Angkor - A world Heritage Site
 A
World Heritage Site, Angkor forms a unique collection
of over six centuries of architectural mastery. The
site lies north of the small but rapidly developing
town of Siem Reap.
The serious visitor can spend weeks
exploring more than 100 temples which vary in area from
hundreds of acres to less than one.
History
Built from 879-1191 AD at the zenith of the Khmer civilisation,
the temples represent one of the world's most amazing
and enduring architectural achievements. From the great
citadel of Angkor, he ruling Khmer God-kings controlled
a vast territory in the twelfth century, extending south
to the Mekong delta in present-day Vietnam, north into
Laos, and west over large tracts of what is now Thailand.
In its heyday, Angkor had a population of over one million,
and was the spiritual centre for the Khmers until it
was abandoned after being sacked by the Thais in 1431.
The surviving structures today are
but a fraction of the whole stunning picture, which
included a huge city whose wooden buildings - houses,
markets, shops, palaces, and public buildings - have
long since been destroyed by war and time. When French
naturalist Henri Mouhot "rediscovered" Angkor,
in the mid-nineteenth century, he considered the ruins
of the ancient Khmer capital to be "Grander than
anything left by Greece or Rome."
The best preserved, and most visited, are Angkor Wat,
the Bayon, and Ta Prohm, which were first restored by
the French, who established an Angkor Conservancy in
1908. Whilst it is obvious that the Khmers were amongst
the greatest architects the world has known, less well
recognised was their absolute mastery over water and
irrigation. The full extent of the vast system of highly
advanced hydrological works, canals and reservoirs that
sustained Angkor is only just being understood, since
remote sensing and radar images were taken from the
space shuttle, Endeavor.
Temples
 Angkor
Wat
Built to honor the Hindu god Vishnu, is the world's
largest religious building and took some 50,000 artisans,
workers and slaves, and nearly 40 years, to complete.
The temple forms a rectangular enclosure measuring 1,500
metres by 1,300 metres surrounded by a moat 200 metres
wide. The main entryway to Angkor Wat is a paved avenue
nearly half a kilometre long, ornamented with balustrades
and fringed by artificial lakes. Inside the outer walls,
the structure rises over three levels to a central core
topped by five almost pineapple-shaped towers. Virtually
every surface in the maze of chambers and courtyards
is richly decorated with low-relief scenes of legends,
wars and everyday life, enhanced by carvings of nearly
2,000 apsaras, or celestial dancers. The amazing structure
as a whole is best viewed in soft light. Somerset Maugham
wrote in 1930: "It needs the glow of sunset or
the white brilliance of the moon to give it a loveliness
that touches the heart."
 The
Bayon
At the centre of Angkor Thom (literally
"Great City"), which forms the heart of the
Angkor complex as it is today. This inner city is surrounded
by a moat, and approached at the four cardinal points
via huge stone gates and causeways flanked by statues
of gods and giants. The Bayon forms a three-tiered pyramid
with 54 towers, each dominated by over 200 huge, 4-metre
high, mysterious faces facing out to the north, south,
east and west. Each mystically serene countenance, with
closed eyelids and faint smile, represents a Bodhisattaya
(fully enlightened being) who delays entry into Nirvana
to aid the spiritual development of others.
The structure is rich in decoration, detailing scenes
from battles, religious rituals, and everyday life.
On approaching from a distance, it resembles a rather
formless initially disappointing jumble of stone, but
inside, the visitor discovers a maze of galleries, towers
and passageways on three different levels. Under the
sightless gaze of the ever-present faces, it is here,
particularly if alone, that many tourists experience
a feeling of profound spiritual awe. There are several
other sites of interest within Angkor Thom, including
the Terrace of the Elephants and the Terrace of the
Leper King. At its height, the city had a population
of nearly one million, and its 9 square km area was
comparable in size to anything in Europe at that time.
 Ta
Promh
If Angkor Wat and the city of Angkor
Thom are best known for grandeur and majesty, then to
the east, the temple and monastery of Ta Promh wins
hands down for sheer dramatic effect. Unlike most other
monuments, Ta Promh has been left the way it was originally
found. The ancient structure is thus still gripped by
massive strangler fig and banyan tree roots ("spongs")
giving the feeling of discovering the archeological
treasure for the first time.
Faced with this extraordinary image, it is easy to relive
the emotions of the French naturalist Henri Mouhot when
he came across it hidden in the jungle in 1860. At its
peak, over 70,000 people, including high priests, monks,
assistants, dancers and laborers, populated this vast
600-room monastery. The structure measures 145 by 125
meters and contains a maze of courtyards and galleries,
many impassable because of the dense overgrowth of creepers
and roots.
Prah Kahn
Another temple that has been left to creeping jungle,
with huge trees and multicoloured lichen infiltrating
the structure's stone corridors and often gloomy interiors.
Although it is not as visually arresting as Ta Prohm,
this fascinating temple is formed in a cross by a long
200-metre central passageway cut by another wide perpendicular
corridor. Both of these have networks of smaller passages,
which themselves open to breezeways, courtyards, and
rooms of all sizes. Although the central portion is
fairly clear, exploring the outer passageways becomes
increasingly adventurous with fallen stones, surreal
looking tree roots, and tiny apertures leading into
almost pitch dark interiors.
Banteay Srei
Approximately 25 kilometres from the main complex, this
relatively small 10th century monument in pink sandstone
is dedicated to Shiva. Its perfectly proportioned decoration
and detail with exquisite sculptures, lintels, and friezes,
makes it one of the oldest and most aesthetically beautiful.
Almost every surface is a masterpiece of superb detail,
each one it seems, more beautiful than the one before.
Phnom
Bakheng
Built on the highest hill in the area and offering spectacular
views, especially at dawn and sunset, this small but
attractive temple makes an ideal start or end to the
day's sightseeing, although most tourists congregate
here toward dusk
East Mebon
Temple & The Baray Lakes
One of the Khmers' most notable hydrological accomplishments
were the West and East Barays, huge, perfectly rectangular
artificial lakes covering 14 and 16 square km respectively,
and used to irrigate thousands of acres of surrounding
farmland. A temple was built in the middle of each lake,
and since East Baray was drained, the East Mebon Temple
is now easily visited. West Baray (2 km wide & 8
km long) is still filled with water. The boat service
is accessible to the west Mebon Temple which is in the
middle of the west Baray. East Mebon, however, is a
fascinating site, best known for the almost life-size
stone elephants on the corners of its tiers. Since each
one appears to have been hewn from a single block of
stone, the task of carving and transporting such huge
pieces must have been tremendous. Smaller stone figures
flank the stairways leading up to the central elevated
platform. From here, the bed of the lake, now fertile
paddy, stretches below you in every direction.
The Ruluos
Group
Lying approximately 10 km from Siem Reap town, is a
cluster of three 9th century temples, namely Prah Ko,
Bakong and Lolei. Being the oldest in Angkor, and ostensibly
the site of the capital at that time, they are interesting
in their own right, particularly Bakong, which is the
best preserved of the three. Stairways lined with stone
lions lead up the five tiers of the pyramid shaped structure,
terminating in a sanctuary on top. Eight small sanctuaries
also encircle the base, an architectural concept common
to many other Angkor temples.
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