Across the main road from Tayok, this complex of three interconnected shrines (the name means Three Stupas) is worth seeing for its 13th-century murals close up. It was abandoned shortly before its construction was complete. Each square cubicle is topped by a fat sikhara; a similar structure appears only at Salay. The design is remarkably like Khmer Buddhist ruins in Thailand.
Enter through the middle shrine. To the right (south) are scratched-up, whitewashed walls. The other two shrines (particularly the northernmost one) are home to lovely, vaguely Chinese- or Tibetan-looking mural paintings that contain Bodhisattva figures. Whether these indicate possible Mahayana or Tantric influence is a hotly debated issue among art historians. Some drawings are rather crudely touched up.
The three-shrine design hints at links with the Hindu Trimurti (triad) of Vishnu, Shiva and Brahma, a triumvirate also associated with Tantric Buddhism. You might also say it represents the Triple Gems of Buddhism (buddha, dhamma and sangha), except that such a design is uncommon in Asian Buddhist architecture, although it does appear in the Hindu shrines of India and Nepal.
