We decided to brave the heat the first day and rented two bicycles ($1.20 CDN per bike) for entire day and bike through the complex to do the small circuit tour ourselves.
The 2nd day of our pass, we rented a tuk tuk driver for the entire day ($17 CDN) to take us on the grand tour circuit which included visiting a temple which was 37 km from Siem Reap.
We again rented bikes on our last day and biked around the market and town itself in the am and then went back to the Angkor complex to spend the entire afternoon and watch the sunset at Angkor Wat itself.
The temples we saw (in no particular order) and a brief historical description of each can be found below along with some amazing shots. (To see larger images of the pictures, click on the photos themselves and they should enlargen)
HISTORY
Angkor literally means “Capital City” or “Holy City” and Khmer refers to the dominant ethnic group in Cambodia. In its modern usage, Angkor has come to refer to the capital city of the Khmer Empire that existed in Cambodia between 9th and 12th centuries. The temple ruins in the area of Siem Reap are the remnants of the Angkorian capitals, and represent the pinnacle of the ancient Khmer architecture, art and civilization.
Jayavarman II was the first king of the Angkorian era and you will read more about him in the write ups below on each temple.
SOUTH GATE OF ANGKOR THOM COMPLEX
There are five entrances (gates) to the Angkor Thom city, one for each cardinal point and the victory gate leading to the Royal Palace area. Each gate is crowned with 4 giant faces. The South Gate is often the first stop before entering the Angkor Thom city and is known for the giant faces facing in each cardinal direction, elephants near the bottom entrance into the city and the no less impressive avenue of gods and asuras (demons) lining the bridge across the moat leading to the gate. These gods and asuras are carrying the body of a giant serpent – a seven headed naga – almost in the attitude of a tug-of-war.
ANGKOR THOM
The Angkor Thom (Big Angkor) is a 3 km2 walled and moated royal city and was the last capital of the Angkorian empire. After Jayvavarman VII recaptured the Angkorian capital from the Cham invaders in 1811, he began a massive building campaign across the empire, constructing Angkor Thom as his new capital city. He began with existing structures such as the Baphoun and Phimeanakas and built a grand enclosed city around them adding the outer wall/moat and some of Angkor’s greatest temples including his state-temple, Bayon which is set in the center of the city. Also a part of Angkor Thom are the Terrace of the Elephants and the Terrace of the Leper King with the Victory Gate leading out of the Angkor Thom city towards other temples within the complex. Pictures for all of these structures within Angkor Thom can be seen below beneath each respective temple.
BAYON
Bayon is one of the most recognizable temples along with Angkor Wat because of the many giant stone faces which gives the temple its architecture. There are 37 standing towers, most but not all sporting four faces pointing in each of the cardinal points. Bayon was Jayavarman’s state temple and in many ways represents the pinnacle of his massive building campaign.
The exterior walls of the lower level along with the stone faces are the best that Bayon has to offer. The exterior walls contain real life scenes from the historical sea battle between the Khmer and the Cham.
TERRACE OF THE ELEPHANTS
The Terrace of the Elephants is a two and a half meter tall wall spanning the heart of Angkor Thom in front of Baphuon and Phimeanakas. Carved elephants and giant garudas adorn the wall.
BAPHUON
Baphuon is a huge temple-mountain in the heart of Angkor Thom. The temple is largely collapsed and in ruined condition. The main temple is undergoing extensive restoration.
There was not much to this temple we found as we were not even able to enter the main building as it was under major construction. The reclining Buddha in the back was not even noticeable due to the ruined state of the temple.
PHIMEANAKAS
Phimeanakas was the king’s temple or royal temple. The lack of surviving carvings leaves this temple artistically uninteresting, but it is the tallest scalable temple in Angkor Thom, providing a nice view from the top. Legend has it that the golden twoer crowned the temple and was inhabited by a serpent, which would transform into a woman. The kings of Angkor were required to make love with the serpent every night, lest disaster befall him or the kingdom.
TERRACE OF THE LEPER KING
This is a double terrace at the north end of the Terrace of Elephants with deeply carved nagas, demons and other mythological beings.
THOMMANON
Thommanon is a small attractive temple in very good condition built at the same time as Angkor Wat which has many excellent carvings still in tact.
TA PROHM
Ta Phrom is the temple known for the movie which was taped here: Tomb Raider. This quiet, sprawling monastic complex is only partially cleared of jungle overgrowth. There are massive fig and silk cotton trees that are growing from the towers and corridors which is an amazing sight. This temple was one of Jayavarman VII’s first major temple projects. This temple was dedicated to his mother. Ta Prohm was originally constructed as a Buddhist monastery and was enormously wealthy in its time, boasting of control over 3000 villages, thousands of support staff and vast stores of jewels and gold.
BANTEAY SREY
Banteay Srey loosely translates to ‘citadel of the women’, but this is a modern appellation that probably refers to the delicate beauty of the carvings that can be seen at this temple. This temple was one of the farthest ones we saw, 37 km from Siem Reap and one of our top picks because of the many beautiful, deep and detailed carvings on the walls that differ from any other Angkorian temple. The temple itself is relatively small and is built from pink sandstone.
EAST MEBON
Built by Rajendravaman II in dedication to (Shiva the Hindu God) and in honor to his parents. East Mebon re-established Angkor as the Capital of Cambodia in 928 AD. Nothing too exciting about this as the temple is not in great condition.
BANTEAY SAMRE
Located about 3km outside of the grand circuit, the trip there was nice little road excursions through villages and paddies. One thing that caught our eyes on the way to this temple were the small homes with a cooking mound in the front yard. We also met a small boy there, who was quite curious about us and followed us around. He did not speak much English, and the best part was that he did not try to sell us anything…
The temple itself was small, but had good proportions, the carvings were mostly non-existent, making it not that interesting.
PREAH KHAN
The one cool thing this one had was it showed as the power of nature when left undisturbed. A young tree will one day destroy what took men many many hours of devotion to create.
TA SOM
This was somewhat of a surprise temple to see. It did not look all that interesting, from the outside, but the back of the temple was very nice to see. A couple of large trees had taken root some many many years back and are now hold up part of the masonry wall. We also met this little girl whom was three years old. She was trying to sell us some post cards and would not leave us alone… She proceeded to show us the post card, and counted each one first in English, then in French and then in Spanish…
No comments:
Post a Comment