The Oum Muong ruins are a short walk through the jungle and rain forest from a small village on the east bank of the Mekong River, Huei Thamo.

Named for the stream running behind the ruins, Oum Muong is a small temple built in the 9th century in dedication of Rudani, a consort of Shiva.
The most predominant feature of the ruins is the unusual lingam with four faces at the tip. This rare piece is right now (oct 08) back to the museum for cleaning, it will be back soon.

A wall of laterite blocks, once three metres high, surrounds the temple. Beyond this wall is the first, and best-preserved, entrance pavilion (gopura), built of laterite with sandstone door and window frames.

Other stone pieces lay scattered amongst the trees, including a boundary stone, a lintel depicting the god Indra and some naga buttresses. The naga is a many headed serpent inhabitant of the underworld, common in many stories of both Hindu and Buddhist cosmologies. At the centre of the enclosure are three east-facing towers, in brick.

 

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