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ANGKOR WAT

Angkor Wat, the greatest and superb stone temple of all Khmer buildings. This was the capital city as well as the scared temple of King Suryavarman II. The outer part of Angkor Wat was encompassed with a moat with the distance of 190 km to the outermost wall, made of laterite measuring 1000 m long and 800 m wide. The architectural planning of the temple is absolutely different from others.

Angkor Wat comprises two prominent structures which are the pyramid building and the linked galleries. Its enormous size is the symbol of the Hinduism beliefs. The motes are like the surrounded oceans, the galleries like the mountain and the largest main tower represents Mount Meru which is the centre of the world.

The trips to Angkor Wat starts early before dawn to see the sunrise that will come up above the towers as seen in the cover page of this publication.

The sanctuary has the front facing the west in accordance with the beliefs that this place was to be the royal cemetery of King Suryavarman II and the west implied the meaning of “death”.

Striking features of Angkor Wat besides its great construction is the 2000 Apsaras carvings at the wall base and the carvings on the inner wall of the gallery about the history in the reign of King Suryavarman II and the Hinduism religious stories and many gods.

It may take about two – three hours or one whole day to see Angkor Wat but quite difficult to gain all detailed information.

The construction took more than 30 years, using such a lot of workers and elephants to bring stones from Phnom Kulen Mountain, located about 50 km, to the construction site. The temple was constructed in early 12 th century (between 1113 and 1150) with later additions.

ANGKOR THOM

After touring Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom will be the next destination, located only 2 km from Angkor Wat. At Angkor Thom, plenteous stone temples are rested but the most outstanding one is ?Bayon?. At first step upon entering the gate, you will find the huge sandstone with carved human faces around. The kind and smiling faces are believed to be the face of King Jayavarman VII, the greatest Khmer King.

The Sanctuaries at the East of Angkor Thom

Takeo : Built in the reign of King Jayavarman V in late 10 th to early centuries. There are 5 stone temples, having 5 storeys at the height of 20 m. The construction was not really completed, may be because of the difficulty of carving on the very hard stones or having not enough workers during the war period.

Ta Prohm : Built in the reign of King Jayavarman VII in late 12 th to 13 th centuries. This temple was dedicated to the King's mother. The striking feature is the large tree that grew over Ta Prohm making the mysterious site and looking like octopusis tentacles. Ta Prohm is the small sanctuary of most shady atmosphere, having many small temples rested on the same basement.

Banteay Kdei : Built in the reign of King Jayavarman VII with the features like Ta Prohm but looks smaller. The main attraction is the Gopura entrance gate which has human faces being carved at four directions like at the Bayon. It does not take much time for a visit.

Kravan : Built in the reign of King Harshavarman I of early 10 th century. There are 5 small sanctuaries on the same basement made of brick, having the outstanding carvings inside such as the Indra mounted on the Vishnu Trivikrama, the eight – armed Vishnu and the Vishnu on his animal vehical garuda.

The Sanctuaries Northeast Of Angkor Thom

Neak Pean : Built in the reign of King Jayavarman VII late of the 12 th century. The very strange temple standing in the middle of the pond like the island in the sea or the Himalaya Mountain in the heart of the ocean.

The highlight is the Naga around the basement of the sanctuary which has 7 steps of stairs up to the principal tower, the carving of the Lord Buddha's stories, carving of horses, human and lions inside the pavilion around the pond at four sides. There is water in the pond only in the rainy season, but after that, the area will be dry and can walk to the principal tower in the middles of the pond.

After seeing Neak Pean, you should visit another sanctuary called Preah Khan which was also built in the reign of King Jayavarman VII. Highlight of Preah Khan is the Roman Building with round pillar but the purpose of construction was unknown until nowadays. Not far from Preah Khan is Ta Som, also built in the reign of King Jayavarman, having the carving of human faces at the portal like at the Bayon.

THE BAYON

Bayon was constructed by king Jayavarman VII in late 12 century. The mystic look of Bayon is the 54 towers with 4 large faces being carved at each tower totaling 216. There is no place to hide from these eyes.

Apart from several faces, another highlight is to see the carving of the Khmer history in the reign of King Jayavarman VII depicting the king's armies and battles, lives of Khmer people and fishes in Tonle Sap .

Angkor Wat is more beautiful, comparing with Bayon but Bayon has the strange and unique arts of Buddhism which is different from other temples being built in accordance with Hinduism beliefs.

Seeing Angkor Wat and the Bayon is a must for every visitor who comes to see the world's amazing sites at Siem Reap.

* The Bayon, constructed by using a lot of stones being placed on one another Level by level. Although very large, the Bayon offers mysterious feeling to anyone who enters the place. They will feel like being watched by many human faces on the towers and there is no place to hide.

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