Neak Pean is a tiny temple built during the reign of King Jayavarman VII, an energetic king who ruled in the late 12th century (for biographical details, see the Preah Khan page). The King ordered the construction of a vast baray (reservoir) east of Preah Khan temple possibly to provide water to its hundred-thousand support workers. Stretching a half kilometer by 900 meters, the artificial lake (known as the Jayatataka) stored millions of cubic meters of water to irrigate the rice fields during the dry season. Neak Pean sits at the center of the reservoir. It once consisted of a square pond, measuring 70 meters to a side, surrounded by four smaller ponds, which were in turn surrounded by eight other ponds. At the very center of the complex was a small island, shown in the photo above, with a single tower made of sandstone. Neak Pean probably represents Anavatapta, a mythical lake in the Himalayas whose waters are thought to cure all illness. Descriptions of Anavatapta include references to four springs spewing from the mouths of a lion, an elephant, a horse, and an ox. This closely corresponds to Neak Pean its central pond drains into the four surrounding ponds through gargoyles shaped like a lion, an elephant, a horse, and a man respectively. If the theory is correct, it is uncertain why one of the gargoyles was fashioned as a man and not an ox.

Access to the central chamber of Neak Pean is via a footbridge on the east side. In the middle of the footbridge is a stone horse called Balaha who was one of the incarnations of the Bodhisattava Lokesvara, who helped sailors escape from an island held by an ogress. Lokesvara also appears on the central sanctuary. The four sides of the sanctuary were originally open but at some point the north, south, and west sides were bricked up with carvings featuring Lokesvara. The numerous depictions of Lokesvara, who was known for compassion, is in keeping with the possible utilitarian aspect of Neak Pean-absent an understanding of the nature of disease, the ancient Khmers may have believed that bathing in its successive pools would have restored balance within the body and cured illness, or at least washed away sin. Neak Pean is one of several sites described by Zhou Daguan, the 13th century Chinese emissary who visited Angkor in its heyday. However, Zhou's description of the statuary does not fully correspond to what we see today, suggesting that either Neak Pean was remodeled or Zhou misremembered. He wrote: "In the middle of the [Jayatataka Baray] is a gold tower, square in shape, with several dozen stone chambers. A gold lion, a gold Buddha, a bronze cow, and a bronze horse- these are all there" [translation by Peter Harris].