Landscape
Phnom Bakheng HINDU TEMPLE
Nearly 400m south of Angkor Thom, that hill’s main draw is the sunset view of Angkor Wat, although this has turned into something of a show , with hundreds of travellers jockeying for space. The temple which was built by Yasovarman I (r 889–910) has five tiers with seven levels.
Ta Prohm BUDDHIST TEMPLE
Ta Prohm, which is the eventual Indiana Jones fantasy, is hidden in mottled darkness , its crumbling towers and walls locked in the sluggish , strong clinch of large root systems. If Angkor Wat, the Bayon and other temples are witness to the talent of the ancient Khmers, Ta Prohm reminds people equally of the great prolificacy and power of the jungle . We have a graceful cycle to this honored , with humanity foremost conquering wildlife to rapidly create, and Mother Nature once again conquering humanity to gradually destroy.
Built from 1186 and originally known as Rajavihara (Monastery of the King), Ta Prohm was a Buddhist temple devoted to the mother of Jayavarman VII. Ta Prohm is a temple of towers, close courtyards and narrow corridors. Very old trees tower overhead, their leaves filtering the daylight and casting a green pall over the whole scene. Explorers can feel the mystery of old.
Preah Khan BUDDHIST TEMPLE
The temple of Preah Khan (Sacred Sword) is one of the greatest constructions at Angkor. It is a maze of vaulted corridors, fine carvings and lichen-clad stonework. Built by Jayavarman VII, it covers a very large area, and the temple itself is within a rectangular wall of around 700m by 800m. Preah Khan is a genuine combination temple, the eastern entrance dedicated to Mahayana Buddhism, with equal-sized doors, and the other cardinal directions dedicated to Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma, with successively smaller doors, emphasising the unequal nature of Hinduism.
Preah Neak Poan BUDDHIST TEMPLE
Another late-12th-century work of – no surprises here is Jayavarman VII. This small temple just east of Preah Khan has a wide square pool which is surrounded by four smaller square pools, with a circular ‘island’ in the middle. Water once flowed from the central pond into the four peripheral pools via four ornamental spouts, in the form of an elephant’s head, a horse’s head, a lion’s head and a human head.
Roluos Group HINDU TEMPLE
The monuments of Roluos, which served as the capital for Indravarman I (r 877–89), are among the earliest big permanent temples. It was constructed by the Khmers and mark the dawn of Khmer classical art. Preah Ko, dedicated to Shiva, has elaborate inscriptions in Sanskrit on the doorposts of each tower and some of the best surviving examples of Angkorian plasterwork. The city’s central temple, Bakong, with its five-tier central pyramid of sandstone, is a representation of Mt Meru. Roluos is 13km southeast of Siem Reap along NH6.
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