The Prasat is a unique building of the Khmer civilization in Civilization VI. It is built in the Holy Site district and replaces the Temple.
- Effects:
- +4
Faith (boosted by Simultaneum Policy Card) - +1 Citizen slot
- +1 Great Prophet point per turn
- +2 Relic slots
- Allows purchasing of Apostles, Gurus, and Inquisitors (after an Apostle uses its Launch Inquisition ability) in this city.
- Food bonus equal to intrinsic Faith output with the Feed the World Religious Belief (does not increase with Simultaneum Policy)
- Culture bonus equal to intrinsic Faith output with the Choral Music Religious Belief (does not increase with Simultaneum Policy)
- +1 Housing Housing with the Religious Community Religious Belief
- Missionaries purchased in this city receive the Martyr promotion.
- +4
Strategy
The Prasat is a fine replacement for the Temple, sporting an extra 
Relic slot and conferring the Martyr promotion on every Missionary purchased in its city. This allows the Khmers to use their Missionaries as sacrificial lambs, sending them into dangerous territory to convert as many cities as possible. If they run afoul of enemy Apostles or Inquisitors, the Khmers have a new source of 
Faith and 
Tourism for the rest of the game. In this way, the Prasat can help them on their path toward a very quick Culture Victory (especially if they also build Cristo Redentor).
This building is the main vessel to victory for the Khmer, as all of their other abilities are rather weak. It makes the Khmer a paradoxical civilization to play effectively: the civilization looks like a religious one while in fact it is much more geared towards a Culture Victory, and while it has bonuses towards going tall, victory can be achieved faster if you go wide. The only two beliefs you need for your Religion are Reliquaries (triple Tourism and Faith output for Relics) and Holy Order (Missionaries and Apostles are 30% cheaper to purchase), after that there is no need to evangelize your Religion (If you cannot get either one of these two, the road to your Culture Victory is harder so consider falling back on a Religious Victory by choosing Monastic Isolation.) Your two Wonders to aim for are St. Basil's Cathedral and Cristo Redentor. Mont St. Michel is only useful because it has 2 Relic slots; other than that, it is irrelevant to your strategy since purchasing Missionaries to farm Relics is always more cost efficient. A relic with Reliquaries gives you 24 Tourism and 12 Faith (for comparison, a Great Work of Writing or Art gives you 3-4 Tourism each). In the city with St. Basil's Cathedral, a relic gives you 32 Tourism (and this city has at least 5 slots for Relics, 3 from the Wonder itself, 2 from the Prasat, and 1 more if this is the Capital). It is very important to get this Wonder, most ideally in your 
Capital Capital. If you have a Tundra city, you are the one to make the call between more Tourism or the Tundra terrain bonus. Finally, If you're playing with Gathering Storm and see the Heritage Organization resolution in the World Congress, spend all of your 
Diplomatic Favor to get this passed for Relics.
If you have all of these conditions aligned (which is quite easy, except for the World Congress resolution, which is random), you will have 40 Tourism for each Relic in the city with St. Basil's Cathedral, which results in 200 Tourism or 240 Tourism if it is the Capital Capital in this city alone, and 32 Tourism per Relic elsewhere. In the Renaissance Era, you can have 6-7 cities and around 500-600 Tourism running (compared to other cultural civs that depend on Great People to generate Tourism, they can reach 100 Tourism in the Industrial Era if they are lucky). Promote Reyna (or, in Gathering Storm, preferably Moksha) to hard buy Holy Sites in newly settled cities with low 
Production. Combined with the Faith purchase discount from Theocracy, you'll have yourself an unstoppable Tourism machine that works 5-6 times more efficiently than anyone else in the same era. And of course, you can still mass build Theater Squares on top of that to generate even more Tourism.
If you cannot win early, try not to be lagged behind in 
Science, as Cristo Redentor is the second important Wonder to get. It eliminates Religious Tourism reduction from The Enlightenment Civic, effectively returning your civilization to its Tourism glory in the Renaissance Era.
Here is the list of a few more Wonders and buildings that can hold Relics (besides St. Basil's Cathedral, the Palace and the Prasat) so you can look out for these to obtain even more Relic slots:
- Apadana (2 slots)
- Bank built by Giovanni de' Medici (2 slots)
- Mont St. Michel (2 slots)
- National History Museum (4 slots)
If you want to build these buildings, you should aim to build them in the same city with the St. Basil's Cathedral to receive the Tourism bonus for your relics. Since Apadana can only be built in the Capital Capital due to its strict restriction, again, it is important if you can build the St. Basil's Cathedral in the Capital Capital, even when it has no Tundra tiles, to enjoy the extra slots from Apadana and the Palace.
Civilopedia entry
When not dominating the Mekong and the mainland of Southeast Asia, the kings of the Khmer empire would turn their attention to their faith. And what better way to venerate the gods than through erecting massive temples?
These holy sites at the center of Khmer worship would serve as both symbols of their warrior-kings’ piety and their engineers' brilliance. The earliest Khmer temple on record is Prasat Ak Yom (c. 800), its design reflecting the South Indian tradition of 'ratha'-style temples, towering edifices terminating in a crown at the top. Of course, the Khmer would add their own flourish, adding prangs, or towers to the structures.
The construction of these temples would become an enduring feature of subsequent Khmer rulers, first facing east in honor of the Hindu god Shiva, while later construction would turn west after Jayavarman VII introduced Mahayana Buddhism to the Empire in the Twelfth Century.
Trivia
- Prasat simply means "temple" in Khmer (ប្រាសាទ).
Gallery
.jpg "Prasat in-game (Civ6).jpg (677 KB)")