Ah Man Blog

Angkor Thom and Ta Prohm

Angkor Thom

This temple was built by King Jayavaram VII. Angkor Thom was the last and most enduring capital city of the Khmer Empire. There are other temples within Angkor Thom, but this was the center. All the faces you will see on the towers are of him. It was said to be a merger of Lord Buddha and King Jayavaram. This king was extremely dedicated to his subjects. Within the cities, he built hospitals and housing for those subjects. He was a dedicated Buddhist and military leader, and he was devoted to his family and subjects.

Following are a few pictures from Angkor Thom:

The street we are on, in front of the gate of the city, represents the Churning of the Sea of Milk. The figures on side of the street that Liz and I are on are of the Gods. On the other side of the street are the demons.

This is the entrance to the temple, inside the city gate.

As with Angkor Wat, the temple walls are filled with carvings that tell stories. In this one, King Jayavaram is leading his soldiers to battle with his most despised enemy: the Cham (Vietnamese).  The king was victorious.

The inside part of the temple was being renovated. This is the center of the temple.

A deity of Lord Buddha. In the temple, there were several places where deities were still being worshipped.

Liz and I on one of the many levels of the temple. The face in the background is the same face that is carved into all the towers around the temple.

 Another deity in the middle of the walkway.

Ta Phrom

Ta Phrom was another temple we visited. This temple also was built by King Jayavaram VII and dedicated to his mother. Today, the temple is best known for being associated with the Lara Croft Tomb Raiders movie series.  Parts of the movie "Troy" were also filmed here.  The temple was left untouched by the French when they rediscovered it. Today, workers are carefully trying to restore it to its original form.

One of the entrances.

You can see a subtle difference between these two carvings. I didn't notice it at the time, but I now wonder if the far carving is of his mother?

The entire temple had this type of growth all over and under it.

As with the other temple, there were magnificent carvings on all the temple walls.

This is the famous entrance/exit from the Lara Croft movies.

There is a treasure behind this tree. Can you see the face of the Buddha?

Tomb raiders.

One of the courtyards.

Next week: Suffering

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Angkor Wat, Siem Reap, Cambodia

As Liz and I crossed over the moat and onto the grounds of this magnificent temple, I was deeply moved.  A sensation flooded through my body and I felt that I was covered in “God” bumps, as my hair stood on end.  I was “weak in the knees” and had to stop and gather myself.  We began to walk and after 5 minutes it happened again; then once more as we approached the center of the temple.

Angkor Wat (which means City Temple, i.e., a temple which housed a city) is the home of the world’s largest Vishnu temple.  One might think that since it’s a Vishnu temple (Hindu), we might be in India, but we are in Cambodia.  Early in the 12th century King Suryavarman II built this temple to house both the temple and the royal palace.

There was massive reconstruction work going on while we were there, and I must admit did take a little away from the atmosphere.  But the reconstruction is needed.  This temple’s outside wall encloses a space of 203 acres.  The grounds inside the moat are the size of four football fields.  It’s massive and I haven’t even begun to describe the temple itself.

At the center of the temple stands a quincunx of towers which looks like lotus flower buds, one at each corner of the temple and one exactly in the middle.  The temple itself is made from sandstone and the carving (all hand carved) is unbelievable.  How did they erect those huge towers without machinery…and build four levels to the temple…not to mention the intricate carvings on the towers, walls and every piece of the temple?

It is said that for hundreds of years, traders from India would sail to Cambodia to trade goods.  They would be stranded there for the length of the rainy season.  While there they influenced the land with their own beliefs and customs and so, after a while, Cambodia became a Hindu land.  In those times, the Kings were very dedicated to their religion and King Suryavarman built this temple to show his love and dedication, which shows throughout.

The temple was built as a representation of Mt. Meru, known as the home of the Gods in the Hindu religion.  The entire temple features carvings. The walls have carvings depicting the Hindu religion.  For example, on one entire side of the temple is the story of the “Sea of Churning of Milk,” which shows the demigods and demons battling for immortality.  On another side of the temple, the entire wall relates the story of the Ramayana, the epic tale of Rama and his brother Lakshman rescuing Rama’s wife Sita, who was kidnapped by an evil King named Ravana.  Rama and Lakshman are then joined by Hanuman and defeat Ravana to rescue Sita.  All of these beautiful stories are magnificently illustrated by hand carvings on the walls.  And inside the temple, there are carvings of Krishna holding up Govardhana Hill.

As we left the temple, I was engulfed three separate times in the same feelings and sensations I experienced when I entered the temple.  It was as if the temple welcomed me and did not want to let me go.  As I write this, those same feelings wash over my body.

My partner, Liz, compared the architectural feat to that of the pyramids of Egypt.  The craftsmanship of the masons is unparalleled.  I took many pictures and I wish I could share them all.  Here are a few:

Once we crossed the moat, we walked down this causeway that led to the temple.

 This is the back entrance to the temple, where you can see some of all five towers.

Carving of Divas: It is said that there are hundreds of these throughout the temple, but no two have the same headdress.

A picture taken as we walked down the causeway, with peacocks and characters from the Ramayana.

A statue of Vishnu in the entrance of the temple.

A brief description of the carvings that illustrate the Ramyana.

Rama with his brother, Lakshman, and his army.

The people are looking at the walls on which the stories are carved.

This picture tells the story of the lower (hellish), middle (both heaven and hell) and upper (heavenly) planetary systems.

The churning of the Ocean of Milk was an elaborate process. Mount Mandaranchal was used as the dasher (churning tool), and Vasuki, the king of serpents, became the churning rope.  The gods held the tail of the snake, while the demons (Asuras) held its head, and they pulled on it alternately, causing the mountain to rotate which, in turn, churned the ocean.  However, once the mountain was placed on the ocean, it began to sink.  Vishnu, in his second incarnation in the form of a turtle, Kurma, came to their rescue and supported the mountain on his back.

The following pictures were taken during the rising of the sun over Angkor Wat.

Next week:  More Temples of Cambodia

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The Temple of the Emerald Buddha

Construction on this temple started in 1785, only a couple of years after construction began on the Grand Palace itself. The Emerald Buddha Temple was being built on the same grounds as the Grand Palace at the same time. This temple is different then other temples because it does not house monks.  Rather, it has only pagodas, statues and holy buildings.

There is a very long history that goes with this particular Buddha. It is said that the Emerald Buddha was made in India around 43BC (only about 400 years after Buddha had left his earthly body).

It was then taken by a prince of the Siamese (remember the movie “The King and I” with Yul Brynner? I might be showing my age a bit here, but Brynner was the King of the Siam Empire which is now know as Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Viet Nam and parts of Burma) regime, then taken by the Haw, then taken back when King Rama the 1st retook it and brought it to Phnom Penh, Cambodia, eventually bringing the Emerald Buddha to the Grand Palace, where his grandson King Rama the 3rd built the Temple of the Emerald Buddha.

Believe it or not, the Buddha is not made from emerald...it is made from Jade. Early on, a Buddhist monk mistakenly said it was made of emerald, and that mistake stuck.

You cannot take pictures inside the temple, which is unfortunate, because it is a very moving site. The Emerald Buddha sits on a platform about thirty or so feet above the temple floor. I was deeply moved by the sacredness inside the temple. The Buddha itself is dressed in a golden outfit of real gold. The Buddha has three different sets of gold clothing, which are changed by the King of Thailand, himself, in a ceremony at the changing of the country's three seasons: hot, rainy and cool. Most Thais and other Asians were in deep prayer. As a tourist, I tried to be quiet and take in all that the temple had to offer.

Because I couldn't take pictures inside the temple, below is a picture I pulled up from the web:

Following are some pictures of temples Liz and I visited in northern Thailand, after we completed our four-day trek in the mountains visiting the Hill People Tribe.

The entrance to a temple in Chaing Rai

The same temple, with a closer look at the in-depth ornate art and design...all hand made.

Here's the ceiling of the temple. Lots of temples have these murals on the ceiling or on the walls. In many cases, the murals on the walls tell the whole story of Siddhartha and The Buddha.

This is one of three altars at this temple.

Next week: Angor Wat

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