The MAG's Cambodian Adventure: The Temples

Today we explored the temples of central Angkor Thom. They are phenomenal! How these were created is an engineering feat. It seems that everywhere you looked, there was an even more detailed carving.

Angkor Thom was the last and most enduring capital city of the Khmer empire. It was established in the late 12^th century by King Jayavaraman VII. One inscription found in the city refers to Jayavaraman as the groom and the city as his bride.

The Bayon was built in the late 12^th century or early 13^th century as the official state temple of the Mahayana Buddhist King Jayavarman VII. The Bayon’s most distinctive feature is the multitude of serene and massive stone faces on many towers. There are 54 towers with each having four faces of thesmiling Buddha on it facing each of the directions which is a total of 216 faces.

Many of you will be familiar with the Ta Prohm temple. It was featured in the Angelina Jolie move “The Tomb Raider”. Ta Prohm was built for the King’s mother. It was originally called Rajavihara. Unlike most Angkorian temples, it has been left in much the same condition in which it was found with banyon trees growing out of the ruins and the jungle surroundings have made it one of the most popular temples.

Angkor Wat was built for King Suriyavaraman II in the early 12^th century as his state temple and capital city. It is the best preserved temple and is one of the wonders of the world. Angkor Wat is the only one to have remained a significant religious centre since its foundation, first as Hindu dedicated to Vishnu and then Buddhist. The temple has become a symbol of Cambodia and appears on its national flag.

There is a meshing of Hindu and Buddhist traditions. Some of the Hindu deities we heard about from our guide were Visnu, Brahma, Lakshmi and Shiva. Maddie was in her glory learning about them.

After the temples, we went to Artisans Angkor. This is a school that teaches handicapped and rural poor individuals carving, in stone or wood, painting on silk and silver smithing. They did phenomenal work! We walked through the various workshops and were able to watch the students as they created wonderful pieces of art.

It was a pretty hot day today. Needless to say, we were ringing wet with sweat after climbing and walking through the temples. It was off to the pool for a refreshing moment.

Tonight we had dinner and a show. We saw Apsara dancing. This is traditional Cambodian dance. Apsara means sky dancing. They were traditionally the King’s concubines as they were so beautiful. There were several different types of dance that were performed. The dancers were so graceful. Their hand positions told stories. It was wonderful to see and the girls really enjoyed it.

We are packed once again as we will be headed back to Phnom Penh tomorrow.