4th March 2012
The trip to Siem Reap was an impromptu decision, largely an effort from my part to make up for something. And judging from the frequent fiery confrontation and sometimes lukewarm response even months after the return, I supposed the trip was more beneficial to me than for us. Still, being at Siem Reap was an eye-opener for its truly mystical and surreal ancient civilization temple, crossing an important one from my bucket list early on.
Air Asia was the way to fly as it was a world re-known low cost air carrier. We booked return flights, hotel and Tonle Sap lake tour online all from the Airasia travel website. Convenient way to arrange a short excursion if one's not traveling on a shoestring. The green bucks (US Dollars) was guaranteed to get us around but no harm exchanging some Cambodian Riel. We touched down Siem Reap early morning at 7 plus am, checked into the hotel, then wasted no time hiring a Tuk-tuk to bring us to Angkor Wat.
The name Siem Reap translates literally to the "Defeat of Siam (today's Thailand), relating to the centuries-old conflict between the Siamese and Khmer (Cambodian) people. The name was given by King Ang Chan (1516–1566) after his victory against a Siamese invasion, slaying Prince Ong, and capturing no less than 10,000 Siamese troops. All this for a white elephant according to Khmer history.
Later though from the 16th-19th centuries, feuds among the Khmer lords caused interventions and domination from their more powerful neighbors: Dai Viet (Vietnam) and Siam. Siem Reap was little more than a village under Siamese administration when the first French explorers discovered the splendor and grandiose architecture of Angkor in the 19th century. This resulted in the French invading Thailand for the acquisition of Angkor by French Indochina in 1907.
After Cambodia gained independence from France in 1953, Siem Reap continued growing as an international tourist hub, serving as a gateway to the magnificent Angkor temples. However, in the 1970s till 80s the country was plunged into carnage by civil war, ethnic cleansing genocide by communist Khmer Rouge, and the Vietnam-Cambodian war in succession. During this period of unrest, Siem Reap entered a long slumber from which it only began to awake in the mid 1990s.
....and that was just the compact summarized history of Siem Reap, Cambodia. Still to follow, ancient Angkor history. But first, a video on our arrival at the world's largest temple, Angkor Wat.
The Angkorian period started in AD 802 and ended in 1432, with Hinduism the pioneer religion. It was during this period that all those Angkor temples were built. King Jayavarman II was the founder of the Angkor empire, and he proclaimed himself a Devaraja (Deva = god, raja = king) possessing similar powers to the Hindu god Shiva. This god-king theme was adopted by his successors throughout Angkor Wat's history.
AD 1002-49 was the classical age, which means abundant temple building. Suryavarman I expanded the Khmer empire perhaps to its greatest extent. He is believed to be the promoter of Buddhism in Cambodia. Although he adopted the god-king status, Buddhism and Buddhist sculptures made their way into the Angkor city. Today, 97% of Cambodians are Buddhist.
The Angkor Wat we all know was built during 1112-52 by Suryavarman II, which he dedicated solely to the Hindu god Vishnu. Although Angkor Wat signifies the high achievement of the Khmer people, supposedly its construction caused major strains on the warring Khmer empire. The city was overpopulated, the agriculture could not keep up with demands, and canals had started to dry up.
1181-1219 was the peak of Angkor history. Jayavarman VII took over the reign of the Khmer empire, reclaiming it after the Dai Viet (Vietnam) invasion. He built Angkor Thom (a humongous temple complex larger than Angkor Wat), Preah Khan, Banteay Kdei, and Ta Prohm.
Instead of continuing the tradition of Hinduism, Jayavarman VII adopted Buddism and built Buddha structures in his temples. This was most noted in Bayon, one of the most famous Angkorian temples, with its 216 four-faced Buddha statues. After his death, the empire steadily went into decline, and for a century the state religion was once again Hinduism. This change made its way to the temples, where Buddha figures were defaced and destroyed. The Angkorian empire practically ended when the Thais attacked Angkor in 1351 and 1431.
Enter Angkor Wat, the largest religious structure in the world, listed as UNESCO heritage site and rightly so. Built in the 12th century, it is nearly a millennium old . The Angkor Wat is so large that, measuring 1.5km x 1.3km with the moat included, it is known as "temple that is a city" (Angkor = city, Wat = temple). As you can see from the video and pictures above, the temple is surrounded entirely by a moat. From the west, a sandstone causeway crosses the 190m-wide moat into the temple's outer walls.
We crossed the moat via the causeway and arrived at the entrance of the outer wall. Greeting us at the main entrance was a 235m-wide porch richly decorated with carvings and sculptures. This 1.025 x 0.8km wall encloses a wide temple courtyard. I later read that supposedly there was a statue of Vishnu, 3.25m in height with its 8 arms holding a mace, a spear, a disc, a conch and other items, located in the right-hand tower. We somehow missed it as we didn't hire any tour guide.
Exiting the outer wall we stepped onto the avenue which was 475m long and 9.5m wide, most of it lined with Naga (8 headed serpent) balustrades. The avenue connected the main entrance to the central temple, passing between two libraries followed by two pools, the northern one known as the reflecting pool. During wet season, it serve as the best spot for photographing the magnificent temple towers against a backdrop of sun rise, with the pool providing a nice reflection.
Angkor Wat is the heart and soul of Cambodia. It is the national symbol, the epicentre of Khmer civilisation and a source of fierce national pride, as evidently symbolized on its national flag. According to inscriptions, the construction of Angkor Wat involved 300,000 laborers and 6000 elephants, still the temple was not fully completed. The sandstone blocks from which Angkor Wat was built were quarried more than 50km away, from the holy mountain of Phnom Kulen and floated down the Siem Reap River on rafts, an unbelievable feat given the non-existence of modern technology.
Back to our walk, at the end of the 475m long avenue was the entrance to the central complex, via the Cruciform Terrace. On entering into the outer gallery, the walls were lined with intricate large scale bas reliefs depicting episodes from the Hindu epics the Ramayana and Mahabharata. These bas relief were designed to be viewed in anticlockwise direction, a practice that has precedents in ancient Hindu funerary rite, again suggesting Angkor Wat was also a mausoleum.
There are a total 8 themes of Hindu mythology bas reliefs on the outer gallery. I've found a map below that list them according to their locations. There are plenty of information on the internet if it intrigues you to seek more details.
The central temple complex consisted of three storeys, each one higher than the outer. Enter The Gallery of A Thousand Buddhas (Preah Poan), as the name suggested was a cloister which formerly housed hundreds of Buddha images. Most of them were now gone as a result of looting. Within the cloister were 4 small courtyards with what was intended to be a religious pool in each of them, but none were filled with water.
This place felt very ancient and mystical. I imagined wandering here without the crowd buzz. That would have heightened my sentiment by transporting me back to those days. The surrounding was calm and peaceful, making it an ideal meditation sanctuary it once was. By now parts of the former Buddha images had made it all over the world through black market, depriving Preah Poan from living up to its glorious name.
As we emerged from Preah Poan, we arrived at the second level enclosure of the temple complex, greeted by the grand sight of the Gopuras (towers) erecting centrally. The iconic lotus-bud towers were built at all 4 corners of the 2nd and 3rd level of the temple, forming a quincunx with the central tower. The central tower rose 31m above the third level and 55m above the ground, representing Mount Meru, the center of Hindu universe.
quincunx = a geometric pattern of five points in a square or rectangle, with one at each corner and one in the middle.
The second level enclosure measured 115m x 100m, may originally have been flooded to represent the ocean around Mt Meru. Along the inner walls of the enclosure were bas reliefs of Apsaras ie divine nymphs or celestial dancing girls, characters from Indian mythology. It was written the largest population of Apsaras (2000 of them) lied in Angkor Wat. Little stood between the appearance of Apsaras and Devatas where the former always appear dancing while the latter were female deities poised as temple guardians.
The third and final level was
located in the middle of these second-level towers. The stairs to the upper level were immensely steep, symbolizing that reaching the
kingdom of the gods was no easy task. Unsurprisingly there were casualties before on these steps. For safety reason the 3rd level temple was closed to visitors for a few years, until the Apsara
authority placed metal stairs with railings on one of the steps, making it possible to complete the pilgrimage with ascension to the summit.
Next we made our way to the third level of the temple complex, also known as the Bakan. The smallest and highest part of Angkor Wat, they limit entrance into this space to only a handful of tourists at a time. Up there facing west, we could see the entire temple from a cool vantage point, while towards the far east were endless forest without any skyscraper in sight.
As one could finally appreciate the panoramic view from the balconies, it would be good to contemplate the meaning of Angkor Wat: Since the spatial dimensions of Angkor Wat paralleled the lengths of the four ages (Yuga) of classical Hindu thought, thus visitors who walked the causeway to the final main tower were metaphorically traveling back to the first age of the creation of Hindu universe. Angkor Wat also replicated the spatial universe, where its central tower is Mt Meru, with its surrounding smaller peaks, bounded by continents (the lower courtyards) and the oceans (the moat). The seven-headed Naga balustrade along the causeway became a symbolic rainbow bridge for man to reach the abode of the gods.
To have finally made it to the top of the world's largest temple was quite an achievement. Traveling here to bask myself in this iconic monument of an ancient Khmer civilization was certainly once in a lifetime experience. I found myself transported to a different era in an surreal land, almost like a land belonging to deities and foreign gods, which I took it with a pinch of salt since I didn't agree with idolatry worship.
It was lunch time once we completed the temple within half a day. Earlier, any feeling of jet lag quickly dissipated as we were driven by the excitement to explore. Still, all the walking had made us famished. The Tuk-tuk took us to a shack just opposite the temple, where we had our 1st taste of Cambodian food. As the saying went, everything tasted delicious when one was starving. After refueling our body, Tuk-tuk transported us back to the 12th century, where Angkor Thom awaited us.
The cliche said, "Now everyone can fly".
The trip to Siem Reap was an impromptu decision, largely an effort from my part to make up for something. And judging from the frequent fiery confrontation and sometimes lukewarm response even months after the return, I supposed the trip was more beneficial to me than for us. Still, being at Siem Reap was an eye-opener for its truly mystical and surreal ancient civilization temple, crossing an important one from my bucket list early on.
Cambodian building, with its pointy Spire and everything.
Air Asia was the way to fly as it was a world re-known low cost air carrier. We booked return flights, hotel and Tonle Sap lake tour online all from the Airasia travel website. Convenient way to arrange a short excursion if one's not traveling on a shoestring. The green bucks (US Dollars) was guaranteed to get us around but no harm exchanging some Cambodian Riel. We touched down Siem Reap early morning at 7 plus am, checked into the hotel, then wasted no time hiring a Tuk-tuk to bring us to Angkor Wat.
Our mode of transport practically everywhere we went, the "Tuk-tuk".
The name Siem Reap translates literally to the "Defeat of Siam (today's Thailand), relating to the centuries-old conflict between the Siamese and Khmer (Cambodian) people. The name was given by King Ang Chan (1516–1566) after his victory against a Siamese invasion, slaying Prince Ong, and capturing no less than 10,000 Siamese troops. All this for a white elephant according to Khmer history.
Later though from the 16th-19th centuries, feuds among the Khmer lords caused interventions and domination from their more powerful neighbors: Dai Viet (Vietnam) and Siam. Siem Reap was little more than a village under Siamese administration when the first French explorers discovered the splendor and grandiose architecture of Angkor in the 19th century. This resulted in the French invading Thailand for the acquisition of Angkor by French Indochina in 1907.
They even had a musical on Angkor Wat. Maybe Malacca/Melaka should draw some ideas from them.
The clean tranquil forest road leading to the temples.
After Cambodia gained independence from France in 1953, Siem Reap continued growing as an international tourist hub, serving as a gateway to the magnificent Angkor temples. However, in the 1970s till 80s the country was plunged into carnage by civil war, ethnic cleansing genocide by communist Khmer Rouge, and the Vietnam-Cambodian war in succession. During this period of unrest, Siem Reap entered a long slumber from which it only began to awake in the mid 1990s.
....and that was just the compact summarized history of Siem Reap, Cambodia. Still to follow, ancient Angkor history. But first, a video on our arrival at the world's largest temple, Angkor Wat.
"Wow, this was like something out of the movies!"
Aerial view of the grand Angkor Wat.
The Angkorian period started in AD 802 and ended in 1432, with Hinduism the pioneer religion. It was during this period that all those Angkor temples were built. King Jayavarman II was the founder of the Angkor empire, and he proclaimed himself a Devaraja (Deva = god, raja = king) possessing similar powers to the Hindu god Shiva. This god-king theme was adopted by his successors throughout Angkor Wat's history.
AD 1002-49 was the classical age, which means abundant temple building. Suryavarman I expanded the Khmer empire perhaps to its greatest extent. He is believed to be the promoter of Buddhism in Cambodia. Although he adopted the god-king status, Buddhism and Buddhist sculptures made their way into the Angkor city. Today, 97% of Cambodians are Buddhist.
The Angkor Wat we all know was built during 1112-52 by Suryavarman II, which he dedicated solely to the Hindu god Vishnu. Although Angkor Wat signifies the high achievement of the Khmer people, supposedly its construction caused major strains on the warring Khmer empire. The city was overpopulated, the agriculture could not keep up with demands, and canals had started to dry up.
1181-1219 was the peak of Angkor history. Jayavarman VII took over the reign of the Khmer empire, reclaiming it after the Dai Viet (Vietnam) invasion. He built Angkor Thom (a humongous temple complex larger than Angkor Wat), Preah Khan, Banteay Kdei, and Ta Prohm.
Instead of continuing the tradition of Hinduism, Jayavarman VII adopted Buddism and built Buddha structures in his temples. This was most noted in Bayon, one of the most famous Angkorian temples, with its 216 four-faced Buddha statues. After his death, the empire steadily went into decline, and for a century the state religion was once again Hinduism. This change made its way to the temples, where Buddha figures were defaced and destroyed. The Angkorian empire practically ended when the Thais attacked Angkor in 1351 and 1431.
The temple surrounded by moat, almost like castle with its primary defense.
I got to try the panoramic feature on my new camera.
On the causeway leading to the outer wall entrance.
Enter Angkor Wat, the largest religious structure in the world, listed as UNESCO heritage site and rightly so. Built in the 12th century, it is nearly a millennium old . The Angkor Wat is so large that, measuring 1.5km x 1.3km with the moat included, it is known as "temple that is a city" (Angkor = city, Wat = temple). As you can see from the video and pictures above, the temple is surrounded entirely by a moat. From the west, a sandstone causeway crosses the 190m-wide moat into the temple's outer walls.
Inside the entrance of the outer wall
The outer wall from inside. Looked to my left.
..looked to my right. Good, nothing malicious or those-sort-of-things jumped out to attack me.
We crossed the moat via the causeway and arrived at the entrance of the outer wall. Greeting us at the main entrance was a 235m-wide porch richly decorated with carvings and sculptures. This 1.025 x 0.8km wall encloses a wide temple courtyard. I later read that supposedly there was a statue of Vishnu, 3.25m in height with its 8 arms holding a mace, a spear, a disc, a conch and other items, located in the right-hand tower. We somehow missed it as we didn't hire any tour guide.
The library, for the use of ancient worshiper.
Exiting the outer wall we stepped onto the avenue which was 475m long and 9.5m wide, most of it lined with Naga (8 headed serpent) balustrades. The avenue connected the main entrance to the central temple, passing between two libraries followed by two pools, the northern one known as the reflecting pool. During wet season, it serve as the best spot for photographing the magnificent temple towers against a backdrop of sun rise, with the pool providing a nice reflection.
The avenue flanked by Naga balustrades. On its left was the popular reflecting pool.
The gopuras ie temple towers became closer, and closer.
Angkor Wat is the heart and soul of Cambodia. It is the national symbol, the epicentre of Khmer civilisation and a source of fierce national pride, as evidently symbolized on its national flag. According to inscriptions, the construction of Angkor Wat involved 300,000 laborers and 6000 elephants, still the temple was not fully completed. The sandstone blocks from which Angkor Wat was built were quarried more than 50km away, from the holy mountain of Phnom Kulen and floated down the Siem Reap River on rafts, an unbelievable feat given the non-existence of modern technology.
Back to our walk, at the end of the 475m long avenue was the entrance to the central complex, via the Cruciform Terrace. On entering into the outer gallery, the walls were lined with intricate large scale bas reliefs depicting episodes from the Hindu epics the Ramayana and Mahabharata. These bas relief were designed to be viewed in anticlockwise direction, a practice that has precedents in ancient Hindu funerary rite, again suggesting Angkor Wat was also a mausoleum.
There are a total 8 themes of Hindu mythology bas reliefs on the outer gallery. I've found a map below that list them according to their locations. There are plenty of information on the internet if it intrigues you to seek more details.
Bas relief on the walls of the outer gallery.
It appeared to be a great war taking place.
8 themes of Hindu mythology, meant to be viewed anti-clockwise.
The central temple complex consisted of three storeys, each one higher than the outer. Enter The Gallery of A Thousand Buddhas (Preah Poan), as the name suggested was a cloister which formerly housed hundreds of Buddha images. Most of them were now gone as a result of looting. Within the cloister were 4 small courtyards with what was intended to be a religious pool in each of them, but none were filled with water.
This place felt very ancient and mystical. I imagined wandering here without the crowd buzz. That would have heightened my sentiment by transporting me back to those days. The surrounding was calm and peaceful, making it an ideal meditation sanctuary it once was. By now parts of the former Buddha images had made it all over the world through black market, depriving Preah Poan from living up to its glorious name.
Gallery of A Thousand Buddhas (Preah Poan)
which contained 4 cloister, each harboring a "pool".
A real life Apsara. Truly worshiped by photographers.
Perhaps the remain of a decapitated Buddha.
As we emerged from Preah Poan, we arrived at the second level enclosure of the temple complex, greeted by the grand sight of the Gopuras (towers) erecting centrally. The iconic lotus-bud towers were built at all 4 corners of the 2nd and 3rd level of the temple, forming a quincunx with the central tower. The central tower rose 31m above the third level and 55m above the ground, representing Mount Meru, the center of Hindu universe.
quincunx = a geometric pattern of five points in a square or rectangle, with one at each corner and one in the middle.
Admiring the 3rd level structure from the 2nd level.
The steep steps depicting the daunting task to nirvana
The towers and its steep stairs. Known to be harder to descend than ascend.
The second level enclosure measured 115m x 100m, may originally have been flooded to represent the ocean around Mt Meru. Along the inner walls of the enclosure were bas reliefs of Apsaras ie divine nymphs or celestial dancing girls, characters from Indian mythology. It was written the largest population of Apsaras (2000 of them) lied in Angkor Wat. Little stood between the appearance of Apsaras and Devatas where the former always appear dancing while the latter were female deities poised as temple guardians.
The merry band of Apsaras sure never got lonely at night.
The Apsaras doing the Macarena.
Perhaps they were part of the cast from the Smile of Angkor musical.
Was it holiday season in Korea?
The line leading to the metal railed stairs to ascend the 3rd level. Only certain number of visitors allowed per time.
The original life threatening steps were out of bound.
Even so the climb was an adrenaline rush.
Next we made our way to the third level of the temple complex, also known as the Bakan. The smallest and highest part of Angkor Wat, they limit entrance into this space to only a handful of tourists at a time. Up there facing west, we could see the entire temple from a cool vantage point, while towards the far east were endless forest without any skyscraper in sight.
As one could finally appreciate the panoramic view from the balconies, it would be good to contemplate the meaning of Angkor Wat: Since the spatial dimensions of Angkor Wat paralleled the lengths of the four ages (Yuga) of classical Hindu thought, thus visitors who walked the causeway to the final main tower were metaphorically traveling back to the first age of the creation of Hindu universe. Angkor Wat also replicated the spatial universe, where its central tower is Mt Meru, with its surrounding smaller peaks, bounded by continents (the lower courtyards) and the oceans (the moat). The seven-headed Naga balustrade along the causeway became a symbolic rainbow bridge for man to reach the abode of the gods.
The innermost courtyard at the highest level.
One of the lotus-bud Gopuras with its meticulous carvings
A zoomed in view of the avenue leading to the temple complex. Notice the lintels on top of a roof.
Maybe this is Vishnu. He looked menacing with the Nagas hissing behind him.
To have finally made it to the top of the world's largest temple was quite an achievement. Traveling here to bask myself in this iconic monument of an ancient Khmer civilization was certainly once in a lifetime experience. I found myself transported to a different era in an surreal land, almost like a land belonging to deities and foreign gods, which I took it with a pinch of salt since I didn't agree with idolatry worship.
It was lunch time once we completed the temple within half a day. Earlier, any feeling of jet lag quickly dissipated as we were driven by the excitement to explore. Still, all the walking had made us famished. The Tuk-tuk took us to a shack just opposite the temple, where we had our 1st taste of Cambodian food. As the saying went, everything tasted delicious when one was starving. After refueling our body, Tuk-tuk transported us back to the 12th century, where Angkor Thom awaited us.
The bridesmaids searching for the runaway bride.
This was how Angkor/Khmer soldiers looked, pretty cool~
I like Cambodian food! Aromatic, pungent and tasty.
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