Angkor temples

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The Angkor temples in Cambodia are the result of Cambodia‘s gaining independence from Java and its need for a capital. Jayavarman II, Cambodia’s king, sought to move the traditional home of Cambodia from the Mekong basin to the north to the great lake or Tonle Sap. This move brought Cambodians to within a few miles of the former dense rain forest that is now the location of Angkor. With stability brought to the region, Jayavarman II’s son, Yasovarman, decided to create structures to give the sense of permanence to this new location. The result is the temples, which were built without interruption from the end of the 9th century to the beginning of the 13th.

After the 13th century, something drove the people away from the region - perhaps malaria, a natural disaster or war, no one is sure which - and thus left the temples buried within nature for many years.

Today the temples are often considered the Machu Pichu of the east, providing great insight into the local Khmer history and culture through structures that have remained relatively well intact.

The day started off with breakfast at the hostel before arranging for a tuk tuk and tour guide for the day at the hostel’s front desk. Pum, my guide, met me shortly thereafter and we joined our tuk tuk driver for a day’s worth of touring.

We headed a few miles north to Angkor, first passing by Angkor Wat - the most famous of the temples - and arriving at Angkor Thom. Angkor Thom is the name of a large area or compound - about 12km around - containing a number of temples and other structures. At the gate, Pum told me a lot about the animals and faces that were carved from the stone, with much of the information he conveyed already vaguely familiar to me from my reading of Maurice Glaze’s A Guide to the Angkor Monuments, which I found for free online.

The first thing we observed were the two cobras, “Naga”, that guarded the entrance. The cobras had seven heads, with the number seven used often at the temples to denote the seven colors of the Buddha, seven chains of mountains of Mt. Meru, seven oceans (I still am missing this reference) and seven days of the week (though I wonder if this one is a modern conception).

Behind the snakes along the long bridge to the Thom - the bridge a figurative rainbow, symbolizing the advancement to Nirvana - were numerous statues of human heads. Those to our left were representative of the divine or good and the others the demons or evil.

Across the bridge at the entrance, we came upon the three headed elephant and a large face; four of them, actually, one facing north, one south, one east and one west. Symbolically, the faces represent the sublime stages - love, compassion, sympathy and equality. Each direction also represents a relationship - East is mother and father, West is spouse, South is teacher and North is neighbor.

Inside we came upon many other tourists, all of us trying to dodge the cars, motorbikes and tuk tuks that were surprisingly allowed to pass through.

We made our way to the large, central temple known as Bayon. We first examined the massive bas relief galleries on the perimeter. They explained various facets of Khmer history and culture.

Next we made our way up a level, ascending several very steep, narrow, inconsistently placed steps that accurately reflect the (at least by traditional western standards) poor construction of the temples. The Khmers didn’t care about the quality of the construction so much as there being a finished product. Obviously they were built well enough to be standing centuries later.

The steps would be a common theme for the day. Another was the removal of Buddha statues and reliefs. Many of the temples, including those within Angkor Thom, were built under Jayavarman II, a Buddhist. A successor, Jayavarman VIII, was a Hinduist and thus had any representations of the Buddhas removed. All that remain are holes of where these once were.

We left Bayon and walked through the surrounding trees, which provided a nice bit of shade from the hot sun. Cicadas chirped noisily in the background, to the point where it was even difficult for us to hear one another.

I noticed a few relics on the ground on the walk. It seemed as if this has not been excavated at all or at least not as well as most western archaeological finds.

Our next temples were Baphuon and Phimeanakas, where I saw a reclining Buddha made of stone, with moss covering used to accentuate the feature. It was very difficult to make this out but having a guide to point out the intricacies helped. I climbed the stairs to the top before we left and headed to two nearby pools. These pools - a small one for men and a large one for women - were used for bathing and recreation. The women’s pool was still being used for recreation today as a number of children went in to cool off.

From there we went to the two terraces - one is the terrace of the elephants, which was used for the king to observe warriors on parade, many on elephants, and the second the terrace of the Leper King. Pum told me the story of the leper king. Essentially, a snake disguised himself as a beautiful woman. A king fell in love with the woman, who confessed she was in fact a snake. The king and the woman reached an agreement that the snake would remain a woman and they would marry. The woman broke this promise and became a snake again. The king became angry and stabbed the snake; its blood covering the king and causing leprosy. The king was forced to stay on this terrace because of the leprosy. There are many odd stories like this that comprise ancient culture.

Next we went to Ta Prohm, apparently the location of the temple used in the Lara Croft movies (I only saw the first one years ago so this was a bit lost on me). The most unique feature about this temple was the destruction caused by several trees; the roots overgrowing and breaking many of the stone walls. One was especially interesting as it seemed to grow around the wall, rather than through it like most others. There was even one tree that grew overtop another.

After a quick lunch of chicken and mushroom with rice at a seemingly tourist restaurant, we moved onto Prasat Kravan. Prasat Kravan is one of the oldest of the temples and is made of red brick. This was much less visited by tourists, yet it was one of the more interesting ones of the day. Inside, Pum showed me a bas relief that spoke about the custom of holding a ceremony prior to any construction, in honor of the Hindu god Vishnu. If a ceremony is not held, catastrophe looms. Apparently some French colonists found this out the hard way as numerous architects died until the customary ceremony was held when they built a building a couple centuries ago.

The most fascinating part was the Sanskrit text on the walls. This was really surprising to me since this was an older temple. Counter-intuitively, they used a from of text in the older temples but art in the new.

Our final temple was the most famous one - Angkor Wat. Angkor Wat was built in the early 12th century, during the height of the Khmer Empire. It was originally built as a Hindu temple, though after Angkor’s abandonment in the 1430s, it was converted into a Buddhist monastery and is still used for this today. This in turn brought about the highlight of the day for me - the thought that it was very odd that almost every temple I had seen had once been Buddhist and then was stripped of Buddhas to be made Hindu. Now the reverse happened here - it was built Hindu and became Buddhist (though there is still a statue of Vishnu inside).

We walked around the area and I went into the main part of the temple alone. With all the temples and such today, the allure of this grandest one must have waned. It began to look much like the others.

We made our way out the entrance via the king’s path on the west side (this is the only temple that faces west) and saw the temple’s reflection in the surrounding moat. From there we got back into the tuk tuk and made our way back to the hostel.

Throughout the day I had come across many of the local women and children selling souvenirs, guidebooks and hats, but the most successful sellers had to be the women selling bottled water. The kids just couldn’t compete with that.

On the way back I noticed (not for the first time but at least the first time I remembered to make note of it) how, even in this poor country, a few things have actually gotten closer to home. For the first time since this trip began, I am in a vehicle riding on the right side of a two lane road. I would pay for this tour, guide and tuk tuk, along with most other items, using US dollars. What’s more, the people have a pure desire to learn English, as it is the means to their sustenance. Pum took notes throughout the day on English words I used with which he was not familiar and encouraged me to correct his English. Where am I again?

Back at the hostel, after a bit of relaxation, I went down to the bar to grab a meal. The place is pretty empty; very surprising for a Saturday night. I started to read 1984 while waiting for my burger and fries (as much as I like the cuisine here, I am craving semi-normal food) when I got to talking to a couple guys next to me. One was from England (though his parents are Jamaican) and the other an Aussie. We had three of the largest English speaking nations represented.

We drank several rounds together, each running a dollar for a 12 ounce beer, and discussed everything from our travels, the upcoming World Cup and the Olympics to culture shock and the amazingly low prices (from a western point of view) in southeast Asia. Our bartender told us how she earns $60 per month and spends $24 per month on rent. We also got to talking about the cheap cost of beer and wondered how Heineken sells beer here for $2.50. They must locally produce it. It wouldn’t surprise me if there was some sort of licensing arrangement.

With nothing appearing to be going on at the hostel tonight, we all headed off to bed. I never did get their names although I‘m sure I‘ll have the chance to do so tomorrow.

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Photos

Angkor Thom
One of the four faces of the sublime greets me on the way in. There are faces like this all over the temples built by Jayavarman VII.

Bas relief
Bas relief galleries run throughout the temples, telling stories of the past.

Me
Posing for a picture inside a window that looks like a frame.

Reclining Buddha
The Buddha is under restoration. I could barely see his face.

Steep steps
Many of the temples had very steep, narrow haphazard steps that made it difficult to climb.

Ta Prohm
Ta Prohm is apparently the temple featured in the Lara Croft movie.

Tree destruction
Much of Ta Prohm has been destructed from the overgrowth of trees and their roots.

Prasat Kravan
One of the oldest temples, this one is built of brick.

Surroundings
The temples are certainly contained within the surrounding jungle.

Angkor Wat
The most famous of the temples reflects into the moat.