We went to Siem Reap, Cambodia especially to see Angkor Wat. What most people don’t know, is that Angkor Wat is one among many temples in what is called the Angkor complex, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Stretching over 400 square kilometers, the complex contains the remains of several capitals of the Khmer Empire from the 9th to 15th century. In fact, “Angkor” means capital city in Khmer. In 2007, an international team of researchers using satellite photographs concluded that Angkor had been the largest pre-industrial city in the world. All the temples in the complex were constructed without mortar, which is an engineering marvel. Some of the most famous temples are Angkor Wat, Ta Prohm and Bayon, which is inside Angkor Thom.
The Angkor complex lay forgotten to all but the locals after it was abandoned and was claimed by the jungle. Six hundred years later the temple was “rediscovered” by a french explorer named Henri Mouhot. Mouhot was unable to believe that the temples could have been built by the Khmer and mistakenly dated it to the era of Ancient Rome, another massive and powerful empire. When he reported back to the French government, they became excited and sent multiple parties to research. The parties found more temples. Once the researchers reported back, the French government spent time and money to restore the temples.
The second day of our Siem Reap trip, we woke up and went to the Angkor complex. We took a tuk-tuk which is a motorcycle attached to a cart. Our day’s agenda was to go to Angkor Thom, eat lunch, go to Ta Prohm, go to Angkor Wat and end the day with a picnic. Angkor Thom was the capital city after Angkor Wat and the last capital of the Khmer Empire. It was built because the Cham Empire sacked Angkor Wat, and a new capital was needed (see Danang and Nha Trang for more on the Cham people). King Jayavarman VII decided he wanted a Buddhist capital, which lead to the lack of Hindu culture in Angkor Thom compared to earlier temples in the complex.
On the way to Angkor Thom, we saw elephants that you could ride. They looked like a lot of fun, but Mom said we could not ride them.
As you can see from the map above, Angkor Thom is surrounded by a moat and a huge wall. On the bridge over the moat, the sides are decorated. When your looking away from Angkor Thom, the gods are on the left, and the demons on the right.
Once we went through the gate, we took pictures of the other side of the entrance with it’s beautifully carved buddha faces.
After we finished taking pictures, we headed to Bayon, Angkor Thom’s primary center for worship. Bayon is positioned exactly in the center of Angkor Thom. Bayon was mistakenly dated to the ninth century until someone translated a plaque that read that Bayon was a Buddhist temple, which pushes the date forward three hundred years, as Buddhism did not become the primary religion until the late 12th century. Bayon is composed of 54 towers, many intricate carvings and bas-reliefs and over 2000 Buddha faces.
360 photo in front of Bayon
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Before visitors could enter, the buildings were reinforced with wood skeletons thus the wooden “door frames”.
After Bayon, we went to another popular temple called Baphuon, which is also in Angkor Thom. When it was built, it was known for having a beautiful bronze tower. Once it was converted into a Buddhist temple in the 15th century, the bronze tower was destroyed making space and providing bricks for a reclining Buddha. Unfortunately, it was built on unsturdy ground like the leaning tower of Pisa and in the 20th century was almost completely demolished. Even when the reclining Buddha was built, it probably had already begun to deteriorate. There was a project to restore it by demolishing it, building structural holders and then restoring it, but then a civil war began and the architects had to leave the numbered bricks behind. Sadly, the plans were lost during the civil war and were never found. In 1996, a project was started to rebuild it. It was called the biggest 3D jigsaw puzzle ever. It took 16 years to complete even with modern technology. After 51 years of work, Baphuon opened to the public in April 2011.
When we visited Siem Reap, it was during the water festival. Many monks had congregated in Angkor Thom near Baphuon to celebrate.
We left through the victory gate. It was called that because King Jayavarman VII sent his soldiers through that gate to defeat the Cham army. Upon leaving, we took a photo of the giant Buddha face framed by trees, which you can see below on the left.
Once we finished at Angkor Thom, we took a tuk-tuk to the Angkor restaurant.
At the restaurant, we enjoyed a fish amok (curry), sirloin beef with a fried egg on top and a banana blossom salad.
After lunch, we went to Ta Prohm. Like Angkor Thom, Ta Prohm was built by King Jayavarman VII and is a Buddhist temple. It was built around the same time as Angkor Thom. Many of the bas-reliefs were later damaged by King Jayavarman VIII who had a strong belief in Hinduism. Now the temple is half Hindu and half Buddhist with bas-reliefs from both cultures.
Ta Prohm has been claimed by the jungle, and it is the only temple to have a tree on top of one of its buildings. It was purposefully left like this by the French in order to preserve the look and feel of the temple when the initial explorers discovered it in the jungle. Apparently, there is a lot of work involved in keeping the site looking this way while keeping it safe for visitors. It is this unique look that makes it one of the most popular temples in the complex and attracted the attention of the producers of Tomb Raider, who used it in their movie.
This carving is the most debatable thing in Ta Prohm. At a glance, this carving looks like a stegosaurus. Scholars debate whether it’s that or a rhinoceros with a leafy background. I think it’s a rhinoceros because a stegosaurus doesn’t have a horn. You can comment on what you think.
After exploring Ta Prohm, we headed over to Angkor Wat. Angkor Wat was built by King Suryavarman II. Its true name is unknown though, because the temple was dedicated to Vishnu, it’s guessed as Vrah Viṣṇuloka, which means the sacred dwelling of Vishnu.
The temple was named Angkor Wat by historians because Angkor means capital city, and Wat means temple. Many scholars believe Angkor Wat was supposed to be the king’s mausoleum too, not just a sacred temple. Scholars estimate that construction began in the early 12th or late 11th century. Later in the 12th century, Angkor Wat became more Buddhist. It took 300,000 workers to build it among whom were architects, construction workers, sculptors and servants to provide food for the rest of the workers. The construction stopped 30 years later when King Suryavarman died. Approximately 27 years after his death, the Cham people, the long-time enemies of the Khmer, raided Angkor Wat. After that, King Jayavarman VII moved the capital to Angkor Thom and the main temple to Bayon.
360 photo of the inner court of Angkor Wat
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Remember how I mentioned bas-reliefs? One of the most common in the Angkor complex is an Apsara, a female spirit of cloud and water in Buddhist and Hindu mythology. They are best known for dancing and are considered entertainers for the gods.
After we finished looking around Angkor Wat, we ended our visit with a picnic next to the moat.
Very informative!!! I enjoyed all the beautiful pictures, too. Love, Bebe