The most famous face of all face towers in Bayon temple; supposedly of King Jayavarman VII who built the temple at the end of the 12th century… …I was mesmerized by that serene smile!
Dates visited: December 23, 2014
Angkor (Khmer term for “city”) is a vast region (4 miles north of Siem Reap) that includes the famous Angkor Wat (Khmer for “Temple City”) and the capital city, Angkor Thom (Khmer for “Great City”). This entire region, actually an archaeological site, has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. And rest assured, it gives you the chills to be in presence of such magnificent work of art, religion and history.
Here’s the timeline of Angkor and the Khmer empire in a nutshell:
800 AD: Beginning of Angkorian period.
800 AD – 1181 AD: Earlier Angkorian kings were Lord Shiva worshippers so all temples were built based on Hindu cosmology. However, King Suryavarman II built Angkor Wat in early 12th century dedicating it to Lord Vishnu instead of Lord Shiva. Hinduism is the primary religion.
1181 AD – 1242 AD: Enter King Jayavarman VII who changes the state religion from Hinduism to Buddhism and builds the walled-city Angkor Thom and Buddhist temples such as Ta Prohm and Preah Khan. He alters Hindu temples to display images of Buddha and Angkor Wat becomes a Buddhist shrine. Buddhism is the primary religion.
1243 AD: King Indravarman II starts restoring the religion back to Hinduism. His successor, King Jayavarman VIII, starts replacing Buddha statues with lingams. There’s a huge movement to desecrate Buddhist images and cover them with Hindu symbols. Bayon becomes a Shiva temple.
13xx AD: Buddhism starts taking a stronger hold and eventually becomes the dominant religion.
1431 AD: End of Angkorian period due to wars with Siamese and the Ayutthaya kingdom.
Back to my vacation: We hired a private guide for a one-day temple tour so our day started at 5 am to catch the sun rise over Angkor Wat. Of course, there were huge crowds to see the spectacular view of Angkor Wat with its five towers reflected in the pond in front of it. As the sky changed colors and became brighter, it truly was an unforgettable experience to see the world’s largest religious monument reveal itself in full glory.
For the rest of the day, we explored Angkor Thom and its temples—Baphuon, Bayon and Phimeanakas—along with other temples such as Ta Prohm, Preah Khan and Angkor Wat. Here are my favorites.
- Bayon—I loved it for the massive stone-faced towers. The stone faces are of King Jayavarman VII who represented himself as a bodhisattva of compassion. Being surrounded by these huge and towering 100+ faces, all with the same mesmerizing smile, was one of my best experiences of the trip.
- Ta Prohm—this temple has gotten immense attention because of Angelina Jolie’s Tomb Raider, but it was always one of the most unique temples in Angkor. The uniqueness is the presence of huge trees (spung and ficus) whose thick roots strangle the temple walls. It was a truly haunting sight to witness such an accidental collusion between Nature and humans.
- Angkor Wat—built between 1113 and 1150 AD, this temple is the symbol of Cambodia. Originally, a Hindu temple, it portrays Hindu cosmology with the quincunx of towers representing Mount Meru (home of gods), the outer walls representing the mountains enclosing the world, and the moat representing the oceans beyond.
It is really hard to describe in words the awesomeness of seeing Angkor Wat and the rest of the temples. Just go, see them and you will know what I mean! We visited these temples in scorching 90 degrees Fahrenheit heat and for 11 straight hours (since 5 am)… …so as soon as we got back to the hotel, we just jumped into the pool and rounded off the day with a foot massage.
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- Angkor Wat—the symbol of Cambodia and the largest religious monument in the world
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- Watching the sun rise over Angkor Wat… …the reflection of the five towers is a sight to behold!
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- Across the pond from Angkor Wat… …all of them can check “See sunrise at Angkor Wat” off their bucket list!
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- Angkor Wat—the symbol of Cambodia and the largest religious monument in the world
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- At Angkor Wat—bas-relief of Preah Ream (Prince Rama) from Reamker (the Cambodian version of the Indian classic, the Ramayana) in a battle with Krong Reap (Demon King Ravana)… …the black shiny face is due to people touching his face.
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- South Gate—one of the four entrances to Angkor Thom; the faces on the 23 meter tall tower are supposedly of King Jayavarman VII
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- At Ta Prohm—the thick and huge overgrown roots of a spung give an eerie feeling
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- At Bayon—desecration of Buddha by erasing the artwork and replacing it with a lingam
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- Face towers of Bayon temple standing tall… …
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- Yes, the similarity is uncanny!
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- At Bayon—bas-relief of apsaras
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- At Preah Khan—a row of Asuras, pulling Vasuki, the naga (serpent)… …a reference to the “Churning of the Sea of Milk” myth.
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- Baphuon temple… …built in the mid-11th century, time has taken its toll
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- Close-up of Garuda at the Terrace of the Elephants in Angkor Thom
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- Shiva lingam at the Bayon temple
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- Elephants at the Terrace of the Elephants in the walled-city of Angkor Thom
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- At Ta Prohm—years and years of root growth has covered a lot of the temple walls
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- Main causeway leading to Angkor Wat… …the majestic grandeur hits you with every step you take
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- At Angkor Wat—the steep steps to climb the towers supposedly denote the difficult ascent to the Heaven
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- Close-up of the central Angkor Wat tower… …a lone pigeon keeps guard
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- At Angkor Wat—bas-relief of Krong Reap (Demon King Ravana) from Reamker (the Cambodian version of the Indian classic, the Ramayana)… …note that the position of his ten heads is different from the one described in Indian Ramayana
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- Bas-relief of Naga at Ta Prohm
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- At Bayon—in front of the most famous of all faces
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- Phimeanakas—this three-tiered temple was built at the end of 10th century
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- “This Nirvana app is pretty darn cool, eh?”
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- At Ta Prohm—stone structures and corridors
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- Entrance to Preah Khan… …this temple was built in the 12th century
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- At Ta Prohm—carved by human, perfected by Nature!
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- At Ta Prohm—attempt at erasing Buddha by carving a Hindu figure on it
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- At Ta Prohm—attempt at erasing an apsara (dancing for Buddha) by carving a Hindu figure on it… …with a mustache, beard et al!
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- The face towers of Bayon smile upon you… …
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- Bas-relief of stunningly beautiful Apsaras inside Angkor Wat
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- At Ta Prohm—bas-relief of apsaras and some intricate carving
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- Row of Devas pulling Vasuki, the naga (serpent)… …a reference to the “Churning of the Sea of Milk” myth
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- The Terrace of the Elephants in Angkor Thom… …supposedly used by King Jayavarman VII as a platform from which to view his victorious returning army
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- Angkor Wat… …the five towers (quincunx) representing the five peaks of Mount Meru (home of the gods)
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- Angkor Wat… …the outer walls represent the mountains enclosing the world, and the moat represents the oceans beyond
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- Trying to stand as tall as the Angkor Wat tower!
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- At Ta Prohm—just loved the exquisite carving
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- Rohan needed a bathroom break so our quick-acting guide borrowed a moped and zoomed us away!!
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- Baphuon temple… …just loved the parallel lines
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- Bas-relief of a lion and garuda at the 350m-long Terrace of Elephants in Angkor Thom
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- At Bayon—the efforts that must have gone into erasing Buddha and carving a lingam on it!
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- One of my best shots of Angkor Wat… …the magnificent temple and its reflection in the northern pool
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- At Angkor Wat—looking up from the outer gallery
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- At Angkor Wat—view of the inner gallery from the top of the central towers
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- Bas-relief of Lord Vishnu reclining over Naga
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- One of the statues discovered inside Angkor Wat
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- At Preah Khan—trees (spung and ficus) strangling the walls and corridors
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- At Angkor Wat—this used to be filled with holy water for cleansing and purification of the pilgrims
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- At Bayon—bas-relief of subjects bowing to and worshiping the King
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- At Bayon—the face towers make for a wonderful setting
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- South Gate… …entrance to Angkor Thom, flanked by a row of Asuras, pulling Vasuki, the naga (serpent)… …a reference to the “Churning of the Sea of Milk” myth.
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- At Ta Prohm—attempt at erasing Buddha by carving a Hindu figure on it
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- At Angkor Wat—walking along the inner gallery