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TERRACE OF THE LEPER KING

The Terrace of the Leper King (or
Leper King Terrace) is located in the northwest corner of the Royal Square
of Angkor Thom. It was built in the Bayon style under Jayavarman VII, though its modern name derives from a 15th
Century sculpture discovered at the site. The statue depicts the Hindu god Yama, the god of Death. He was called the Leper
King because discoloration and moss growing on the original statue was reminiscent of a person with leprosy, and also because
it fit in with a Cambodian legend of an Angkorian king who had leprosy. The name that the Cambodians know him by, however,
is Dharmaraja, as this is what was etched at the bottom of the original statue.
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