Temples of Angkor

©Lonely¨Planet¨Publications¨Pty¨Ltd Temples of Angkor Why Go? Angkor Wat ............... 130 Welcome to heaven on earth. Angkor (叒殶羶ទអង䮂រ ) is the Angkor Thom .............139 earthly representation of Mt Meru, the Mt Olympus of the Hindu faith and the abode of ancient gods. The temples are Bayon .........................139 the perfect fusion of creative ambition and spiritual devo- Baphuon ....................142 tion. The Cambodian ‘god-kings’ of old each strove to better Preah Khan ................148 their ancestors in size, scale and symmetry, culminating in Preah Neak Poan ........149 the world’s largest religious building, Angkor Wat. Ta Som ...................... 150 The temples of Angkor are a source of inspiration and national pride to all Khmers as they struggle to rebuild their Roluos Temples ......... 151 lives after years of terror and trauma. Today, the temples Phnom Krom .............152 are a point of pilgrimage for all Cambodians, and no travel- Koh Ker ......................156 ler to the region will want to miss their extravagant beauty. Angkor is one of the world’s foremost ancient sites, with the epic proportions of the Great Wall of China, the detail and intricacy of the Taj Mahal and the symbolism and symmetry Best Temples of the pyramids, all rolled into one. for Sunrise or Sunset ¨Ängkor Wat (p130) Don’t Miss ¨ ¨¨Bayon (p139) ¨Seeing the sun rise over the holiest of holies, Angkor Wat (p130), the world’s largest religious building ¨¨Phnom Bakheng (p144) ¨¨Contemplating the serenity and splendour of Bayon (p139), ¨¨Pre Rup (p150) its 216 enigmatic faces staring out into the jungle ¨¨Sra Srang (p147) ¨¨Witnessing nature reclaiming the stones at the mysterious ruin of Ta Prohm (p146), the Tomb Raider temple ¨¨Staring in wonder at the delicate carvings adorning Best Temples Banteay Srei (p153), the finest seen at Angkor for Film Buffs ¨¨Trekking deep into the jungle to discover the River of a ¨Ängkor Wat (p130) Thousand Lingas at Kbal Spean (p153) ¨¨Bayon (p139) ¨Ëxploring the tangled vines, crumbling corridors and ¨¨Beng Mealea (p155) jumbled sandstone blocks of Beng Mealea (p155) ¨Ëast Gate of Angkor Thom (p139) ¨¨Ta Prohm (p146) 119 History his divinity and glory in a temple-mountain The Angkorian period spans more than 600 of his own. He first built Lolei on an artifi- years from AD 802 to 1432. This incredible cial island in the baray established by his fa- age saw the construction of the temples of ther, before beginning work on the Bakheng. Angkor and the consolidation of the Khmer Today this hill is known as Phnom Bakheng, empire’s position as one of the great pow- a favoured spot for viewing the sunset over ers in Southeast Asia. This era encompasses Angkor Wat. A raised highway was con- periods of decline and revival, and wars with structed to connect Phnom Bakheng with rival powers in Vietnam, Thailand and My- Roluos, 16km to the southeast, and a large anmar. This brief history deals only with the baray was constructed to the east of Phnom periods that produced the temples that can Bakheng. Today it is known as the Eastern be seen at Angkor. Baray but has entirely silted up. Yasovarman The hundreds of surviving temples are but I also established the temple-mountains of the sacred skeleton of the vast political, reli- Phnom Krom and Phnom Bok. gious and social centre of Cambodia’s ancient After the death of Yasovarman I, power Khmer empire; a city that, at its zenith, boast- briefly shifted from the Angkor region to Koh Ker, around 80km to the northeast, ed a population of one million when London Temples of Angkor was a small town of 50,000. The houses, under another usurper king, Jayavarman IV public buildings and palaces of Angkor were (r 924–42). In AD 944 power returned again constructed of wood – now long decayed – be- to Angkor under the leadership of Rajendra- cause the right to dwell in structures of brick varman II (r 944–68), who built the Eastern or stone was reserved for the gods. Mebon and Pre Rup. The reign of his son Jayavarman V (r 968–1001) produced the Ta AnËmpireïs¨Born Keo and Banteay Srei temples; the latter was The Angkorian period began with the rule built by a Brahman rather than the king. of Jayavarman II (r 802–50). He was the first The¨GoldenÄgeöfÄngkor to unify Cambodia’s competing kingdoms hi before the birth of Angkor. His court was sit- The temples that are now the highlight of a st visit to Angkor – Angkor Wat and those in uated at various locations, including Phnom o and around the walled city of Angkor Thom – R Kulen, 40km northeast of Angkor Wat, and y Roluos (known then as Hariharalaya), 13km were built during the golden age or classi- east of Siem Reap. cal period. While this period is marked by Jayavarman II proclaimed himself a de- fits of remarkable productivity, it was also a varaja (god-king), the earthly representative time of turmoil, conquests and setbacks. The of the Hindu god Shiva, and built a ‘temple- great city of Angkor Thom owes its existence mountain’ at Phnom Kulen, symbolising to the fact that the old city of Angkor, which Shiva’s dwelling place of Mt Meru, the holy stood on the same site, was destroyed dur- mountain at the centre of the universe. This ing the Cham invasion of 1177. set a precedent that became a dominant fea- Suryavarman I (r 1002–49) was a usurp- ture of the Angkorian period and accounts er to the throne who won the day through for the staggering architectural productivity strategic alliances and military conquests. of the Khmers at this time. Although he adopted the Hindu cult of the Indravarman I (r 877–89) is believed to god-king, he is thought to have come from a have been a usurper, and probably inherited Mahayana Buddhist tradition and may even the mantle of devaraja through conquest. He have sponsored the growth of Buddhism built a 6.5-sq-km baray (reservoir) at Roluos in Cambodia. Buddhist sculpture certainly and established Preah Ko. The baray was the became more commonplace in the Angkor first stage of an irrigation system that created region during his time. a hydraulic city, the ancient Khmers master- Little physical evidence of Suryavarman ing the cycle of nature to water their lands. I’s reign remains at Angkor, but his military Form and function worked together in har- exploits brought much of central Thailand mony, as the baray also had religious signifi- and southern-central Laos under the control cance, representing the oceans surrounding of Angkor. His son Udayadityavarman II (r Mt Meru. Indravarman’s final work was Ba- 1049–65) embarked on further military expe- kong, a pyramidal representation of Mt Meru. ditions, extending the empire once more, and Indravarman I’s son Yasovarman I (r building Baphuon and the Western Mebon. 889–910) looked further afield to celebrate Many major cities in the Mekong region were important Khmer settlements in the 11th and .

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