khmer jungle temples

A brief introduction to Khmer history: between the 9th and 14th centuries the Khmers (Cambodians) had a large empire from Burma in the west to Vietnam in the east. The head of the empire were king/gods, and hence each king generally built a temple to show his divine power. As stone was believed to be the material of the gods, and timber the material of man, these temples were built of stone. Houses and towns built of timber have long since rotten away in the jungle.

Over the recent Cambodian long weekend I had the pleasure of visiting some of these temples. The big famous one: Angkor Wat; a weird one: the Bayon; one that was featured in a Hollywood feature: Ta Prohm; and the smaller and more detailed one: Banteay Srei. There are plenty more to visit, but with a tight time constraint these were all we could fit in.

Angkor Wat is big. Very big. And well preserved. It's featured on Cambodia's flag; it's safe to say they're pretty proud of it. Historically it's a Hindu temple to the god Vishnu. What sets Angkor Wat apart from other Hindu temples are the unique bas-relief carvings in the stone work. Particularly the Apsaras: dancing girls.
Apparently what makes these interesting is they aren't portraying angels or gods - but normal people. If you had the time and patience, you can find around 50 different hair styles depicted. Different poses and costumes add to the variety.

Symbolically the temple represents heaven, or the land where the gods live. The bridge over the moat is a link between the real world and the gods. The third level of the temple is quite difficult to get to, with really steep steps, although the steps that the king was able to use were less steep than the rest. Unfortunately our visit was badly timed:
The highest level of "Heaven" has been closed for restoration for about a month now! There's a brand new museum in Siem Reap too - and that opened for the first time on the Monday after we left town. Talk about bad timing.

Next on the hit list of celestial tourism was the Bayon. It's the centre piece of Angkor Thom (that's pronounced Tom, as in Thomas). Angkor Thom is the ancient fortified capital city of the Khmer Empire. Fortified because for four years the Khmer's were without a capital city after defeat by the Cham's (ancestors of the Vietnamese). King Jayavarman VII took the capital back and set about constructing the Bayon.

I really liked the surrealness of this temple. Jayavarman VII's ego was big... really big... there are 216 massive stone carved faces on 54 towers. These faces are supposed to represent the god Avalokiteśvara, but according to legend they look more like Jayavarman! No matter where in the temple you are you're always being watched.
It's not just all large faces at the Bayon, like Angkor Wat there are bas-relief carvings. At the Bayon these tell a few stories as well as depicting everyday life in the 12th century. Raising an army and defeating the Cham's features prominently. A navel battle is shown complete with crocodiles eating men that had fallen overboard. It looks a bit comical actually - not sure if it was intended that way though!

Another famous temple of Angkor is Ta Prohm. Famous in part because it was featured in the first 'Tomb Raider' film.
The jungle has well and truly attacked this temple. Although the trees have been pegged back, some of the temple is only standing because the roots of the trees are holding it together! The green glow through the jungle canopy gives this temple a nice ambience.

I could have easily spent three or more days amongst these temples. They're interesting, and there's always a bit more to see. It reminded me of spending time at Wilson's Prom or the Grampians - never quite enough time to explore everything - or rather, there's always something around the corner to climb on or clamber over :)