This massive stone sanctuary was founded as a Hindu sanctuary in the thirteenth century by the Khmer King Jayavarman VII, the ruler who built many of Angkor Wat's most famous temples and palaces. Like most of the temples at Angkor, Prang Sam Yod was originally a Hindu temple, with the three stone towers (prangs) representing the Hindu trinity of Brahma, Visnu and Siva. The Thais later converted the shrine to a Buddhist temple when the neighboring kingdom of Ayutthaya rose to power.