Angkor Wat : A Divine Magnificence
As
we were approaching Siem Reap (in Cambodia) the greenery on either side of the
road became denser and there was a profusion of lotus ponds filled with pink
and white blossoms. Siem Reap city was
neat and clean with tree-lined wide roads and eye-catching hotels.Our hotel,
Soma Devi Resort and Spa’s garden greeted us with an abundance of rose periwinkles
(nayantara) and giant, red hibiscus (flowers that are offered to Goddess Durga
and Kalimata).The stage was set for a great spiritual experience.
History
Before
we saw Angkor Wat we were introduced to the Siem Reap river. It plays an
important part in the city’s history, culture and religion. The Khmer Empire, a
powerful Hindu dynasty in Southeast Asia was founded in 802 AD by Jayavarman II, a
warrior-priest . But what the Hindu kings missed was the sacred Ganga.
So, in the 11th century, Suryavarman I decided to create an artificial
Ganga. A river, Stung Kbal Spean was identified which descended from the Kulen Mountains
in the northeast of Angkor in Siem Reap district. Under the aegis of the king’s
minister, a thousand Lingams were carved on the river bed by the local hermits.
Though the carving of the Lingams began in the reign of Suryavarman I, most of
the sculpturing was done during the reign of Udayadityavarman II. The river
becomes sacred as it peacefully touches the thousand Lingams, runs over them
and then flows downstream, into the Siem Reap river, which passes through the plains and more
especially the Angkor Wat temple complex; eventually flowing into the Tonle Sap
lake. This sanctified river is used for dispersing the ashes after cremation of
humans and also for other holy purposes.
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| Sanctified Siem Reap River |
Angkor
(from Sanskrit nagara) Wat (from
Sanskrit vata) was hidden from the
world for centuries by dense vegetation. It became known to the west only after
1861, when a French naturalist and explorer Henri Mouhot through his writings
(published posthumously) encouraged archaeologists to Cambodia to discover a
lost, ancient civilization. Following such fragmentary clues, French explorers
and scholars hacked their way through the jungles to discover this magnificent
architecture. Further discovery in recent times was possible through Lidar, a
form of aerial laser scanning, that is mounted in helicopters and sees streets
and buildings, where the naked human eye will only see fields and forests. This
woodland is evident even today because the road leading to Angkor Wat is cut
through dense jungles on either side. The extensive vegetation could not
encroach upon the temple complex only because of the moat surrounding it on all
four sides. This moat is fed by a canal from the sacred Siem Reap river. Khmer
architects typically surrounded temples with moats to represent the Hindu sea
of creation.
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| Road to Angkor Wat Through Dense Forests |
Angkorian
kings considered themselves to be Devrajas and therefore erected huge temples
to the Gods under whose protection they stood. Angkor Wat, the temple complex
in Cambodia is the largest religious monument in the world even today, built on
a site of 402 acres. It was constructed by the Khmer king Suryavarman II in the
early 12th century in Yasodharapura (present-day Angkor).It was the
king’s state temple and is dedicated to Lord Vishnu. It has become a symbol of
Cambodia and appears on its national flag. Angkor Wat (city of temples/temple
city in Khmer) was included in UNESCO World Heritage site in 1992.
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| Angkor Wat : World's Largest Religious Monument |
Architecture and Divinity
Angkor
Wat is oriented to the west rather than the east. This had led some scholars to
conclude that Suryavarman II (1113 -1150 AD) intended it to serve as his
funerary temple. But other scholars suggest that Angkor Wat’s alignment was due
to its dedication to Lord Vishnu who was associated with the west. It is a
temple mountain designed to represent Mount Meru, home of the Devatas in Hindu mythology. The central
quincunx of towers symbolizes the 5 peaks of the mountain. It has a series of
enclosure walls and moat which signify the surrounding mountain ranges and ocean.
The temple stands on a terrace raised higher than the city. The original name
of the temple was Vrah Visnuloka which means sacred dwelling of Vishnu.
We
obtained our tickets from the main entrance gate of Angkor Archaeological Park.
It costs 37$ per person for one day. This ticket or ‘Angkor Pass’ is a sort of
ID card because it has your photograph on it which is taken free of charge at
the spot. As our bus moved in Angkor Wat campus through the road emerging
from dense vegetation, the sanctified Siem Reap river greeted us. Our bus
halted at the parking lot, overcrowded with buses with tourists from all over
the world. One has to wear decent clothes with shoulders and knees covered to
gain access to Angkor Wat. From the parking area you have the option of hiring
a Tuk-Tuk, one dollar per person or to go on foot. The Tuk-Tuk deposited us
near the temple complex but we had to walk a little farther, climb down a wooden
staircase, cross the moat and then again climb up a wooden staircase until we
reached the towering, ornate gates or Gopuras
of Angkor Wat. There are two entrances on either side of the Gopuras known as elephant gates because they were large enough for those animals to
pass through. Under the southern tower stands the 5 meters tall statue of
Vishnu known locally as Ta Reach. Pilgrims give offerings to it. This standing
statue of Lord Vishnu has eight arms. It is carved from a single piece of
sandstone and is draped in yellowish-orange clothing. We entered through the western
tower, the main gate. The architecture had turned black due to age but the
grandeur is indescribable—the vastness, majesty and intricate carvings on the
ceiling and walls with Devatas,
apsaras, flowers and animals.
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| Moat Leading to Angkor Wat |
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| Wooden Staircase Leading to the Entrance |
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| Ornate Gates or Gopuras |
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| Original Idol of Lord Vishnu ,now worshipped as Ta Reach |
We
travel from the western Gopura to the
main temple by the inner causeway which has naga (serpent) balustrades. Each side of the causeway also has a library. Six steps on
either side lead to the city below. This enclosure of about 203 acres was
occupied by the city and royal palace in ancient times. But now nothing remains
except the outlines of some streets and dense vegetation beyond. Satellite imaging
has shown that Angkor during its peak between the 11th and 13th
centuries was the largest pre-industrial urban center in the world and greater
than modern Paris.
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| Naga Balustrades |
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| Global Population Walking towards Angkor Wat |
We
climb a few more steps and then the 5 lotus-bud shaped tips of Angkor Wat comes
into view albeit from a distance. The lotus pond below the causeway is also
visible which is the setting for the iconic picture of the temple.
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| Ancient Library on the Right Side |
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| Lion Statue near Naga Balustrade |
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| Ancient Library on the Left |
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| Parts of Ancient City |
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| Ancient City Framed by the Distant Lotus Peaks of Angkor Wat |
We reach the principal temple, climb a few steps and enter the first level. The main building material is sandstone, while laterite is used for the outer wall and
for hidden, structural parts. The inner walls of the outer gallery are sculpted
with a series of large-scale scenes mainly depicting episodes from the Hindu
epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, in a 'linear arrangement of stone
carving'. The western gallery shows the battle of Lanka and battle of Kurukshetra;
of lord Krishna sitting on his chariot and advising Arjun, i.e. enumerating the holy book, "Bhagavad Gita". The southern gallery
follows the historical scene, a procession of Suryavarman II; the 32 hells and
the 37 heavens of Hinduism; of Yama and Chitragupta. There are engravings of
king and his consort or with his soldiers. The king and the queen could be
distinguished by their umbrellas. The commander- in- chief was the next in
line. As the line descended in hierarchy the umbrellas reduced in numbers and
luster. In the eastern gallery is one of the most celebrated scenes, the
churning of the sea of milk, showing 92 asuras
and 88 Devtas using the serpent vasuki to churn the sea under Vishnu’s
direction to produce Amrita, the
divine elixir of immortality. The ceiling too had intricate carvings. If you
concentrate on the reliefs on the walls you’ll miss the splendid craftsmanship
on the ceiling; so that always your eyes and heads are moving horizontally
and vertically. However, there are some holes and bullet marks in the walls
made by stray American shells and a shoot out between Khmer Rouge and
Vietnamese soldiers during the Cambodian civil war (1978-1991) when Khmer Rouge
forces took refuge in the temple. After the war art thieves working out of
Thailand stole prized artifacts and bronze sheets decorating the walls.
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| Sheeny Carvings |
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| Outer Gallery |
We
exit the first level, climb a few steps and come to the second level enclosure.
This might originally have been flooded to represent the ocean around Mount
Meru. The second level has huge, open courtyards with age-blackened architecture,
prayer wheels and walls carved with apsaras and Devatas. In this second level we see the inner craftsmanship of the
five temple towers especially the tallest one, the central tower representing
Mount Meru.
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| Climbing to the Second Level |
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| Flooded During Ancient Times to Denote the Ocean |
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| A View of the Mammoth Edifice |
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| Broken Idols |
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| Tallest Peak Denoting Mount Meru |
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| Sunken Courtyard with Buddhist Influence |
The
next is the third level, the central tower raised very high above the surrounding
levels and 213 feet above the ground. The very steep stairways leading to it represent
the difficulty of ascending to the kingdom of the Gods. In ancient times
ordinary people were not allowed and only the king accompanied by the royal
priest had access to this level. The spectacle of the stairs from the second
level is itself daunting. At the pinnacle of the stairs is a temple, which was
once adorned with the shrine of the eight-hand Lord Vishnu seen at the
entrance. The temple was open on each side but it was walled in when Angkor Wat
was converted to Theravada Buddhism. Those steep stairs, looking more deadly due
to age are now abandoned and for the tourists two wooden staircases with iron
railings have been made for entrance and exit. There is a long queue peopled by
world-wide population and wearing the third level’s entry badge. We climbed many
steps and came to the third level. There are dark passages, galleries, temples,
windows at the projected landings, small flight of steps in shadowy corridors
and sunken courtyards open to the sky. In one temple is the reclining Buddha accompanied
by sitting Buddhas. In another is Buddha in lotus posture, his head haloed by a
naga. A temple featured Buddhas in
standing position. Only limited people may enter this third level and can stay
only for fifteen minutes. A temple guard ordered us to leave because we had
overstayed.
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| Climbing up to the Third Level |
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| Intricate Carvings on the Peak |
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| Buddhist Statue in the Third Level |
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| Ancient Blocks of Stones Used as Building Material |
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| Close-up of the Ancient Temple's Ancient Steps |
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| Side View of the Ancient Temple |
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| Frontal View of the Ancient, Original Temple |
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| Ancient Temple's Original Idol : Lord Vishnu |
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| View from the Third Level |
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| Everlasting Vista of Dense Woodland from the Third Level |
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| Restoration in the Third Level |
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| Open- to- the-Sky Courtyard in the Third Level |
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| Dark Corridors inside Third Level |
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Climbing Down from the Third Level
Photo: Supplied |
We climbed down, deposited our entry badges and walked back through covered pathways, massive doorways, until we reached the lotus pond before the temple.
We had walked long distances in the hot, humid climate, ascended and descended countless steps but felt grateful and blessed that we had the opportunity to witness this superb structure. Everywhere there is creation: blackened with age, ruined by time and war but with the unmistakable imprint of genius. It is grander and prettier than what is described in history books and seen in travel shows. What we were fortunate to see was nothing compared to the things left unseen because a couple of hours at this massive complex gives us just a glimpse of the mammoth structure. Did human hands really build it? No wonder, legends say that it was commissioned by Devraj Indra. The 13th century Chinese philosopher Zhou Daguan had said that some believed that the temple was constructed overnight by a divine architect.
Photographs : Bulbul Sur
Tags: Angkor Wat Temple, Siem Reap River, Soma DEvi Resorts and Spa
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