Angkor Thom built in the late 12th century was the last capital of the Khmer empire. It was a heavily fortified city containing residences for high officials, military and religious leaders. The original buildings were constructed of wood and what remains are the stone monuments. Angkor Thom literally translates to Great City. Angkor Thom is surrounded by high walls , each one is 3 km. long and provided an excellent defense against possible attackers. Angkor Thom is also surrounded by a moat that is 100 meters wide which adds to the cities defense. The city was accessible through 1 of 5 gates known as gopura gates, each gate being located in the middle of several towers and the last one known as the Victory gate was located on the road from the Royal Palace. A gopura gate consists of a central tower with 2 smaller towers on either side it. The Gopura gate we entered through Each of the towers has giant faces carved in them. The towers on the walls contain 4 very large heads on the top of the gates. Each head faces one of the four cardinal directions and represent Lokeshvara, a bodhisattva. A bodhisattva is a person that can reach nirvana but delays out of compassion for suffering people. The central tower contains 2 large faces looking in opposite directions and the small towers each has 1 face looking in the remaining directions. Our view from just outside the wall A closeup of just outside of one of the walls The central tower surrounded by the inner monuments Exploring the interior Built of Sandstone allowed for very intricate carvings More elaborate carvings Scenes of the Khmer Army Incredible craftsmanship Views of several of the inner towers A closeup showing more details of one of the faces on a tower This closeup clearly shows the individual stones carved to make up this face One of the small buddha's we saw as we were heading to the exit One final view after we exited through the west gate According to our local guide Sopay the temple in Angkor Thom was dedicated to Buddhist gods but also Angkor Thom was the Great City dedicated more to the daily life of the people serving the Khmer king. After we reached our bus we headed to lunch before going to visit Ta Prohm. Lunch at the Angkor Image Restaurant Our selections for lunch Pork and Prawns Spring Rolls Wok Fried Chicken with Jasmine Sticky Rice Banana Fritter with Ice Cream, Outstanding Lunch was really YUM. This was a really nice break after visiting Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom in the morning and early afternoon. We had one more temple to visit before our day was over.
Next time we visit Ta Prohm
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