Phanom Rung has a recommendation for
sophisticated stoneworks who consist of sandstone and
laterite. There is for instance a war elephant to see which
is trampling down an enemy (war scenes in temples are
always remarkable). The elephant might represent one of
the earliest artworks of the Angkorean civilization.
Most of the other depictions show hindu gods as Vishnu
and Shiva, the destroyer of ignorance and illusion, practicing
asceticism. The site symbolizes Shiva's home mount Kailas
(in Tibet, close to the Indian and the Nepalese borders),
which is considered a sacret mountain in Hinduism, Buddhism
and Jainism. The eleven inscriptions in Phanom Rung
therefore describe a regional organization of Angkor.