Angkor Thom: A Majestic Marvel

Angkor Thom: A Majestic Marvel

Angkor Archaeological Park is just 20 minutes away from Siem Reap. After seeing Angkor Wat, we came back to the city for lunch. Siem Reap has many Indian restaurants with such names, ‘Namaste India’, ‘The Indian Restaurant’,’ Bombay Kitchen’, ‘Vanakkam Dakshin’ etc. We entered one such restaurant and was greeted with ‘Namaste’ and a welcome drink: hot rasam served in small, steel glasses. From then onwards, delicious South Indian dishes appeared in quick succession: pakoras, sambar, rice, cauliflower curry, papad, and black payasam made with Cambodian rice. The soft rotis were large like men’s handkerchiefs. Food was served by smiling sari-clad, Cambodian girls.

After lunch we started for Angkor Thom, but this time we were ferried in a mini bus because large buses are not allowed in the campus.

History

After Suryavarman II’s death (between 1145 and 1150 A.D.), kings of Khmer empire ruled briefly, and in 1177, an army of Chams conquered Angkor and annexed it in the province of Champa (now the central region of Vietnam).

Meanwhile Jayavarman VII of Khmer dynasty (1181-1219) gathered an army and regained the capital, Yosodharapura (Angkor). He defeated Champa in 1203 and conquered large parts of its territory. He built a new capital, Angkor Thom (Great city). Angkor Thom is also known as Nokor (Sanskrit word, nagara) meaning city. Thom means great in Khmer.

Architecture

South Gate of Angkor Thom

Angkor Thom is about a quarter of a mile away from Siem Reap River and lies on its west bank. We entered through the well-preserved south gate flanked by a moat.  A causeway spans the moat. On each side of the causeway are railings fashioned with stone figures in the attitude of a tug of war: 54 giant Devas on the left pulling one end of the snake vasuki. On the right are 54 asuras, pulling the other end of the snake in the opposite direction. This appears to be a reference to the myth popular in Angkor, of the churning of the sea of milk or Samudra Manthan. The faces of the statues are quite expressive. Some of the heads on these figures are copies. The original ones have been removed and are at the Angkor conservancy in Siem Reap. 

Statues of Devas and Asuras enacting Samudra Manthan

The entrance gate of Angkor Thom is shaped like an upside-down U. The central tower of the stone gate is spectacular with three face towers. Below them are two elephant statues on either side. Sitting on each elephant is Devraj Indra with his weapon vajra (thunderbolt).

Face Tower at the Entrance Gate

The main attraction in Angkor Thom is the Bayon Temple. It was established in the late 12^th century and has an area of 9 kilometers. It is located at the exact center of Angkor Thom. The original name of Bayon was Jayagiri (Victory Mountain).After the French occupied Cambodia, it was called Banyan temple because of the tree’s religious significance, as Lord Buddha is said to have attained enlightenment under the Banyan tree. When the local Khmer workers came to renovate the temple they pronounced Banyan as Bayon and the name stuck since then.

It was the last state temple to be constructed at Angkor and the only Angkorian temple to be built primarily as a Mahayana Buddhist shrine because Jayavarman VII was a follower of Mahayana Buddhism. There is a story behind his religion. His first wife, Jayaraja Devi had a huge influence on him. During those times, there was a custom that when kings went to war, their queens would spend their time in the palace in divine contemplation. While Jayavarman VII was away in Champa, Jayaraja Devi immersed herself in prayers and meditation. But sadly, she passed away before Jayavarman VII’s return. He was heartbroken at his wife’s death. Later on, he married Indra Devi, Jayaraja Devi’s sister. Indra Devi was a follower of Buddhism and she was instrumental in converting Jayavarman VII into a Buddhist. He was the only king in the Khmer Empire to be a Buddhist.

After his death, the temple was changed to Hinduism. In later centuries, when Theravada Buddhism became dominant there were further changes in the temple, until it was ensnared by the jungle.  It was abandoned some time before 1609.

Ruins in Angkor Thom

Angkor Thom is built in the Bayon style of architecture which means massive scale of the buildings, widespread use of laterite and Face Towers.

Profusion of Face Towers

The afternoon sun was sending forth blazing rays and the mass of architecture which looked like a heap of rubble from afar, challenged our strength. But once we reached nearer to the structure, its beauty and grandeur energized us and the chaotic rubble took shape. We could see a collection of 54 towers encompassing a total of 216 peacefully smiling, enormous faces. According to some scholars, the faces are in the likeness of king Jayavarman VII himself. In the tradition of Khmer kings he thought himself as Devraja .The only difference was, while his predecessors were Hindus and considered themselves to be of the same substance as Shiva or Vishnu, Jayavarman VII as a Buddhist identified himself with the Buddha and the Bodhisattva.

Face Tower Resembling Jayavarman VII

While Angkor Wat is spacious with open galleries and courtyards, huge enclosures, towering staircases, all the elements in Bayon temple are crowded against each other. This place was also jammed with global population and there is a lot of ascending and descending because the structures are on three levels. There are libraries, galleries, pavilions, towers, terraces, corridors in this architectural jumble. 

A View from a Corridor 

Global Population at Angkor Thom

Gallery ,Steps and Corridor 

 Though the stone steps are steep and huge, they are manageable because they are smaller in number (compared to Angkor Wat). The inner gallery has scenes from Hindu mythology, of the members of Trimurti, apsaras, Ravana and Garuda. The upper terrace has the famous face towers with each tower supporting gigantic, serene, smiling faces clustering around the central peak.  As we climbed down from the upper terrace we visited a small, very dark Buddhist temple (complete with a priest) on the left side of the landing.  

Dark, Buddhist Temple

Other monuments in Angkor Thom are: the Terrace of elephants which is 350 meters in length and is decorated with carved elephants. It depicts in stone a famous battle in Khmer history. It was also the viewing platform from where Jayavarman VII is said to have watched his victorious armies return from battle. The terrace overlooks a vast field which was once the parade ground during Jayavarman VII’s reign. He used to watch parades, games and processions from there. The terrace of the Leper King, showcasing the Bayon style is in the northwest corner of the royal square of Angkor Thom and was  built under Jayavarman VII .The terrace derives its name from a statue found in the 15th century, representing Yama, the Hindu God of Death. The statue is called the Leper King because the discoloration and moss growing on it made it look as if it were suffering from leprosy. Some historians suggest that it might represent the Angkorian king, Yosovarman I who had leprosy.  Cambodians generally call the statue Dharmaraja because this was the name engraved on the original idol. The original idol is in the courtyard of the National Museum in Phnom Penh.  

Replica  Statue of  the Leper King

There is also Baphuon, a three-tired temple mountain built as Udayadityavarman II’s state temple and dedicated to Lord Shiva.  

The buildings are sturdy in spite of their age. They were mainly constructed with laterite and sandstone. There were still many structures like the Royal Palace, the Phimeanakas etc.which remained unseen. We climbed down through a large flight of steps into the open, crossed the road to reach to our mini bus. There was a crowd of Cambodian women selling shawls and other local products near the parking lot and you need considerable bargaining expertise to buy things from  them.  

Photographs : Bulbul Sur

Tags: Angkor Thom, Jayavarman VII, Leper King, Siem Reap River, Face Towers

Angkor Wat : A Divine Magnificence

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.

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.

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 12^th 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.

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.

Moat  Leading to Angkor Wat

Wooden Staircase Leading to the Entrance

Ornate Gates or Gopuras

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 11^th and 13^th centuries was the largest pre-industrial urban center in the world and greater than modern Paris.

Naga Balustrades

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.

Ancient Library on the Right Side

Lion Statue near Naga Balustrade

Ancient Library on the Left

Parts of Ancient City

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.

Disfigurement by War 

Defacement by Bullets

Deformity Caused by Theft

 As we turned left at the outer level we saw that the carvings had a pronounced sheen. This was because the tourists used to touch them while passing. Now a rope separates the visitors from the wall. The outer gallery is open to the outside of the temple with columned half-galleries extending and buttressing the structure.

Sheeny Carvings

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.  

Climbing to the Second Level

Flooded During Ancient Times to Denote the Ocean

A View  of the Mammoth Edifice

Broken Idols

Tallest Peak Denoting Mount Meru

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.

Climbing up to the Third Level

Intricate Carvings on the Peak

  

Buddhist Statue in the Third Level 

Ancient Blocks of Stones Used as Building Material

Close-up of the Ancient Temple's Ancient Steps

Side View of the Ancient Temple

Frontal View of the Ancient, Original Temple

Ancient Temple's Original Idol : Lord Vishnu

View from the Third Level

Everlasting Vista of Dense Woodland from the Third Level

Restoration in the Third Level

Open- to- the-Sky Courtyard in  the Third Level

Dark Corridors inside Third  Level

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 13^th 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

On the Way to Angkor Wat

On the Way to Angkor Wat

Siem Reap, the home of Angkor Wat, is a six-hour bus journey from Phnom Penh, including three stopovers. As we left Phnom Penh, we could see apartment buildings coming up on the outskirts of the city. The scenery was not spectacular. On the way, temples, monasteries and pagodas whizzed past. A humble, red, single-storey building bore the inscription, CPP Office; that is Cambodian People’s Party, the main political party in Cambodia. Vast, green fields on either side of the road were abundant proof that agriculture was the main occupation of Cambodia and employed 80% of the workforce. Small towns and hamlets sprang up at regular intervals. A notable feature in isolated locations  near rice fields were elevated wooden houses called stilt houses .These rural Khmer houses  are raised on stilts or wooden pilings to prevent the main room in the house of rice farmers from floods and to maximize air circulation. The simplest of these traditional dwellings consist of only one main room on the upper floor, which is partitioned into separate units used to provide a storage place for rice, a bedroom for the parents, and a further space for  unmarried daughters.  

Rural Khmer Stilt House

Rural Khmer Stilt House

We first stopped at Spider Village (also Spiderville) at Skuon. It is a busy market town about 75 kilometers north of Phnom Penh. It is the district capital of Cheung Prey district. Vendors sold fried spiders, fried cockroaches and fried grasshoppers. The shopkeepers, mostly women, gave careless glances at the tourists because they knew that the foreigners would never buy those eatables but only click pictures of them. Some vendors also sold figs, dates and jaggery. The jaggery tasted wonderful, somewhat like the jaggery available in the winter months in West Bengal.

Spider Village

The next stop was for lunch in Kampong Thom at a restaurant called Prey Pros River Rest Area . The setting was picturesque with seating arrangements under thatched huts, overlooking a scenic waterfront.

The last stop was Kampong Kdei Bridge, locally known as Spean Praptos or Spean Preah Toeus which means ‘Direction Bridge’ in local Khmer language. It is also called the ‘Dragon Bridge.’ It is located on highway number 6, the main road leading to Siem Reap city. Till 2006, all kinds of transportation, including heavy vehicles such as trucks and buses passed over it. Nowadays, heavy traffic is diverted to a 1.3 kilometers-long bypass where a new bridge has been constructed .This was done to preserve Kampong Kdei Bridge. Now only pedestrians and villagers who travel in bicycles or motorbikes are allowed to travel over it.

                                                           Kampong Kdei : Bridge on the Stream of Time

Dragon Bridge

This bridge was built by King Jayavarman VII in the 12^th century, during the Angkorian period. It was restored by Bernard Philippe Groslier in 1965. The bridge, which is made of stone, spans the Chickreng River. “It is 86 meters long, 16 meters wide and 10 meters high above the river bed.” It is recognized as the longest, corbelled-arched, stone bridge in the world and the oldest laterite bridge in Southeast Asia. It has about "21 corbelled, narrow arches, spanning 285 feet (87 meters) and sustained by 20 laterite pillars".  

The entry points of both the sides of Kampong Kdei Bridge are marked by balustrades with huge snake heads, exquisitely carved with detailed engravings of seven-headed (nine heads according to some sources) nagas. The parapet on either side is shaped like a scaly, snake’s body. Nagas or serpents play an important part in Cambodian mythology .It is said that an Indian Brahman, Kaundinya invaded Cambodia which was under the dominion of a naga king. The naga princess, Nagi Soma fought valiantly but was defeated. Another source records that she fell in love with Kaundinya. She married the victorious Kaundinya and the first Cambodian royal family was established. The Khmers are the descendants of that union.

Naga Heads on the Balustrade

There are few souvenir shops in that area selling cane artefacts and other things. The bridge is a great photo stop. Mobile studios give you instant, framed photos with the bridge providing a perfect backdrop.

The bridge is open for public visit throughout the day. Its beauty is enhanced during the rainy season (May to October), when the increased water level bordered by dense greenery is a feast to the eye.  This longest rock bridge in the world, surviving the ravages of time, harsh weather, battles, bombardment is still standing strong for more than a thousand years. It is truly a bridge on the stream of time uniting the ancient, Angkorian period to the modern world.    It is a national heritage and is printed on the bank note of 5,000 Cambodian riel. It is one of the few Angkor empire era bridge standing tough and picturesque in the 21^st century.

Photographs: Bulbul Sur

Tags: Dragon Bridge, Rural Khmer Stilt House, Spider Village