product of the fusion of Indian religious symbolism with Indigenous cultural values and traditions." (Ab Ev)

"Prasat Ruom is a square terrace of twenty-one brick towers" (AB ev) – "Amongst monuments currently listed within the Nominated Property, 6 are built in sandstone, 22 in brick and 23 in laterite." – "Brick was the most common material used for smaller temples, except Prasat Kraham." (Nomination file, p. 39, 44)

"Dedicated to Lord Vishnu, Prasat Chen comprises three laterite sanctuaries that are square in plan and face east." – "There are fourteen laterite platforms, which are thought to be the foundations for wooden sanctuaries." (AB Ev) – "(...) in Koh Ker, laterite blocks were also used for as primary material for temple construction" – "Amongst monuments currently listed within the Nominated Property, 6 are built in sandstone, 22 in brick and 23 in laterite." – "Laterite is the second largest material being utilised for temple construction, as well as for foundations and embankments of the dyke, reservoir and the Rahal." (Nomination file, p. 38, 39, 74)

"Prasat Sralau (...) from the 13th century C.E. is included [in the main central temple complex of Prasat Thom] as it replaced an existing temple on the site which functioned as the linga temple no. 5, and is made reusing the stones from that temple." (Nomination file, p. 45)

"The layout of the city is presented in the nomination dossier as being based on the shape of the sacred Padmaka or Shiva Shakti mandala, a concept of city plans from the Vastu Shastra, a collection of treatises of ancient Hindu architecture and town planning, though there are no known contemporary records or inscriptions to confirm the original planning methodology." (AB Ev) – "Koh Ker was conceived and developed in a single phase under the grand vision of Jayavarman IV. It is clear that his city plan was inspired from the concept of city plans of Vastu Shastra, a treatise of ancient Indian Hindu architecture and town planning." (Nomination file, p. 30)

"Some sculptures were looted in the past, particularly during the civil war period between 1967 and 1975." (AB Ev)

"With Prasat Thom dedicated to Shiva, Prasat Chen dedicated to Vishnu and Prasat Banteay Pir Choan dedicated to Brahma, the symbolic Hindu Trinity lies on a triangular formation and was positioned as an attempt to assert divinity to the kingship by Jayavarman IV." (Nomination file, p. 36)

Prasat Neang Khmau: "(...) many years ago a powerful king Preah Bat Sorya Teyong lived at the Chiso mountain. One day his daughter Neang Khmao, went to Tonle Protron and met a handsome man, Bandit Srey, who instantly fell in love with her and who used magic to make her fall in love with him. When the king heard about this he ordered his daughter be exiled and he built two temples for her to live in. Whilst in exile she fell in love with a monk who subsequently fell in love with her and gave up being a monk to live with the princess in the temple since which it has been known as Neang Khmao Temple." (Wikipedia)

"Dedicated to Lord Vishnu, Prasat Chen comprises three laterite sanctuaries that are square in plan and face east. Prasat Banteay Pir Choan, Prasat Chen, and Prasat Thom together represent the Hindu Trimurti (Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva)." (AB Ev) – "Prasat Chen (...) was built by Jayavarman IV between 921-928 C.E. and is dedicated to Lord Vishnu." (Nomination file, p. 54)

"Prasat Prang is a thirty-eight-metre-high stepped pyramid constructed as the Koh Ker version of Mount Meru and Kailash, the earthly abode of Lord Shiva." – Criterion iv "is justified by the State Party on the grounds that Koh Ker is an outstanding example of an urban ensemble of a preconceived layout of the sacred symbolic mandala representing the Shiva cult (...)." (AB Ev) – "The capital of Koh Ker, when established, was unparalleled in the entire Southeast Asia, as also its pyramidal temple, as a regional centre of Shiva Worship." – Jayavarman IV's "bid to establish Koh Ker as the centre of Shiva devotion and the Hindu cosmos is manifested in the distinct sacred urban design, monumental structures and infrastructure". (Nomination file, p. vii) – "(...) the city was also not explicitly named after [Jayavarman IV] but was rather called 'Lingapura, the city of Lingas, the abode of Shiva'." (Nomination file, p. 87)

"In nine of 76 temples in Koh Ker, 73 inscriptions have been found. Notably, these inscriptions are scripted on the walls, columns, and doorframes of temples in old Khmer and Sanskrit. This is highly unusual considering that until that time most royal inscriptions were only in the official Sanskrit language, itself considered sacred in Indian tradition." - "Jayavarman IV (...) broke from tradition and made old Khmer in inscriptions together with Sanskrit." (Nomination file, p. 67, 108)

"In nine of 76 temples in Koh Ker, 73 inscriptions have been found. Notably, these inscriptions are scripted on the walls, columns, and doorframes of temples in old Khmer and Sanskrit. This is highly unusual considering that until that time most royal inscriptions were only in the official Sanskrit language, itself considered sacred in Indian tradition. Another distinctive aspect of inscriptions of Koh Ker was that they were written in a large script compared to other Khmer inscriptions in pre-Angkor and Angkor periods." (Nomination file, p. 67)

"The water management system at Koh Ker is a combination of a highland system of damming river valleys and a lowland system of reservoirs, channels, and bunded fields. This amalgamation of techniques is unique to the Khmer history. The hydraulic structures of this water management system can be classified into two broad categories: artificial ponds, and embankments." (AB Ev), "Dykes are located primarily at the high contours of the surrounding hills. They were built to prevent the city from flooding, and at the same time to guide water flow to feed city ponds and reservoirs."

"In accordance with Cambodian tradition, ancient temples are given the names of individual Neak Ta (powerful ancestral spirits). The residents of settlements near Koh Ker have a significant Neak Ta Moeung the main spirit that protects the village, its wooden shrine is located in the north-west corner of Prasat Thom, and is worshipped in an annual festival. Both these celebrations known as "Leung Memot" in Khmer are held in February or March, in accordance with the Khmer Lunar calendar (Phin 2011)." (Nomination file, p. 29)

"Three sandstone quarries have been found from where the grey to yellowish-brown sandstone blocks used in Koh Ker's monuments likely originate." (AB Ev)

The inscriptions at Koh Ker "record the donations of the king and dignitaries, the erection of the temples for the gods, lists of slaves and the names of the Srok or districts. The inscriptions also mentioned people arriving from remote areas to work in the new capital, as well as lists of royalty and slaves by village of origin." (Nomination file, p. 67)

"Dykes are located primarily at the high contours of the surrounding hills. They were built to prevent the city from flooding (...)." – "Embankments are essential during the wet season to prevent the city from flooding, and to collect water for living during the dry season." – "(...) a sophisticated hydraulic system was constructed to transform the often-flooded area into habitable land." (AB Ev)

"The wall paintings of Prasat Thom and the fragments of paintings were housed in a protective shelter under a temporary shed of thatch in Prasat Thom, to prevent any water ingress during rains (...)." (Nomination file, p. 173)

"The main axis of Prasat Thom and several other associated temples is quite precisely oriented to the rising sun on the day of Khmer New Year, which for Koh Ker falls on 13th April, the only fixed date in the Khmer lunar calendar. His explicit connection of the axis of the entire city along with its state temple with the rising sun on the days of its zenith passage is indeed a remarkable planning and design feature of Koh Ker." (Nomination file, p. 105)

"In Hindu mythology, (...) the highest mountain is called Meru, located at the centre of the universe, which is surrounded by the Sea of Milk, from which ambrosia was churned. In Indian temple tradition, the spires represented Mount Meru, and the associated water tank or river represented the sea. However, in Cambodia, the cosmological conception of the sea of milk around Meru is represented by a moat, like at Prasat Thom in Koh Ker." (Nomination file, p. 39) – Prasat Ruom, part of the Prasat Thom complex, is "surrounded by a large moat". (Nomination file, p. 51)

"Prasat Ruom is a square terrace of twenty-one brick towers and two libraries with rich statues and a strip of wall painting, surrounded by a large moat and accessed by causeways along the central axis." (AB Ev) – Prasat Thom has "21 towers and 2 libraries for scriptures". (Nomination file, p. 46)

"The LiDAR survey revealed a complete spatial layout of the site, forming a rectangular formation linking the main features within the complex, including the Rahal, embankments and temples, and with Prasat Thom located at its precise centre." – "The above ground remains have been listed and identified in the site surveys, while buried remains have been identified through surveys, excavations, Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) and LiDAR." – "Some underground elements have been discovered through LiDAR survey, contributing towards a better understanding of the site's overall water system." (Nomination file, p. 32, 69, 164)

"a largely unexcavated archaeological site" (Nomination file, p. viii) – "Recent LiDAR surveys conducted in 2012 have additionally uncovered many more areas of potential archaeology and structures, most of which are in their original form, location and setting. It also suggests that the site has a much larger extent than was previously believed." (Nomination file, p. 96)

"Koh Ker was rediscovered in 1873 by French researcher Louis Delaporte." (AB Ev) – "Knowledge of the existence of Koh Ker (...) came to light in the late 19th century C.E. French adventurers ranging the forests around the site of Koh Ker while hunting game brought word of the structures in the area back to France. Louis Delaporte was the first researcher of the modern era to visit Koh Ker in 1873." (Nomination file, p. 95)

"The orientation of the temple of Prasat Thom does not follow the classical orientation of Khmer temples, but is tilted 13° 77' to the northeast. Considering the importance of Prasat Thom as the state temple of Koh Ker, its orientation contributes to the symbolic, functional, religious and astronomical aspects of city planning. This sacred geometry is also remarkable for its elegance and precision and for its alignment with the solstices and other important naturalistic calendars. This orientation on latitude 13° 44' allows a zenith passage by the Sun on 13th April, is celebrated as the Khmer New Year (Gupta 2020). This integration of the astronomical phenomena with sacred geography reflected in the city planning was the first in Khmer history." (Nomination file, p. 34)

"Archaeological remains have been inventoried and documented, and the excavated sites have been backfilled to protect the historic fabric from further damage." (AB Ev)