Angkor Wat: Week 10 / Day 70 / March 21
Siem Reap, Cambodia: When we got dropped off at the hotel yesterday we arranged a tuk-tuk driver and guide for today. They picked us up at the hotel early so we could try and beat the heat (HA! fat chance of that – the overnight low is rarely below 80 F and the heat index has hit 90+ F by 8:00 AM most days).
We first had to drive by the ticket office and purchase 3-day passes for the Angkor Archaeological Park. In order to discourage resale of multi-day tickets, each ticket has your picture on it. This pass provides access to Angkor Wat and many other temples in the area.
The name Angkor Wat can be translated as either Temple City or City of Temples. Looking at the map above, you may be surprised, as I was, to see that Angkor Wat is not the largest temple in the area. In fact, before coming here, I had the impression that all of the temples in the area were part of Angkor Wat. However, for various reasons, Angkor Wat is the most well known of the temples at this location.
Upon arrival we made our way across the large moat that surrounds Angkor Wat. In addition to making it difficult to attack, the moat has also kept the encroaching jungle at bay over the years, unlike many of the other temples in the area.
Originally built in the early 12th century as a Hindu temple and transitioned to a Buddhist one in the late 12th century, there is a mix of both Hindu and Buddhist iconography.
Quite prominent throughout the entire complex are the asparas common to both Hindu and Buddhist culture.
It is difficult to convey in pictures the size of a temple as large as Angkor Wat. However, some numbers do convey some sense of scale. The outer moat that surrounds Angkor Wat is a little over 3 miles long, the outer wall is 2.25 miles long, and the entire complex occupies 402 acres. In simpler terms, it is really, really big.
After entering through the main gate in the outer wall there is a long walkway to the main temple complex that has two library buildings about halfway down the path.
The temple is modeled after Mount Meru, which holds a central role in both Hindu and Buddhist cosmology. The central group of five towers represents the five peaks of Mount Meru arranged in a square with a central peak (new word for the day – this arrangement is called a quincunx and is also the arrangement of the five points on dice), the walls represent surrounding mountain ranges, and the moat represents the oceans.
We walked the reminder of the path and arrived at the main entrance to the temple.
Upon entering the central temple complex, the most significant feature is the collection of bas relief galleries encircling the temple. These walls measure 187 meters by 215 meters and are covered in their entirety.
The galleries tell the story of the Ramayana as seen elsewhere, as well as a procession of Suryavarman II and a depiction of the 32 hells and 37 heavens of Hinduism.
The ability to see or photograph the images throughout the temple varies widely, based upon the condition and darkness of the stone. One of the factors increasing the darkness of the stone is the oil deposited by people putting their hands on the images. Some portions of the images seemed to get more attention than others.
One my favorite images (albeit a bit hard to see in the photograph) was a depiction of the three realms of Hell, Earthly Life, and Heaven layered upon each other.
Much like Dante’s Divine Comedy, the most detail and attention is paid to the depiction of Hell (or the Inferno). Closeups of the images see the condemned led around by their noses like cattle and whipped by demons.
Much of the construction was done without aid of mortar and rocks were simply stacked. Mortar has been added in later years to improve stability and safety.
After walking around this first level we headed up to the second level of the complex. Here we could see more of the interior and the stairs leading up to the third level.
At some points, the rock walls were broken exposing the interior lava rock used to build the base of the complex, which was then clad in smoother, more decorative stone.
Before ascending the stairs to the third level, we saw a series of headless Buddha statues.
The heads of these had been broken off by the French, presumably by collectors for galleries and museums in France.
The stairs up to the third level were quite steep and induced panic in a couple of people on the way back down.
From the top level we could see the rest of the complex below us.
However, this top level is not a simple tower, but is actually quite large with a number of galleries and shrines. Many images adorn the walls and columns throughout the upper level.
There were also four large open areas or courtyards on this level.
The detail in the wall carvings was really quite impressive. Shown below is an image of an aspara with a close up of a pattern on her belt.
Similarly, below is a series of pictures at increasing levels of detail focusing in on a single column (color differences are due to effects of lighting and how the camera adjusts as I moved closer / zoomed).
The patience and skill to do this volume of detailed work is remarkable.
After exploring a bit more up top, we headed down and out of the temple for the long walk back to the main gates.
Although it was still not very late in the day, we were exhausted. Rather than pushing on to another temple, we decided to head back to the hotel to rest and get something to eat. We explored a bit of a Siem Reap in the evening and will back to see more temples tomorrow morning.
