Tuesday 22nd April 2014 Cambodia: Siem Reap - Angkor Wat Explained?!

The sunrise witnessed it was now time for a tour of this vast temple.  The photos will show you some of the key feature but again there is not time or space her to do justice to the full historical and religious significance of this UNESCO World Heritage Site, so if you are interested in the detail then visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angkor_Wat

Briefly, Angkor Wat was first a Hindu and later a Buddhist temple and is one of the largest religious monuments in the world. The Khmer King Suryavarman II, built the temple in the early 12th century.

Angkor Wat combines two basic types of Khmer temple architecture: the temple-mountain and the later galleried temple with key features such as the Jagati (A raised surface, platform or terrace upon which some Buddhist or Hindu temples are built (See Photo Graphic below, the reference for which is:

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Architecture_of_the_Khajuraho_temples.jpg

It is designed to represent Mount Meru, home of the Devas (Remember the Ocean of Milk) in Hindu mythology and comprises three rectangular galleries, each raised above the next. At the centre of the temple stands a quincunx of towers (A quincunx is a geometric pattern consisting of five points arranged in a cross, with four of them forming a square or rectangle and a fifth at its centre. It forms the arrangement of five units in the pattern corresponding to the five-spot on six-sided or domino).

Unlike most Angkorian temples, Angkor Wat is oriented to the west; scholars are divided as to the significance of this. The temple is admired for the grandeur and harmony of the architecture, its extensive bas-reliefs, and for the numerous devatas See photos) adorning its walls.

The heart of the temple was the central tower, entered by way of a steep staircase, a statue of Vishnu at top. This tower “was at once the symbolic centre of the nation and the actual centre where secular and sacred power joined forces,” writes researcher Eleanor Mannikka in the book "Angkor: Celestial Temples of the Khmer Empire" (Abbeville Press, 2002). “From that unparalleled space, Vishnu and the king ruled over the Khmer people.”

The face of every statue is different and there are many hundreds of them.  The time and craftsmanship devoted to these carvings bare witness to the passion and importance to the Khmer people.  The reliefs tell the stories of great battles as well as legends and religious events.