Dharmashala

Preah Khan, Angkor

This roadside building, one of over a hundred which Jayavarman VII built throughout the empire, is a rest-house for Buddhist pilgrims. It is found inside the city walls, along the road that leads to the temple.

The WMF team has stabilized the building, but deliberately left it in a semi-ruined state, in keeping with their restoration philosophy.

"Dharma" means the Buddhist law, and "shala" means "rest-house," hence the traditional name dharmashala for this type of building. However, due to a pronunciation shift, the nonsensical spelling dharamshala (sic) is more often used in modern times.