Angkor Thom
Capital city of the Khmer empire
|
These are the rest of the pictures, and again you will have to do with Wikipedia. Although it is easy to get "templed out" after a few days in ancient Angkor, the Angkor Thom area is one that you should not miss. Before going, I suggest you pick up a good guidebook focusing on the temples and the area in general. |
| Part 1 | Part 2 |
|
|
| The Bayon is a temple at Angkor, Cambodia. It was built in the 13th century as the state temple of king Jayavarman VII, and stands at the centre of his capital, Angkor Thom. Its most distinctive feature is the multitude of smiling faces on the towers which rise up to its central peak. It also possesses two sets of bas-reliefs, which depict an unusual combination of mythological, historical and mundane events. The main current conservatory body, the JSA, has described the temple as "the most striking expression of the 'baroque' style", compared to the classical style of Angkor Wat. | The Bayon was the last state temple to be built at Angkor, and the only one to be built primarily as a Mahayana Buddhist temple (although various local deities were also worshipped there). It was the centrepiece of Jayavarman VII's building program, and the similarity of the faces on the temple's towers to other statues of the king have led many scholars to the conclusion that the faces are, at least in part, representations of Jayavarman VII (although Avalokitesvara is another possibility). |
 |
 |
| Under the reign of Jayavarman VIII in the mid-13th century the temple was converted to Hinduism. In later centuries Theravada Buddhism became dominant, before the temple was eventually abandoned to the jungle. Current features which were not part of the original plan include the terrace to the east of the temple, the libraries, the square corners of the inner gallery, and the upper terrace. | In the first part of the 20th century conservation work was led by the Ecole Française d'Extrême-Orient, which restored the temple using the anastylosis technique. Since 1995 the Japanese Government team for the Safeguarding of Angkor has been the main conservatory body, holding annual symposia. |
 |
 |
| The temple is orientated towards the east, and so its buildings are set back to the west inside enclosures elongated along the east-west axis. Because the temple sits at the exact centre of Angkor Thom, roads lead to it directly from the gates at each of the city's cardinal points. The temple itself has no wall or moats, these being replaced by those of the city itself: the city-temple arrangement, with an area of 9 square kilometres, is much larger than that of Angkor Wat to the south (2 km²). | Within the temple itself, there are two galleried enclosures (the third and second enclosures) and an upper terrace (the first enclosure). The outer gallery features a series of historical and everyday scenes on its outer wall, but there is considerable uncertainty as to which historical events are portrayed and how, if at all, the different reliefs are related. |
Presented By Boots 4 You, Guide 2 Cambodia, and Janhoo.com.