The main attraction of Cambodia are its temples, which are numerous in the country. Today we will tell you about the most interesting and magnificent, which amaze the imagination with unthinkable bas-reliefs and original masonry.
The complex of temples in Cambodia occupies vast territories, and it should be noted that many of them are still in the research stage.
Country features
Cambodia attracts tourists with its originality - this is not Thailand, a little embellished and convenient for tourists. Travelers are usually impressed by the wild lands, free smiling people and the unusual temples of Cambodia. These are striking ensembles that even Hollywood, which repeatedly chose them as scenery for their paintings, did not disregard.
Experienced tourists note the features that are directly related to sightseeing in this country, which should be known to those who are just planning a trip:
- All temples are magnificent at different times of the day: some at dawn, others in the afternoon, and others at dusk.
- Inspection of ancient complexes takes a lot of time, so the event should be given at least three days to see the most interesting places. At this time, you can rent a room in one of the hotels located in the nearby town of Siem Reap.
- To inspect the Angkor complex, it makes sense to think about renting a car, since many structures are at a decent distance from each other.
Angkor: ancient temples of Cambodia
This is the region of the country that has become the cradle for the largest empire of South Asia - the Khmer. Its greatness and prosperity dates back to the 9th-15th centuries. At that time, Angkor was one of the largest cities in the world, and then its temples were already known far beyond the empire.
In 1431, the forces of Siam destroyed the city, and its inhabitants were forced to leave it. Since then, Angkor, along with more than a hundred temples and palaces, have remained, in fact, abandoned among the dense tropical forests. And only at the end of the 19th century did the naturalist Ann Muo from France publish several works that were dedicated to Angkor.
Even Rudyard Kipling wrote his famous work on Mowgli - “The Jungle Book” - after visiting Angkor. Since 1992, the temple complex has been protected by UNESCO. This ancient Cambodian province has become home to priceless architectural monuments of the Khmer Empire.
Angkor - an ancient city
The temples of Angkor are witnesses to the existence of the largest pre-industrial urban center on our planet, which was larger than today's New York. Today it is a huge open-air museum with an area of 200 km². Here it seems that stone temples with decorated walls seem to grow out of impenetrable jungle.
Scientists today are trying to solve the mysteries of their construction, but Angkor carefully preserves its secrets. As in the heyday of the empire, Angkor today attracts travelers and explorers from all over the world like a magnet. And if in the old days merchants came here, then today's guests of this land are tourists.
Without exaggeration, one can say that the temples of Cambodia, and Angkor in particular, are the most impressive place in Southeast Asia. The kings of the Khmer Empire spared no means to build the temple richer and more impressive than its predecessors.
Angkor Wat
The magnificent Angkor Wat Temple (Cambodia) is the undisputed pearl of Angkor. His spiers became the symbol and hallmark of Cambodia. The temple consists of five towers of shrines, three galleries, which increase in height to the center and are surrounded by a moat filled with water, 190 meters wide. The profile of the structure imitates an unopened lotus bud.
The first gallery is the outer wall above the moat. It has square columns on the outside. The ceiling between them from the external facade is decorated with rosettes in the form of a lotus, and on the inside are figures of dancers. The bas-reliefs on the walls of all three galleries depict scenes from various myths and many historical events.
A long alley connects the first gallery with the second. You can climb to it on the stairs, which are decorated on the sides with sculptures of lions. In this gallery, the inner walls are decorated with images of apsars, celestial maidens.
The third gallery consists of five towers that crown the highest terrace. There are very steep stairs that symbolize the difficulty of climbing into the kingdom of the gods. On the walls of the gallery you can see numerous snakes. Their bodies end in the jaws of the lions.
Interesting Facts
Angkor Wat stones, smooth, like polished marble, are laid without any bonding solution. The main building material for this construction was sandstone, which was delivered to the construction site from Mount Kulen, which is 40 km away.
Almost all surfaces, including columns and roof lintels, are carved from stone. In the period from 1986 to 1992, the Indian Archaeological Society carried out restoration work in Angkor. The temple is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Bayonne
This temple was built in honor of Jayavarman VII. It has three levels. The main part of the decor of the temple is paintings depicting the daily life of the Khmers. Bayon Temple in Cambodia has one blank wall, 4.5 meters high. On it you can see scenes of the battle on Lake Tonle Sap, in which Jayavarman VII defeated the Cham.
In 1925, Bayon was recognized as a Buddhist sanctuary. In 1933, a statue of Buddha was found in the temple, more precisely, in the well of its foundation , in which the external resemblance to Jayavarman VII was clearly visible. During the brahminist restoration, which was carried out immediately after the death of the ruler, she was desecrated. It was later restored and installed on the terrace.
Bapuon
The temples of Cambodia are completely different and this also impresses the guests of the country. After enjoying the extraordinary atmosphere of Bayon, go to the neighboring Bapuon Temple. For a long time there was only a construction site on this territory, on which restorers worked for several decades. They jokingly called their work the gathering of the most difficult puzzle in the world. Only two years ago, tourists got the opportunity to visit this ancient Hindu temple. It is dedicated to Shiva.
It should be noted that all the ancient temples of Cambodia are very majestic. Historians claim that in ancient times Bapuon was one of the most beautiful in Angkor. But in the early fifties of the last century, he was almost on the verge of destruction. French archaeologists, together with a team of restorers, decided that there was only one way to preserve it - to completely disassemble, strengthen the foundation, and only after that assemble the building.
In the early 60s, Bapuon was dismantled. During the dismantling, the temple blocks were transferred to the jungle, with each block having its own number. In the mid-70s, Khmer Rouge came to power in the country, and restoration work was stopped. Later it turned out that the Khmer Rouge destroyed documents on the dismantling of the temple, and there was no information left on how to collect 300 thousand stone blocks. Architects had to use photographs and memories of local residents.
Ta Prom
Probably, Cambodia will never cease to amaze tourists. Temples in the jungle can be seen almost all over the country. But one of them - Ta Prom - is just perfect for Kipling's description. This is a huge temple-monastery, completely absorbed in the jungle.
Experts believe that he is the most poetic in Angkor, it has an amazing atmosphere created by huge trees that encircle the walls. They sprouted through stones and hang over the towers. Over many centuries, the roots have grown together with the walls so that trees cannot be removed without damaging the buildings.
Ta-Prom was built during the reign of Jayavarman as a Buddhist temple, occupying a vast territory. However, in architecture it is not like other temples in Cambodia. It is a chain of one-story buildings that are interconnected through galleries and walkways. Many of them are inaccessible today, as they are littered with stones.
The uniqueness of this temple lies in the fact that many ancient inscriptions are carved on the stone walls. On a stone stele, which can be seen today in the National Museum of Angkor, it is carved that during the heyday of the temple 3140 villages belonged, 79 365 people worked here, 18 high priests, 2800 clerks served. More than 12,000 people lived permanently inside the temple.
In the place of the forest that today surrounds the temple, in antiquity there was a busy big city, and a large number of jewelry was stored in its treasures. Now it is difficult to believe in it, since many buildings have turned into ruins. There are two types of trees: the largest is a banyan tree with thick, light brown roots, and the second is a fig-strangler tree. It is distinguished by many thin, perfectly smooth gray roots.
The seeds of the tree fall into the crack in the masonry of the structure and the roots grow down, stretching to the ground. We have already said that the temples of Cambodia are able to surprise even modern scholars with their riddles. One of them is an image of a dinosaur carved on the wall of the Ta Prohm temple, to which guides like to lead tour groups. However, so far no one can explain where the ancient Khmers could see the dinosaur.