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EXPLORING
THE RUINS
OF OLD ANGKOR
The old Kymer
kingdom, one of the great powers of south-east Asia, established
their capital cities at Angkor in present-day Cambodia.
Driven by spiritual devotion and architectural ambition, the
skilled and war-like Kymer rulers built many temples here, some on
a massive scale. Their accomplishments reached a zenith with
the construction of the great temple of Angkor Wat. Nine
centuries later, it remains the largest religious building in the
world... |
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CELESTIAL
TEMPLES OF THE KYMER |
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the 9th and 13th centuries, the Kymer kings built a succession of
spectacular temples at Angkor. The most magnificent, Angkor
Wat, was built in the early 12th century by Saryavarman II.
This was the classical age of the Kymer civilization when temples
were devoted to Hindu deities. Later, there were more
triumphs of Kymer architecture when Jayavarman VII built the
atmospheric Buddhist temples of Ta Phrom and Bayon. |
Faces of
the bodhisattva Lokeshvara tower over a gate into
Angkor Thom, the walled city built by Jayavarman VII. |
Buddhist
monks at Angkor. Some of the ancient temples are still
used as sacred religious centers. |
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| Angkor
Wat
Angkor
Wat is the greatest of the Angkor temples. Built
during the reign of Suryavarman II in the 12th
century, it was originally dedicated to the Hindu god
Vishnu with whom the king identified. Later, it
became a Buddhist monastery after the Kymer kingdom
embraced Buddhism.
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Devatas
- guardian spirits or angels - carved in stone
at Angkor Wat. |
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Angkor
Wat was built to portray Hindu cosmology and includes
an immense temple-mountain. The five central
towers represent the peaks of mythical Mount
Meru - the home of Hindu gods. The temple is
reflected in pools that may have represented the
primeval ocean. |
Nearly
nine centuries after it was built, the
monumental Angkor Wat remains one of the
architectural wonders of the world. |
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| A
statue of the Hindu god Vishnu, with eight arms,
at Angkor Wat. |
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| Ta
Prohm
The
ruined temple of Ta Prohm, built by king Jayavarman
VII, is one of the most atmospheric to be found in the
hot and humid forests of Angkor. Over the
centuries, huge trees have invaded the temple and now
their vast root systems embrace crumbling walls.
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ZOOM
AND PAN |
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Large
image of Ta Prohm
Broadband recommended
700 KB image size |
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The
Bayon
The
Bayon is one of the strangest temples at Angkor.
The towers of this Buddhist sanctuary are studded with
numerous smiling and enigmatic faces, each around 2
meters high. They represent the bodhisattva
Lokeshvara but carry the features of the temple's
apparently egotistic builder, Jayavarman VII. |
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Masterpieces
of Kymer art
The Angkor temples
have an imposing grandeur, but they also feature some intricate
stone carvings. The most extensive of these depict scenes
from mythology and Kymer history, and stretch for several hundred
meters round the Angkor Wat and Bayan temples. Perhaps the
most exquisite are at the small temple of Banteay Srei. |
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| Intricate
bas-reliefs at the temple of Banteay Srei are a tribute to
the skilled Angkor stonemasons. |
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