The spiritual power of dance in Cambodia has been valued since pre-Angkorian times, and the plentiful images of dance and music in the bas-reliefs of the great monuments of Angkor suggest that this tradition was markedly enhanced in the reign of Jayavarman VII, as a contemporary Chinese report attests. This article explores the ‘halls with dancers’ of the Ta Prohm, Preah Khan and Bayon temples built by king Jayavarman VII and concludes that here dance became a determinant in some Khmer sacred architecture.

This article is based on a paper presented at the ‘Religious Studies in Cambodia: Understanding the old and tracing the new’ conference, Siem Reap, June 2012. I owe special thanks to Olivier Cunin for his inspiring work; for sharing his breadth of knowledge of the Bayon-style monuments of Angkor and graciously providing me all the drawings of Jayavarman VII's temples. I appreciate the critique of my draft by Adam Hardy, Peter Sharrock and Hiram Woodward. Many thanks to Adam Hardy for the architectural plans of the Indian temples. All the photographs used in this article are mine unless otherwise mentioned. The research for this article is indebted to the team of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) who are restoring the ‘hall with dancers’ at Ta Prohm.