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Published: September 5th 2007
Angkor Wat
The walkway to the main temple after entering the West Gate.So far I'd have to say that Cambodia manages to hit the extremes of human experience. On one hand, there is plenty of genocide to go around. And on the other hand, there are the Temples of Angkor - most notably Angkor Wat - which are one of mankind's greatest creations and is the primary symbol of Cambodian/Khmer/Angkor culture and a source of great national pride.
To set the stage just a bit...in the 9th Century,
King Jayavarman II proclaimed himself a 'universal monarch', or
devaraja (god-king) whose all-reaching power embodied the godlike qualities of the Hindu god, Shiva. He then rejected Javanese control of Cambodia and unified Cambodia's competing kingdoms. Thus becoming the first monarch to rule over what is basically the Cambodia of today. This marked the beginning of the
Angkor Period (AD802-1432) - during which many massive religious structures were created - now generally known as the Temples of Angkor.
After the decline of the Angkor period (15th century), the temples suffered a variety of fates. Some continued to be used as monasteries, places of worship, Buddhist shrines, etc. But most were left to be consumed by the jungle and other forces of nature. During the
French rule in the 20th Century, many restoration efforts were begun upon the newly rediscovered treasure of Cambodia. After the departure of the French there was the beginning of internal power struggles and fighting that would be typical for Cambodia in the 2nd half of the century. The situation reached its worse with the rise of the Khmer Rouge in 1975, at which point all restoration efforts ceased - and some of the temples were further damaged by the KR.
As the political situation improved, the temples were declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1992 and have been open to the public since the late 90's and are now the driving force of the Cambodian tourist industry...bringing in anywhere from 1-3 million (depending on the source) tourists each year. Whichever it is...there's a lot of people crawling all over these places. In July of 2007, there was a list released of the
New 7 Wonders of the World - though this list was completely unrecognized by UNESCO. Angkor Wat was not one of the seven, but it was one of the finalists - and deservedly so if you ask me.
Trying to shake off my genocide-hangover, I jumped on a bus headed
for Siem Reap - the town nearest the temples. (I'm happy to report that the horn on this bus is in perfect working condition - though the bus driver apparently had to continually prove this for every vehicle that we passed during the 5 hour journey - it's apparently how they function here.) One of the great things about Cambodia is the cost of travel - this bus was only $5.
A swarm of moto drivers greeted us upon our arrival and one began taking me to the guesthouse I specified...for free. As expected from a guy offering a free ride, about 1 minute into the ride, he turned around and said that he had an idea...he knew of another guesthouse that was better than the one I wanted to go to and would take me to have a look. Usually that ploy would have annoyed me, but I really had no reason for having picked out the one that I had & agreed to have a look. It ended up being a good decision as this place was pretty decent and close to the action. He (named Toot) seemed like a decent guy and had good English skills,
so I ended up hiring him to drive me around the temples for the next 3 days.
The temples are general divided into 9 periods of architectural styles...my eye isn't quite refined enough to differentiate. But the general theme of them all is the idea of a temple-mountain. A real mountain being preferred...but if none was around, it would just be worked into the structure. Basically, the mountain was represented by a blunt-topped tower mounted on a tiered base with the central sanctuary being at the summit.
I'll try to spare you full details of all the places I went to, but over my three days of touring, I went to 17 or so temples. It's hard to say an exact number because some sites could be counted as multiple temples or vice versa. In any case, the whole thing was large and overwhelming. Some basics of each are as follows (and as far as I can remember, this is the order in which I saw them):
Angkor Wat - The Biggie
Widely believed to be the biggest religious structure in the world (outer wall is 1025m x 800m), it is also the best preserved of the
temples. It was believed to be have been built as a funerary temple for King Suryavarman II (whose rule was 1112-52) to honor Vishnu, the Hindu diety with whom the king identified. A common element to the temples are carvings of Apsara (heavenly nymphs) dancers - of which there are more than 3000 at this temple alone. There are also many religious stories (including many scenes from both the
Mahabharata and the
Ramayana) told in bas-relief on the walls...most likely several kilometers worth throughout the place.
There were tourists everywhere and it was quite difficult to get photos with minimal people in them. I wandered for a couple of hours through the various buildings, hallways, shrines, etc trying to take it all in. I think the peak of the experience was climbing the super-steep stairs of the main temple and then having a view of the entire area. I've included a few photos of this.
Angkor Thom Meaning "Great Angkor" and built by Angkor's greatest king, Jayavarman VII (ruled 1181-1219) - this was a walled city that contained many other temples such as Bayon, Baphun, Terrace of Elephants, the Royal Enclosure, and the Phimeanakas. The gates to the city
each had a pinnacle with 4 large faces of Jayavarman VII looking in the 4 primary directions of the compass. The city was said to have supported approximately 1 million people. For comparison, London was supposed to have only had 50,000 or so at the time.
Bayon This was one of my favorites. From a distance it looks kinda like a mess without any real theme. But getting closer one can see that it's comprised of 54 towers...each with the 4 faces of Jayavarman VII looking in the 4 directions. The theory being that there were 54 provinces and this is representative of him watching over them all. There are also 1.2km of bas-reliefs containing more than 11,000 figures depicting a variety of stories. A pretty cool place in all.
Baphun This place would be my grandpa's heaven. Originally completed by Udayadityavarman (ruled 1049-1065) and said to have been one of the most spectacular of the temples in its heyday - it now is the world's largest 3-D puzzle. Prior to the eruption of civil war in the 20th Century, this temple had been taken apart piece by piece and was set for being rebuilt. Unfortunately, all the
records of where each piece goes were destroyed by the Khmer Rouge. Now there's a 1/2 built temple surrounded by thousands of numbered blocks of sandstone awaiting their turn to be put back in place. Grandpa...feel free to come over and direct the process...3-D puzzles are child's play, right?
There wasn't anything terribly unique about the Terrace of Elephants (lots of elephant statues), The Royal Enclosure, or the Phimeanakas...so I'll move along to the next.
Ta Keo Built by Jayavarman V (ruled 968-1001), this was dedicated to Shiva and said to be the first Angkorian monument built entirely of sandstone. For some unknown reason, work was never completed, so it's kinda plain...though still big (50m high) and impressive.
Ta Prohm Ok...all the Tomb Raider enthusiasts and Angelina Jolie worshippers might recognize some of the pictures from this temple. This place is up there with Bayon as being my other favorite...and not only because it made me think of Angelina. Unlike the other temples I had seen thus far, this one had been abandoned to the jungle and completely overgrown. Some of it has been cleared, but much of the growth remains...partially because it's become intertwined with the
structure itself. Built from 1186, Ta Prohm was a Buddhist temple dedicated to Jayavarman VII's mother. It also is one of the few that has an inscription with information about the dependents and inhabitants...supposedly 80,000 people to maintain it - including 2700 officials and 615 dancers. It's thought that these numbers may have been exaggerated to make the king look cooler though.
Basically this place was cool because it was partially ruined and largely covered in trees and moss - a very interesting place to walk around for a couple hours with a camera. I hope the pictures do it some justice.
This brought me to the end of an overwhelming day 1 at the temples. Day 2 is as follows:
Banteay Kdei A Buddhist monastery from the 12th century, the outer wall measures 500m x 700m. Again, the 4 gates contain the 4 faces of Jayavarman VII...this guy is everywhere. Also has a few areas overgrown with the jungle trees.
Pre Rup Built by Rajendravarman II, "Pre Rup" means 'turning the body' and was thought to be used as an early royal crematorium.
Eastern Mebon A Hindu temple built by Rajendravarman II (ruled 944-968).
Ta Som More of the work of Jayavarman VII, this is a 12th Century Buddhist temple. Cool tree that has overgrown the eastern entrance. I also had a close encounter of the arachnid kind here...ick.
Preah Neak Pean Yet another Buddhist temple brought to us by Jayavarman VII in the 12th Century.
Preah Khan Dedicated to 515 divinities in 1191, this place also was the home for 18 festivals throughout the year. Also somewhat overgrown and contained a very out of place Grecian style building. I'm not sure anyone knows how it got there.
Phnom Bakheng This is one of the few that actually is on a hill - requiring a 10 minute walk to the top. The result is that one can get some great views of the area and is a popular sunset spot. The temple has 5 tiers with 7 levels - corresponding to the 7 Hindu heavens.
End of Day 2...barely able to look at another temple by this point. Day 3...
Bantei Srei A 10th Century site where the stone is of a pinkish color, this place has some of the best stone carvings of all the temples. The name
means "citadel of the women", and is said that it must have been built by a woman as the carvings are too fine for the hand of a man. Feel free to debate that claim...
A bit of history of this joint is that in 1925 a Frenchman was arrested for trying to steal many of the site's carvings and statues. He was later appointed the Minister of Culture by Charles de Gaulle...silly French.
Bantei Samre & Preah Ko These two aren't really related, but I really don't have much to say about either...so I figured I'd just say that once. Both are still impressive ruins...but I'm losing my ability to absorb more at this stage.
Bakong Built by Indravarman I and dedicated to Shiva, this location still has an active Buddhist monastery on site. I basically gave it a quick walk around, took a few photos and headed back to the motorbike...thus concluding my experience of the Temples of Angkor.
It truly is amazing that people were able to create these structures 1000 years ago and that they still stand (mostly today).
Also in the last day Toot brought me to a land mine museum
Eastern Mebon Soul Man
This guy was just chillin at the top of the temple playing some crazy one stringed instrument. in the area. Much of the Cambodian countryside was riddled with land mines from the decades of war. The museum told some powerful stories of the destruction they still cause and how many have dedicated themselves to de-mining the region and also caring for victims.
This is a long entry...but I have a couple more comments before it ends.
- Pol Pot was called "Brother #1". The next in command were #2, #3, etc. Toot was telling me that #2 (near the Thai border) and #3 (in Phnom Penh) are still roaming freely in Cambodia and have never been prosecuted. That's a rather unsettling reality, I think.
- Cambodia has had the same Prime Minister since 1979...he was former KR...fled to Vietnam before the fall of the KR...and then was put in place by the Vietnamese after they booted Pol Pot out. He was voted out when the UN instituted a vote in the early 90's...but then regained power through a coup a year later. He's corrupt and is a reminder that with all the progress this country has made, they're still not in a great situation.
- When I came out of the land mine
museum, Toot said "see that guy over there?...he's Khmer Rouge". Was strange to be looking at someone who had been on that side of the story. If they weren't killed while fleeing in 1979, they're basically still around. Was weird to me.
Ok, that's it. I'm tired. Like the temples...this entry was big and overwhelming...I hope you enjoyed this almost-wonder-of-the-world.
Marc
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Cam Wisler
non-member comment
Cambodia continues...
Good stuff, Marc. You're getting to be quite the knowledgeable tour guide! On a side note, have you gotten any feedback from your blog subscribers about difficulty printing out your entries? Maybe no one else does it, but me. The 'print version' button reorganizes the whole entry layout and when I click 'print preview' in my browser half of the pages are blank and most of the pictures aren't there (don't print out). Just curious if it's me or what.