Prasat Mueang Thi, City District, Surin Province

Prasat Mueang Thi is a Khmer style sanctuary featuring a group of mortared brick pagodas on the same base. Originally there were five pagodas but only the three remain. The sanctuary was modified at the same time as the nearby Si Khoraphum sanctuary. The layout is square with indented corners. The middle pagoda is the largest with access by stairways on all four sides but the apex of the three-tiered roof is missing. The style is popular in ancient Khmer sanctuaries originating from the beliefs of Brahminism. The middle pagoda symbolizes Mount Meru (a mythical mountain at the centre of the universe and home of the gods), surrounded by pagodas at each of the four corners. Precisely in which period the prasat was constructed is unknown but it seems to have been modified with Laotian influence.