Where the Heck are You? - Awaiting the Dawn of Angkor

I am anxiously waiting in the eerie darkness of the predawn morning; the ancient treasures of the Angkorian era of Khmer Hindu and Buddhist temples will soon come to light as their grandeur is revealed to me. The dark of the sky slowly gives way to the rising sun that paints a backdrop for the silhouette of Angkor Wat.

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Where the Heck are You?

- Awaiting the Dawn of Angkor -

Last we met, we were
Floating through Chong Kneas
Cambodia on the Stung Siem Reap a few kilometers south of Siem Reap City. This morning finds me a few kilometers up the river in the temple region collectively referred to as Angkor. The Angkor Wat temple itself is a good place to start exploring the region’s temples. Angkor Wat being the largest, and one of the best preserved and most restored, of the Khmer temples built around Siem Reap during the 8^th through 15^th centuries. Since 1992 The Temples of Angkor have been a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Angkor Wat was originally commissioned by the Khmer ruler Suryavarman II as a temple dedicated to the incarnation of Vishnu the Hindu god, but also to be his own funerary. The temple, or wat as it is known in both Khmer and Thai, was constructed over a thirty year period in the early 12^th century, about 500 years before the Taj Mahal in Agra India. Angkor Wat is arguably the largest religious building in the world. The central temple area is more than four times the size of the Taj Mahal or when including the surrounding garden areas of each, Angkor Wat is almost nine times larger. The outer walls of Angkor Wat are over three and half kilometers long and wrapped by a 200 meter wide baray, a moat-like water feature.

The Angkorian era of the Khmer dynasty was noted for changing religious alliances throughout their reign. These theological tidal changes were often manifested in the sacking of the wats and desecration of images and idols in the temples, sometimes done to change an idol statue to conform to the current dynastic religion.

Most all modern visitors to Angkor Wat enter through the west gallery and triple cruciform entryway, or gopura, through the outer temple wall where they are greeted first by this statue. Originally a depiction of Vishnu, however during one the succeeding changes of rule, this statue was beheaded and reconstituted with a Bayon style Buddha head. Since the late 15^th century and continuing to today, the Angkor Wat has been an active temple for followers of Theravada Buddhism.

The outer most section of the central temple is comprised of arcades and galleries, with much of its 800 meter length covered in bas-relief carvings on the walls. Scenes depict Khmer battles, Hindu mythology, and the eastern gallery being one of the most celebrated scenes - the Churning of the Sea of Milk - featuring Vishnu and apsaras dancing to churn milk - the elixir of life - from the sea surrounding the mythical Mount Meru.

The Angkorian style of temple is a representation of Mount Meru, having four spires or prangs at the corners of the outer galleries wrapping the central and tallest prang forming the five peaks of the mountain from Hindu legend. The prangs are shaped like a lotus bud, another important icon throughout Indo-Asian religions and art. Only temples to the gods were constructed of durable materials such as brick and stone masonry. Even the residences of the Khmer kings were made of wood, reeds and thatch, and have all been devoured long ago by the encroaching jungle. Over time, the growth of the jungles even eclipsed the majesty of the Khmer temples. Some temples have been recovered and restored; others have been lost, completely swallowed by the jungle; and some have the jungle growing right out of them to this day. Angkor Wat was one of the better constructed temples, having superior grades of stone, and was not as damaged as many temples were by the overgrown vegetation. Angkor Wat as it appeared in 1866. [photo by Emile Gsell]

Passing through the western gopura to enter the central wat is Preah Poan, the Hall of a Thousand Buddhas, a gallery containing Buddha images left in tribute by centuries of pilgrims visiting Angkor Wat. So many Buddha’s have been left, thousands over the years, that most have been removed and there are only a few hundred on display at any given time.

Wandering the galleries it appears that almost every available wall space and pediment has been decorated with carvings, bas-reliefs, and narrative scenes of Khmer life and Hindu mythology. One of the most common repeating themes are the Apsaras, celestial dancing girls that helped churn the Sea of Milk; and Devatas, Hindu dancing nymphs that represent minor female deities. These carvings are of Devatas, there are about two thousand Devata images in Angkor Wat, the most devatas of all the
Angkorian era temples.

The steps up from the second to third, and inner most, gallery of the temple are incredibly long and steep, representing the trials of life a person must endure to reach the realm of the gods. The plaza between the second gallery and the steps to the third was filled with water to represent the Sea of Milk that surrounds Mount Meru. 

The prangs of the Hindu temple are also representative of the Linga or male component, and are balanced by the surrounding galleries that are the Yoni or female counterpoint. The central and tallest prang of the temple complex is the most sacred and originally held a statue of Vishnu. The central prang rises over forty meters from the third level gallery to tower a total of sixty-five meters above the former surrounding Angkor City-State. Since last being converted to a Buddhist shrine late in the 16^th century, the prang contains images of the Buddha, and the statue of Vishnu has been recovered and now is displayed in the eastern gallery of the first level.

It is hard to imagine the wonder and reverence the temple commanded in its heyday. At its completion much of the prangs and galleries were covered in gilded stuccos and bejeweled accompaniments. These features are long lost to the sackings of Angkor by the Chams, Thais, and other neighboring kingdoms during centuries of battle; and to modern day looting by both explorers and common thieves. The ruins of Angkor Wat are still majestic and awe inspiring today. There are several ongoing restorations of the temple complex, and its listing as a UNESCO World Heritage Site will help preserve the Temples of Angkor.

The outer city wall and Angkor Wat, as seen by this exhausted explorer,
in the late afternoon light, from across the west side of the baray.  

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 [additional resources]

 Landmines Leftovers and Legacies of War
 follow up article about the Siem Reap area.

Colours of Cambodia- a special
giftshop aiding landmine victims.    

This link will take you to a high resolution satellite image from NASA:

UNESCO- World Heritage Sites.

		MrBill, Gather Essentials: Travel Correspondent
	MrBill’s column, “Where the heck are You?”, is published twice monthly to Gather Essentials: Travel  “Where the heck are You?” is the usual greeting I receive from friends and family since they are never quite sure just where I have been. “Where the heck are You?" is a traveler's column. Come with me for a journey to foreign shores, tropical locales, and places you may not have even heard of. Along the way I will introduce you to people; their cultures, art and cuisine, and together we will share an adventure. MrBill wanders and ponders. He is an avid traveler and photographer. He has extensive experience in the fields of Information Technology, Culinary Arts and Hospitality. Originally from the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, MrBill now resides in the Sierra Nevada Mountains around Tahoe. Keep up with all of MrBill's adventures by joining his network, or subscribing to his content.