It’s hard to describe Angkor Wat with words. The totality of the entire Angkor Empire is so vast and awe-inspiring. Everything from the history of its creators, rulers, workers and usage is just amazing. Every temple in the Angkor complex (and there are many) has its own story. I’ve been to Angkor Wat twice now, and still I am a novice at understanding Angkor. I think you could visit Siem Reap several times and go without repeating temples (although many are well worth returning to that’s for sure). I did return to most of the same temples as I visited with Peter, but I still thoroughly enjoyed my time walking around the ruins. I was able to take a closer look at some statues, reliefs and the construction. I was also able to take different types of pictures. I enjoyed revisiting some temples, and enjoyed visiting temples for the first time. Something about the mix of heat, sweat, dust, people, and hours spent walking around the ruins takes your breath away, and throws you into another time and place that only your imagination can really unfold for you. That’s why Angkor is hard to explain- one must really experience it by walking in and out of shrinking doorways, approaching a grand temple to take in the full scale, peer up at a giant Buddha statue, climb hundreds of steps and envision King Gods and priests having done the same, and feel the presence of a thousand Buddha’s eyes watching you as you gingerly make your way in and out of the maze of towers.
I hope the pictures do a better job explaining Angkor Wat. If ever you get the inkling to visit, don’t push that feeling away. It is very worth the experience, and every penny. Angkor Wat is unforgettable, majestic, historic, and beautiful.
Day 1- The Small Tour
The 'Small Tour' is small in overall distance traveled by tuk tuk and walking, but it includes the most culturally significant and religiously important temples. When touring Angkor Wat you can go by yourself or hire a guide, and I'm pretty sure all the guides will do a very similar tour. The first two days we had a guide. The temples we saw on the first day were: Angkor Thom, The Bayon, Bapuon and the the shadow of the reclining Buddha in the silhouette of the stonework, Phimeanakas, Terrace of the Leper King, Sras Srei, Terrace of the Elephants,Ta Prohm (the Lara Croft Tomb Raider temple), Ta Keo, and last but not least, Angkor Wat.
 |
| Outside the gate to The Bayon, standing by a god. On the opposite side of the causeway are demons. 54 heads in total I think. |
|
 |
| One of many bas reliefs of war. |
|
 |
| One of the many tricks the guides come up with. |
 |
| Many faces of Buddha always watching you at the Bayon |
|
 |
| View of a gallery from the upper galleries of the Bayon |
|
 |
| Bapuon- you can see the face of the Buddha- reclining. Can you see it? His face is on the left. |
|
 |
|
| Phimeanakas- These steps are more serious than they appear. |
|
 |
| Small hallway at the top of Phimeanakas |
 |
| Elaborate handmade details. |
 |
| Ta Prohm- the Lara Croft Tomb Raider Temple. They've let the trees grow through the temple here. At other temples they manage the trees, but here they wanted to let nature take its course I suppose. |
 |
| Dis is a take ovah! Trees consume stone... |
 |
| Angkor temples are made of sandstone and laterite so they weather easily and it is a lot of work to maintain. |
 |
| Angkor Wat- in an outer gallery to the central gallery. Lakshmi statue- Wife of Rama (as her incarnation of Sita). Rama is believed to be an incarnation, or avatar of Vishnu. In the Ramayana (ancient Hindu epic), Lakshmi is abducted by Ravana, King of Lanka. He makes many advances on Sita, but she refuses. Finally her husband Rama is able to rescue her. In the Hindu epic, Sita needs to perform a few rituals to prove she has been faithful during her time of captivity. She must walk over fire to prove her chastity. In the Thai version, Sita goes willingly into the coals to feel clean. The coals turn to lotus flowers which are very symbolic in Thailand, Hinduism and Buddhism. It symbolizes purity of body, speech and mind. When they returned to their Kingdom in Ayodhya, they are crowned King and Queen. Some of the people in the Kingdom could not accept her long captivity. She was later exiled again, due to some comments made by a subject of the kingdom. Rama knew this comment was baseless, but he drove Sita out anyways because he could not be undermined. Rama is perceived as courageous in his pursuits to rescue to Sita, but I haven't seen much that says Sita was brave throughout her exile(s) and single parenthood. She raised two boys on her own in a hermitage after she was rescued by a sage. The Ramayana is an interesting story and it may have many different explanations and versions, so I am not an expert. But, I still Sita deserves a bit more credit. |
 |
| Buddha. |
 |
| Apsara dancer. Apsaras are celestial dancing girls, characters in Indian mythology. |
 |
| Fantastic. THE Angkor Wat. A 20 year dream come true for Mom. |
 |
| Monk doing his homework. Angkor Wat is actually home to an active monastery as well, so the monks can use Angkor Wat as a physical classroom of their cultural history. How about that for experiential learning? |
|
 |
| An upper gallery at Angkor Wat |
 |
| Hallway in an upper gallery. This is in the center of four pools where God Kings hung out and splashed around. |
|
 |
| Not sure if this is Mt. Meru or one of the four corner towers, but it's still incredible. I don't think this one is Mt. Meru, but Mt. Merus looks very similar- it's just larger and you can walk up a steep flight up steps to walk around its upper galleries. |
|
Mt. Meru, or Sumeru is the symbolic center of the universe. It is the mythical mountain home to the Gods that is mentioned in Buddhist, Hindu and Jain cosmology. In the central structure of the Angkor Wat complex there are five towers, or peaks. The central tower that is the tallest represents the central peak, and the four corner towers represent the four other peaks. The walls and moats around the 5 towers are said to symbolize the other mountain ranges and oceans. I've also heard that those four other towers represent the Sun-God and stars. Access to the central tower is limited, and last time I visited Angkor Wat were not allowed to climb the steps and walk around the gallery there. But this time we were. It was very special and exciting.
 |
| Offering for Buddha. Lotus flowers are a common offering for Buddha. Not only does the Buddha appear to be sitting in a lotus flower in many images and statues, but the lotus flower is a symbol of pure mind, heart and thoughts. | | |
|
 |
| On the way back down Mt. Meru. Very happy, feeling amazing to be looking out at such an amazing view. |
No comments:
Post a Comment