Srah Srang ស្រះស្រង់ – Royal Bath – is a special type of “Baray” (artificial water reservoir) at Angkor, located in the south of the East Baray and in the east of Banteay Kdei on the same horizontal line.
Srah Srang measures 700m by 350m and is still partially flooded. It is a famous place for Cambodians to go for a swim.
A Srah is not stored
A Srah is meant to be a tank for ritual washing and unlike Barays that store wate between two dams, it is dug out. Srah Srang was dug out in the middle of the 10th century by an initiative of Kavindrarimathana who was a Buddhist minister of Rajendravarman II. Later on, it was rebuilt by King Jayavarman VII around the year 1200. A carving says, that Srah Srang was for the public good and for all creatures except elephants.
So the meaning “Royal Bath” does not reflect the original function of this construction.