a blog about food, art, travel & more...: October 2016

Thursday, October 20, 2016

Angkor Wat, Cambodia

A visit to Cambodia or Camobodge or Kampuchea is never complete without seeing the spectacular Angkor Wat. It is no doubt one of the largest religious and architectural wonders of the world.

The first time I visited Angkor, I had heard it is a huge temple but never did I imagine it would be so huge and the Angkor complex would be spread for miles and miles. It was declared UNESCO Heritage Site in 1992 and almost 2 million tourist visit it every year. It has occupied the center part of the Cambodian flag since 1850 when the first flag was designed. Over a period of years, it went through many changes but Angkor wat always stood in the center.

Flag of Kingdom of Cambodia

It is also seen in their 500 Riel currency note.

With so much to write about these temples, it is not going to be just one post, I will have to write one post on each temple I visited. There is still so much to see there and each time I happen to make a visit, I come back with more insight and knowledge. Angkor can be translated to mean a "city of temples". Angkor a deviation from the word Nagara (नगर )meaning a city in Sanskrit. Wat is derived from a French name Vat meaning a temple. So Angkor Wat means "a city of temples"
I have written about Kbal Spean and floating villages earlier.

Angkor Wat is just a small segment in this huge complex

History and some facts:

Built by Suryavarman II in the 12th century, it took 40 years and 20, 000 workers to complete Angkor Wat. This included the moat, walls and the monument.
Around 5 million tons of sand stone was used for construction.
The stones were brought from a quarry 70 kms away, dragging them all the way by elephants or using the water way.
This Wat is made on a marshy land so the ground had first to be pounded manually to make the foundation strong, otherwise it would just give way.
The temple occupies an area of 500 acres surrounded by a laterite wall.
The construction started from inside towards the outside, opposite to what is usually done.
One surprising feature about the architecture is that no mortar has been used in construction. The huge stones are fixed in a socket joint mechanism and remain intact todate. Also, vegetable compound has been used as a sealant.
The Angkor Kingdom was at its zenith by the 14th century till it was attacked by Thais in 1431 and having lost soon lost its charm by 1432.
Though Angkor Wat was built as a Hindu temple (Vishnu), but by 12th century when Theravada Buddhism spread to the region from Sri Lanka, most of the temples became Buddhist temples.

Few facts about the deviation in architecture:

A temple or a wat never faces in the western direction. West is a symbolism of setting sun and death in Hinduism. It remained a mystery for some time as to why Angkor Wat faces west. It has now been accepted that it was made with the intention of using it as a funerary for the King Suryavarman II. The west facing temple supports this understanding.
The bas reliefs run in anti clockwise or counterclockwise direction which is opposite to the normal norm where they run clockwise.

Cambodia had Hinduism at the time Angkor Wat was built. The deity worshipped was Vishnu, after that came Mahayana Buddhism for a short time. By mid 12th century Shaivism, which was a dominant religious sect of Hinduism, came into practice. The famous Preah Vihar is a Shiva temple. Apart from this from 780 A.D. to 800 AD, there are said to be 1000 Shiva temples constructed in that region.

Since, Suryavarman II followed Vaishnavism, worshipping Lord Vishnu dominated so he had a huge monolith state of Vishnu installed at Angkor Wat which is worshipped even today. Around 1600 A.D., Angkor became a Thervada Buddhist monument.

The temple and its architecture:

The temple is built on Brahminical philosophy where mount Meru is the center surrounded by its peak. God reside in the central tower or sanctuary. Moat denotes the cosmic ocean.

The temple entrance is guarded by two majestic lions on either side and a seven hooded serpent. All around it is a moat. This moat is designed so that during floods the water is diverted and drained away from the temple so that it is not damaged.

naga and lion at entrance

lion

Brahma had lions at his doorway as guardians. Not only Angkor Wat but other temples too have lions at their entrance.

library, central tower and the moat

Well, what is a wat and is it different than a pagoda ? Pagodas are learning centers, meeting places in addition to place of worship. Wat in addition to being a place of worship, having meeting rooms, place for monks to stay also have stupas containing the remains of holy people.
The body of a deceased ruler is left in state for a period of 3 months in a wat in Cambodia before it is finally cremated.

naga balustrade and moat

the gates at the rear end, moat on the side

The moat is 200 meters wide and runs all around the temple. the total length of moat is around five and half kms. The height of temple to the pinnacle of central or the main tower is said to be 213 meters. The causeway is 200 meters long made of sandstone.

If you stand across the moat, you shall see five gates.
The central gate was for entry of the Kings, on either side of this main entrance the two gates were for public servants and Commander-in-Chief and then on their either side was entrance for elephants and horses, the top of which have collapsed.

You enter through a gate and a huge monolith statue of Vishnu the preserver, erected by Suryavarman, II greets you. Clothed in yellow robes with eight arms under an umbrella, this image is said to be protecting the monument.

Vishnu at the west gate

Devaraja (देवराजा ) cult of Hinduism was in practice where a king is not only the head of state but is also considered an embodiment of Lord Vishnu or Shiva. Hence, the image is also said to be an impersonification of King Suryavarman II.

Palm fruit, the national fruit of Cambodia lines the side of causeway. The edge of causeway is lined with a naga or serpent balustrade.

naga balustrade

Another interesting feature I found were holes in stones in the causeway. I asked my guide and he said they were made at the time when the temple was built. It made transporting stones easy by placing logs and lifting them.

Two libraries for monks stand on either side

library

But before we go inside, the first vision you get of Angkor is a central main tower surrounded by 2 smaller ones.

At the end of causeway, the naga holds its head up forming a seven-hooded canopy.

Infact, there are four small towers or prangs and one central tower forming a quincunx. This is a term which I have often used in my earlier posts on Ayutthya temples. The central and the heighest tower represents Mount Meru, with four smaller towers reprsenting continents and the moat representing the ocean

The height from temple ground to the pinnacle of central or the main tower is said to be 213 meters.
Another interesting feature is that the temple is made over 3 levels: outermost level has the least height and as the temple progresses inwards, the height too increases.

lily pond on side

in front of one of the side gates

seven hooded naga on the side, almost falling bas relief

West gopura of outer enclosure, west face of temple

east side of temple

Vishnu on pediment at entrance

broken pediment lies on ground

naga

a stupa on side, maybe it was later addition

Architecture inside the temple:
Apsaras or celestial goddesses can be seen all over the temple walls.

Apsaras on the walls

There are said to be around 1,700 apsaras adorning the walls of Angkor Wat. The most interesting feature of these apsaras is that none of the apsaras have similar crowns over their head. Each has a different one!
Putting all pictures here is not possible so I have another post for Apsaras in Angkor Wat

The famous apsara danceers of Cambodia still wear that style of head gear.

On entering, anticlockwise in the corridor is the first level or the outermost tier. It has bas reliefs which are said to be the world's longest continuous bas reliefs. No wonder it is called the gallery of bas relief. The roof throughout the temple is arched, the stones being put together without any mortar. They probably used a natural gum.
I am just giving a glimpse of bas relief, detailed bas reliefs is on another post.

The gallery is cordoned from wall to stop tourists from touching the work.

bas reliefs run from one end of the corridor to another

Before going to the second level, there is a gallery called the gallery with thousand Buddha, (Preah Poan: Preah is temple and Poan is thousand in Khmer) with plenty of damaged Buddha images.

Buddha images

more Buddha images

Though Angkor Wat was built as a Hindu temple but as I have already mentioned it became a Buddhist place and continues being so. Either the images above were damaged or were a result of looting I do not know.

The corridor connects to second level.

Second level has interlacing corridors with many apsaras on walls.

a very typical bas-relief seen throughout the temple

It also gives a wonderful view of central tower which is 65 meters and is highest of all towers. It was said to be the tallest structure in the city.

Central tower

There are people dressed up .... and you can take a picture of you with them.

Apsaras on wall in the second level near central tower

Very steep iron steps lead to the third level. The elevation is at about 50 degrees!

But before that you need to be properly dressed. No short dresses including shorts and sleeveless is permitted.

There are twelve stairs representing twelve months of the year. The stairs were too steep which proved quite risky so they now have an iron stairs on top of the stone ones.

Climbing up is not that bad but coming down is very frightening especially if you vertigo. The best way is to come the way you climbed, that way you do not get to see the ground.

a Buddha image in a corner

The top level represents heaven and only the King and high priests worshiped Lord Vishnu. Earlier, the general public did not come to this level.

corridor at the third level

view from above

reclining Buddha in the main central tower of third level

It is said that in the early days, a golden image of Vishnu stood on the shoulders of Garuda.

a morning scene with monks

lost kingdom

The view from top gives ample oppotunity to take pictures.
Retracing steps to exit, you pass through second level corridor with many more images of Buddha at corners.