The complex known as Angkor Wat is considered to be the largest religious temple in the world. Combined with the moat built around it, the causeway and surrounded by a huge forested area, in total it encompasses more than 400 acres. Built in the early 12th century by the Khmer empire and originally dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu it transformed to a Buddhist temple by the end of the century. The Eastern entrance to Angkor Wat A little prayer before going in Our tour manager Ray and local guide Sopay This is a little better but still not complete A view of the Southern side Pictures never seem to do the image justice. Seeing it up close I was much better able to appreciate the massive size of Angkor Wat. Another angle looking up at Angkor Wat A closer up shot of one of the huge towers in the complex As I was walking up the steps to go inside One of the Buddha's inside the temple complex sitting in a yoga pose Part of our group as we were being led down this open hallway Angkor Wat used 2 basic styles of Khmer architecture, the temple mountain and galleried temple. It represents the home of devas in Hindu mythology which is Mt. Meru. Sandstone was used for most of the interior walls again allowing for the very elaborate carvings throughout the temple. Incredible carvings on the walls These Buddha's were both victims of vandalism Another Buddha missing it's head, caused by vandals A view I had from the top from of the central tower It was actually scarier going down the steps as you can see from this picture below. Very carefully making it down these very steep stairs from the central tower We continued our tour and started to head to the West exit which is actually the main entrance. Heading to the exit Ah almost there Looking back at the Western entrance Looking back from the other side of the moat I hope this skinny chicken wasn't on tonight's menu It was hot and I was thirsty so I got some coconut water from this young man. The coconut came from a refrigerator so it was very cold. He very quickly cut it open for me. Chop chop chop and it was ready for us to drink cold fresh coconut water It was delicious and very refreshing Heading across the causeway to visit Angkor Thom Asura's pulling the snake guarding one side of the causeway The Deva's guarding the other side of the causeway There are 54 Deva's on one side and 54 Asura's on the other side with both sides in a tug of war with the serpent. A Deva is a Hindu god and an Asura is a demon that battles the Deva. There is an ancient Hindu story of the Churning of the Ocean of Milk. The ocean was churned to extract the nectar of immortality. The snake represents the rope. A section of the moat surrounding Angkor Thom which will be the subject of the next chapter As we were leaving we saw some monkeys that live on the grounds Angkor Wat is protected as a UNESCO world heritage site. It's importance as a tourist attraction for Cambodia is immeasurable. Visiting Angkor Wat was truly an amazing experience. We were there about 4 hours and I feel like we just touched the surface and there's so much more to see. Maybe another visit is in somewhere my future.
Next time Our visit to Angkor Thom temple.
0 Comments
|