East of PhimeanAkas lies the terrace of Elephants. The wooden palace of Jayavarman, squeezed between the Bayon and PhimeanAkas, has not survived but would have stood on the terrace, the edge of its grounds marked by a latterite wall, of which only a ruined gopura remains. Don’t miss the elephants starching some 300m, and life-sized. Also worth seeing are the stylized elephants that are three-headed, their trunks delicately entwined around lotuses.
The adjoining terrace is that of the Leper King. It is believed to have been the site of royal cremations and the statue on the terrace is that of Yama, god of the underworld. For many years this statue was assumed to be that of Jayavarman VII who several legends say contracted the disease, although nothing remains to verify this. The real thing to see here are two walls of gods and goddesses that have been now restored with multi-headed nagas upto 7 storeys high. Behind and above all of this stands the towering face of Jayavarman scrutinizing everything. Amidst the crowd of tourists, their guides and vendors trying to sell everything from kravats to sculptures, my attention is drawn to two children, bare-feet and destitute who look lost and confused by all the photo-clicking and noise that the tourists make. They cant understand what the fuss is all about when they cant find enough to eat or wear despite their rich but transient neighbours.
Monday 3 January 2011
Baphoun & Phimean Akas: Pyramids of the Far East
Built in 11th century, this was the capital and state-temple of Udayadityavarman II, Baphoun is undergoing restoration and is closed to the public. It has an impressive sandstone causeway, 200m long and raised on three sets of stone posts. Once comprising 5 tiers in the form of a pyramid, it had galleries running round the full circumference on its first, second and third levels.
Suryavarman I constructed his small state-temple Phimean Akas, which Chou Ta-Kuan, a visiting Chinese chronicler in the 12th century upon whose descriptions one gets a sense of life in the Khmer cities of yore, described as ‘tower of gold’. It was the first palace to be built within fortifying walls, but later absored into Angkor Thom which was built around 200 years later. It’s a relatively simple pyramid structure which bears uncanny similarity to Chichen Itza in Mexico. There is a steep set of narrow stairs to the top which don’t allow you to step off on the first two levels. Chou Ya Kuan wrote that the central cross-shaped sanctuary tower at the top (there is no idol, images or places of worship here) was home to a spirit which took the form of a serpent by day and a beautiful lady after dark. Unless the King visited her every night before seeing his wife, disaster would follow. To the north are two paved bathing ponds – the larger for men and the smaller for women. The surrounding area is full of broken pottery which my guide said date back to Rajendravarman’s time; 944-968AD. I picked up a couple a souvenirs.
Suryavarman I constructed his small state-temple Phimean Akas, which Chou Ta-Kuan, a visiting Chinese chronicler in the 12th century upon whose descriptions one gets a sense of life in the Khmer cities of yore, described as ‘tower of gold’. It was the first palace to be built within fortifying walls, but later absored into Angkor Thom which was built around 200 years later. It’s a relatively simple pyramid structure which bears uncanny similarity to Chichen Itza in Mexico. There is a steep set of narrow stairs to the top which don’t allow you to step off on the first two levels. Chou Ya Kuan wrote that the central cross-shaped sanctuary tower at the top (there is no idol, images or places of worship here) was home to a spirit which took the form of a serpent by day and a beautiful lady after dark. Unless the King visited her every night before seeing his wife, disaster would follow. To the north are two paved bathing ponds – the larger for men and the smaller for women. The surrounding area is full of broken pottery which my guide said date back to Rajendravarman’s time; 944-968AD. I picked up a couple a souvenirs.
Bayon: Jayagiri of the Khmer
Whilst Angkor Wat gets much of the attention and plaudits from tourists, there is something enigmatic and an other-worldly quality to the Bayon, with its enormous towers ending in the most compassionate expression that you could possibly find carved into stone. After going in through the East approach, we arrive in front of the south gate. There is a huge crowd there already, particularly a group of Japanese tourists, who are quite irksome. Without wanting to be politically correct, I should point out that the Japanese and some Spanish speaking tourists are the most inconsiderate that I’ve personally come across during my travels. The Spanish speakers tend to push their way through and speak far too loudly hogging spaces. The Japanese tend to travel in huge groups, speak not a word of any other language than Japanese, appear to be oblivious to everyone around them and most selfishly keep taking photographs in front of key spots, preventing others from doing so. It’s as though if they are not there, no one will believe that they ever visited those spots. Knowing the lengths that they go to in order to remain socially included perhaps this is an area of social niceness that their sociologists and psychologists can work on. Europeans and Americans are the best, they take their snaps quickly and move on or wait until you’ve done your bit without rushing in. I’ve come across far too few people from south Asia to be really able to offer an opinion on their touring styles, but all those that I’ve come across have been polite and shy, at least outwardly so.
The morning is fresh, and there is a clear sky that displays the eery looking structure in front of me. The colour of the stones is strangely black – I’m told its latterite but this one seems to have a covering of black sandstone. I take out my new 55-300mm Nikkor lens and try and take a long distance shot which does not come out well. On second thoughts it isn’t the camera. There’s nothing attractive about the pile of black stones, dark and imposing, stacked up in front of me, which is exactly how the Bayon looks from about 500m away. As I approach the temple, perhaps as a conjurer’s trick, the temple begins to adopt its identity. Scores of the most compassionate face begin to magically appear out of the black stones until you cannot avoid them. The faces are everywhere, yet you don’t feel as though you’re caught in an intense stare as all of them have their eyes closed in the form of the meditating Buddha. There are 49 towers on the outer circle and 5 in the inner – a total of 54 which Sukun, out guide, says is the magical number of 9 which is considered auspicious in Buddhism. However each of the towers have 4 faces making it a total of 216 faces in all, again a total of 9. Is that all there is to it or do the numbers hide a deeper secret. More shall be revealed in these pages later.
Bayon's original name was Jayagiri - the Victory Peak or Victory Tower. Strangely the French who have the most atrocious pronounciation rules on this planet, could not pronounce it and so called it, the aboslutely hideously unimaginative 'Bayon'. Why? Because the temple was covered in a huge bnayan tree. So much for French creativity. Jayavarman VII had this majestic temple built in late 12th or early 13th century intending it to be a ‘Sarvadharmasthal’ or a place to embrace all the religions of the kingdom including the Islamic beliefs of the newly conquered Cham (modern Vietnam). This was rapidly consecrated as a Buddhist temple as the kings of Angkor had changed their religion from Hinduism. It was not until Jayavarman VII reconverted the state to Hinduism that the Buddha in the central tower was lowered into the well and replaced by Vishnu. This act was reciprocated in Angkor Wat when after the advent of Buddhism, Vishnu was casted out to a non-descript corner while Buddha was instated at the central place.
The best way to enjoy Bayon is to enter through the south gate (see map) and make your way to the south-east corner and the bas-relief on the 3rd enclosing wall. Then follow the corridor to the north-east section to view the scenes on 2nd enclosing wall and finally walk into the central sanctuary and climb up the stairs until you reach the roof-less top. The Bayon temple seemed to me to have three distinct levels to it and I don’t mean the Hindu cosmological levels, described elsewhere. The lowest tier is devoted to bas-reliefs and whilst these are not of the quality of Angkor wat, they are quite imposing in their own right. The second tier consists of the central sanctuary full of images of Buddha that tourists can worship to. This level also allows opportunity to take photographs of the image of Lokesvara in various manners, especially through strategically placed windows. The upper-most tier (bear in mind that the tops of the towers have been destroyed) allows a great view of the surrounding forest and Siem Reap town in a distance, as well as engage in touristy thing such as take snaps with modern day Apsaras.
The morning is fresh, and there is a clear sky that displays the eery looking structure in front of me. The colour of the stones is strangely black – I’m told its latterite but this one seems to have a covering of black sandstone. I take out my new 55-300mm Nikkor lens and try and take a long distance shot which does not come out well. On second thoughts it isn’t the camera. There’s nothing attractive about the pile of black stones, dark and imposing, stacked up in front of me, which is exactly how the Bayon looks from about 500m away. As I approach the temple, perhaps as a conjurer’s trick, the temple begins to adopt its identity. Scores of the most compassionate face begin to magically appear out of the black stones until you cannot avoid them. The faces are everywhere, yet you don’t feel as though you’re caught in an intense stare as all of them have their eyes closed in the form of the meditating Buddha. There are 49 towers on the outer circle and 5 in the inner – a total of 54 which Sukun, out guide, says is the magical number of 9 which is considered auspicious in Buddhism. However each of the towers have 4 faces making it a total of 216 faces in all, again a total of 9. Is that all there is to it or do the numbers hide a deeper secret. More shall be revealed in these pages later.
Bayon's original name was Jayagiri - the Victory Peak or Victory Tower. Strangely the French who have the most atrocious pronounciation rules on this planet, could not pronounce it and so called it, the aboslutely hideously unimaginative 'Bayon'. Why? Because the temple was covered in a huge bnayan tree. So much for French creativity. Jayavarman VII had this majestic temple built in late 12th or early 13th century intending it to be a ‘Sarvadharmasthal’ or a place to embrace all the religions of the kingdom including the Islamic beliefs of the newly conquered Cham (modern Vietnam). This was rapidly consecrated as a Buddhist temple as the kings of Angkor had changed their religion from Hinduism. It was not until Jayavarman VII reconverted the state to Hinduism that the Buddha in the central tower was lowered into the well and replaced by Vishnu. This act was reciprocated in Angkor Wat when after the advent of Buddhism, Vishnu was casted out to a non-descript corner while Buddha was instated at the central place.
The best way to enjoy Bayon is to enter through the south gate (see map) and make your way to the south-east corner and the bas-relief on the 3rd enclosing wall. Then follow the corridor to the north-east section to view the scenes on 2nd enclosing wall and finally walk into the central sanctuary and climb up the stairs until you reach the roof-less top. The Bayon temple seemed to me to have three distinct levels to it and I don’t mean the Hindu cosmological levels, described elsewhere. The lowest tier is devoted to bas-reliefs and whilst these are not of the quality of Angkor wat, they are quite imposing in their own right. The second tier consists of the central sanctuary full of images of Buddha that tourists can worship to. This level also allows opportunity to take photographs of the image of Lokesvara in various manners, especially through strategically placed windows. The upper-most tier (bear in mind that the tops of the towers have been destroyed) allows a great view of the surrounding forest and Siem Reap town in a distance, as well as engage in touristy thing such as take snaps with modern day Apsaras.
Sunday 2 January 2011
Angkor Thom: The Mahanagar
We woke up quite early today. Takshu has been quite unwell right from the beginning of the trip and today he’s feverish again. We’ve been controlling his bouts of temperature with liberal use of Paracetamol as well as Amoxycillin which I picked up just before catching the flight from Heathrow. Today is the last day of Amoxycillin and I’m slightly worried that he may have contracted that dreaded flu before leaving the UK. Anyhow, he’s a tough lad like his dad and is ready after a little tickling that makes him laugh. I’ve realized that he responds far better to laughter than to disciplined instructions. I have a wonderful breakfast which included noodles, fried rice, chopped and deep fried fish, shrimps, spring onions, coriander, fish stock, sweet-chilli sauce and palm sugar sprinkled on top. That’s the Khmer style – light, delicious and hassle-free. Ratha and Sukun were waiting for us. We first had to get photo-tickets worth $40 for a three-day pass. One day pass is $20 and a week-long pass $60. I realised soon that Angkor and its complex requires a week for a proper tour. After passing through the Angkor complex check-point, we were in front of the majestic east gate of Angkor Thom. This gate is one with a four-headed statue said to represent the benevolent Bodhisattva Lokesvara, who looks out to each cardinal direction. This was added after Bayon temple was built.
Angkor (Nakor) Thom (Great) means Megacity or Mahanagar. It was founded by Jayavarman VII in 1181 and was one of the largest cities of Khmer empire. He was a Buddhist who enforced a reversion into devout and assertive Hinduism for himself and his state, becoming destructive towards Buddhism, much as its followers had been to Hindu structures until then. It is square in size enclosed by a moat and a 8 m high wall running 3km on each side covering an area of 900 hectares. The moat is 100m wide and 5m deep. There are 4 gates 23m high on all four sides with an additional gate known as victory gate on the east. Its east gate is flanked by 54 almond-eyed devatas and round-eyed asuras (Gods and Demons respectively) each, 108 in all, churning the ocean represented by the water in the moat. Bayon the state temple of Jayavarman VII is situated in the centre of Angkor Thom. Inside the city are other important temples like Baphoun, Phimean Akas, Preah Pallilay, Preah Pithu, etc. It also has beautiful terraces of Elephants and Leper King.
The entrance is through the rainbow bridge over the moat. Its known as rainbow bridge as it connects the outside world to the inner sanctuary across the cosmic oceans. Much as a rainbow makes an ethereal connection between the viewer and his universe, so does this bridge. This symbolism permeates all Angkor’s temples, which are built on a stereotypical template derived from ancient Hinduism’s belief about how the universe was created. Legend has it that in time immemorial there was one continent only, called Jambudvipa. There were five oceans, each separated from the other by five mountain ranges until at the centre of it lay the continent. There was a divine tussle between the devas (gods) and asuras (demons) who churned the ocean by tugging and twisting a coiled serpent Naga Vasuki, which is looped around a thick protuberance with sheer sides, rounded at the tip, representing Mount Meru, a key landmark in Indian sacred geography. This tug of war is enacted in order to get Amrit, or divine nectar. Whosoever got the nectar and devoured it first was assured of control of earth. In the cosmic tug of war the demons were winning and had been able to infiltrate the team of gods, when Vishnu distracted them by turning himself into a beautiful Apsara called Mohini, allowing the Devas to turn the tables on demons and gain eternal control over Jambudvipa. This sequence, known as Samudra-manthan or churning of the sea is played out as balustrades of the road leading to the south gate. Various permutations of this narrative is depicted in Angkor wat, and other sacred places in south and south-east Asia.
Angkor (Nakor) Thom (Great) means Megacity or Mahanagar. It was founded by Jayavarman VII in 1181 and was one of the largest cities of Khmer empire. He was a Buddhist who enforced a reversion into devout and assertive Hinduism for himself and his state, becoming destructive towards Buddhism, much as its followers had been to Hindu structures until then. It is square in size enclosed by a moat and a 8 m high wall running 3km on each side covering an area of 900 hectares. The moat is 100m wide and 5m deep. There are 4 gates 23m high on all four sides with an additional gate known as victory gate on the east. Its east gate is flanked by 54 almond-eyed devatas and round-eyed asuras (Gods and Demons respectively) each, 108 in all, churning the ocean represented by the water in the moat. Bayon the state temple of Jayavarman VII is situated in the centre of Angkor Thom. Inside the city are other important temples like Baphoun, Phimean Akas, Preah Pallilay, Preah Pithu, etc. It also has beautiful terraces of Elephants and Leper King.
The entrance is through the rainbow bridge over the moat. Its known as rainbow bridge as it connects the outside world to the inner sanctuary across the cosmic oceans. Much as a rainbow makes an ethereal connection between the viewer and his universe, so does this bridge. This symbolism permeates all Angkor’s temples, which are built on a stereotypical template derived from ancient Hinduism’s belief about how the universe was created. Legend has it that in time immemorial there was one continent only, called Jambudvipa. There were five oceans, each separated from the other by five mountain ranges until at the centre of it lay the continent. There was a divine tussle between the devas (gods) and asuras (demons) who churned the ocean by tugging and twisting a coiled serpent Naga Vasuki, which is looped around a thick protuberance with sheer sides, rounded at the tip, representing Mount Meru, a key landmark in Indian sacred geography. This tug of war is enacted in order to get Amrit, or divine nectar. Whosoever got the nectar and devoured it first was assured of control of earth. In the cosmic tug of war the demons were winning and had been able to infiltrate the team of gods, when Vishnu distracted them by turning himself into a beautiful Apsara called Mohini, allowing the Devas to turn the tables on demons and gain eternal control over Jambudvipa. This sequence, known as Samudra-manthan or churning of the sea is played out as balustrades of the road leading to the south gate. Various permutations of this narrative is depicted in Angkor wat, and other sacred places in south and south-east Asia.
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