Prasat courtyard and Cloister arch door

The outside of cloister in the north, south, and west were surrounded by the bare courtyard, 10 meters apart from the northern and southern cloister, and 20 meters apart from the western one. It looks like the laterite walkway, 3.10 meters wide surrounding the courtyard. This walkway slanted a corner to the east side and converge with the walkway to Prasat which is the minor entrances in both side.

It is believed that the surrounding walkway may be the balcony that outer surrounded or the outer balcony. According to the trails of pillar holes that periodically appeared on the both edge of walkway and the discovering of many earthenware in that area, it can be assumed that the outer balcony may be balcony hall that supported the wood roof with tile by pillar without the wall forming. In the middle of the outer cloister in the west side closely to the middle of the north and south raised floor as a cross-sign which possible to be Gopura base or each side arch door same as the one in east side as well as the Phlab Phla hall with tiled as same.

Before reaching to the inner Main Prasat, there is a cloister as enclosing wall. It is a long room that continues as rectangle with covering roof and periodic partition wall, cannot walk through to the other side. The eastern and western cloister were constructed of sandstone with the cross-sign layout, size at 2.6 meters wide, 59 meters length. The roof was tiled with sandstone and overlapped as a boat hood latching a pattern imitated the earthenware roof. The angle ridge decorated with sandstone Bralee. The southern cloister was constructed of sandstone and has not completed. In the north side, it is the laterite cloister with sandstone, such as lintel, gable, door frame, etc. It can be assumed that the northern cloister may be the wood building with tiling because found a lot of earthenware scraps during the reconstruction.

In the middle of the four side cloisters, there are door arch (Gopura) at all directions. The eastern, southern, and western door arches consist of three doors as a middle door and two flanked doors on each side. The northern one has an only door. At the corner which is the convergent point of the cloister created as a small cross-sign arch that can be seen in three corners except the northwest corner. These corner arches were carved the front wall that facing out in two sides as fake doors which imitated the two wood doors with Aok Lao in the middle. At the gable outside of the eastern Gopura arch, there is the engraved picture of “Yogi Dakshinamurti” meant to the attitude of Shiva who cure an illness and also Narentharathitta, the creator of Prasat Phanom Rung by interpreting from the stone inscription found at Prasat Phanom Rung that compared Narentharathitta equivalent to Shiva. This engraved picture is a figure of hermit sitting in Lalita Sana posture likes sit with right leg hanging, the left shin is bend and fold, the right hand hold Aksha Mala at his breast, and put the left hand on his lap. He sit among many figures of ladies that all of the empress, it may be correspond to the inscription which mentioned to the lady who followed from Phra Nakhon to Phanom Rung. In addition, at the bottom of this picture has a portrait of human lies down on the floor with the ladies to support, it may be correspond to the inscription that mentioned to Narentharathitta cure who was bitten by a snake by incantation. Therefore, this engraved picture may be meant to Narentharathitta which equivalent to Shiva in Yogi Dakshinamurti attitude.