One of Cambodia's Mysteries:
The Bayon Temple
Deep in the jungle of Cambodia, not far from the north shore of the great in-land
lake of Tonle Sap, the French naturalist Henry Mouhot was led by local people to a place where lay the massive temple remains
of the ancient Khmer people. Many temples and religious structures were hidden under dirt mounds and overgrown with vegetation,
others were meshed with great roots of trees destroying sections while embracing other sections in place, still other temples
were quite intact; all under the canopy of the jungle, hidden and almost forgotten to the world.
That was in 1860. Two years
later his journals were reviewed by the Royal Geographic Society, while he was dead the previous year in Luang Prabang (Laos),
of malaria. The Society, which sponsored Mouhot's exploration for natural survey, found great interest in the detailed writings
and sketches of his journals and its publications exposed Angkor Wat to the rest of the world.
This place is near
a town name Siem Riep, and is generally called Angkor Wat, a collective name for a vast area once was home for over one million
people. No other city in the 11th century can support that kind of demography. The people not only successfully developed
an extensive and highly sophisticated net work of canals, dykes, massive water reservoirs (barays), and water distribution
systems, but also built many temples. Not just any ordinary temples, but magnificent ones, range from very large to small.
The ones that are still around today
are made of highly durable materials, mainly stones. Other structures and dwellings were made of light materials of wood and
tiles, some were destroyed by rival neighbors, and all are lost in time and to the elements. The scale at which some of these
were built is overwhelming and mind-boggling.
Totally unexpected
in sheer size and imensity, nothing can prepare a person for coming face to face with, and to experience these structures.
A picture may be worth a thousand words, but to behold a Khmer masterpiece and feel the presence of the forces is speechless.
At close-range, the details carved into stone exude the deftness of artisans and the skills of master builders. It leaves
one to wonder about the people whose hands tamed and graced these stones, the people whose belief so strong, and whose societal
organization so highly effective.
Please click
on the pages on the left to see the rest of the content. Thank you for your visit. Astrobeau.
This was originally a research paper written in spring 2000 for the History of Asian Art class, intructed by Mr. Chris
Daubert at Sacramento City College. It finally gets a web presence in spring 2004.
