Angkor Temples, Siem Reap, Cambodia

To say that the Angkor Temples are amazing is one of the great understatements of all times!  The Khmer people were the ancient people of modern-day Cambodia. They built temples as palaces to the gods, not as a place of worship. In some cases, the temple also enshrined the remains of the king. The temple was in the center of a village that supported the temple: monastery, wooden houses for workers, etc. Temples have been uncovered from as early as the 8^th century. The ones we visited, however were from the 10^th to 13^th century.

We started at Angkor Wat—the big one. This is the largest religious building in the world. King Suryavarman II, who built Angkor Wat created it as a palace to the gods and also as his final resting place. His ashes are encased in the uppermost tower. Most temples are entered from the east. This one, however, has its main entrance to the west. We entered from the east to avoid the crowds (which are horrendous!). Picture 1 shows the first view of the temple after crossing the 150 meter-wide moat and entering through the east gate. Picture 2 gives a view across the entire eastern side.

We found the most interesting thing about the temple to be the stone carvings. In this case the whole first level has an gallery with bas-relief carvings around it. Picture 3 shows one corridor and the effect of these carvings. In this temple the carvings feature major wars. Picture 4 shows a close-up of some of the carvings. Interestingly, these carvings are fairly shallow and difficult to photograph. The next temple, Angkor Thom, has much deeper carvings that seem more spectacular. One set of carvings in Angkor Wat that spread throughout the temple features 57 carvings of women, each with a different hairstyle. Picture 5 shows one example.

Within the temple there are 1000 Buddha images. Each one is missing its head, like the one in Picture 6. Much of this is attributed to the Khmer Rouge control in the late 70s, although there’s some thought that some disappeared with trophy hunters.

There are 3 levels to the temple, connected by very steep and narrow stairs. On the first level, additional outbuildings have been added. Picture 7 shows the royal crematorium that was added later.

Finally, the ponds in front of the temple provide a wonderful reflection of Angkor Wat (Picture 8). Unfortunately, they’re experiencing a moderate drought and the pond has almost dried up. Additionally, we were covered in a layer of fine dust!

Our second stop was at Angkor Thom. The Temple is significantly smaller than Angkor Wat and not as well preserved. The king who built Angkor Thom followed the one who built Angkor Wat and the grounds of the two temples are adjacent. The grounds, however, cover a much larger area. The bas-relief carvings are amazing because of the depth of carvings. Instead of battles, these carvings are of every-day happenings.

Picture 9 is part of a section that showed hunting from elephants. Picture 10 is a close-up of the elephant. Picture 11 is in another section showing creatures of the sea. In this case, a man is being eaten by an alligator.

One thing we noticed at Angkor Thom is that the King who created the temple was fond of his own image. Picture 12 shows a tower with his image on all 4 sides. The images were everywhere.

Our third temple was Ta Prohm Temple. This temple has deteriorated significantly, largely because the trees have invaded, producing some spectacular sites. Pictures 13 and 14 are just a couple of examples.

The carving in Picture 15 is from Ta Prohm and the subjects are most interesting. The top figure is a rhinoceros, which isn’t terribly unusual, since they used to inhabit this area. The bottom figure, however, leads to lots of questions. It looks like a dinosaur. How they came to carve this is unknown.

Our 4^th temple was Banteay Srei from the 2^nd half of the 10^th century, the oldest temple we saw. It’s called the Ladies Temple because it is small and the carvings delicate. It is also the only temple we saw that was not a royal temple. It was built by one of the king’s counselors.

Picture 16 is a view of the entrance and it’s reflection in the small pond. Once inside, you notice the spectacular, intricate carvings. Picture 17 is a view of the innermost part of the temple. Picture 18 is one of the gates with the elaborate carvings above. Picture 19 shows 2 monkey gods. Incidentally, the circular pillars in the background were actually turned on a lathe. Remains of a lathe were found near Angkor Wat. Finally, Picture 20 is one of those shots that just turns out right!

Our final temple was Banteay Samre, a relatively simple temple from the 12^th century. Picture 21 shows the entrance. Picture 22 shows the causeway leading to the temple. Each temple had at least one causeway that crossed the moat and allowed entrance to the temple. This one is in disrepair, but gives an idea of what it was like. Finally, Picture 23 shows a close-up of some of the turned pillars.

There are hundreds of these temples throughout Cambodia, but the greatest concentration is here. This was the ancient capital of Cambodia. One could easily spend a week or so visiting the many temples. But unless you’re an archeologist, they would probably get repetitious. We left wishing for a few more—another day would have been perfect.