After a Valentine’s Day spent in blissful indolence, the Idiots headed out to see the reason people come to Siem Reap, Cambodia – the amazing temple complexes including the largest religious site in the world, Angkor Wat. They want to share just a few photos to give their friends the briefest hint of the wonders that unfolded as they wandered for hours through the site.
The Idiots are too busy to repeat what readers have probably heard on National Geographic and travel specials. Briefly… built by the Khmer King Suryavarman II in the early 12th century and dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu, it covers over 400 acres and is surrounded by a huge moat and ornate gates and walls. Inside are vast courtyard areas and a series of temples.
King Suryavarman II was a self-styled God-King so he needed to reproduce heaven on earth during his lifetime to provide the proper setting for him to move on to godhood as his mortal body died. The five huge towers and multiple levels are a human-built version of the mythological home of the Hindu gods, Mt. Meru. Making the ascent through the levels is the equivalent of climbing from earthly life to heaven.
It is interesting that Angkor Wat and the many other beautiful temple complexes were being constructed in the jungle of central Cambodia at the same time as many of the great cathedrals in medieval Europe were being built… and a little later than similar constructions by the Mayans in Central America and a couple centuries before the temples around Machu Picchu in South America. These ancient religious sites are all different, but they also have much in common. They were all built by advanced civilizations ruled by kings who were also considered gods. And they all had to solve the same problems of building huge structures in stone.
In particular, as stone structures get taller, they tend to bulge and become unstable. One solution is to build as the ancient Egyptians built the pyramids… just keep making the base wider and wider. Effective – but not very attractive. The Khmer developed an exterior support system that is not too dissimilar from the buttresses that support the walls of large churches all over Europe.
Perhaps the most amazing fact - all the structures are constructed stone-on-stone... no mortar! The tallest tower of Angkor Wat rises to 700 feet!
Enough history. One doesn’t really need to know very much to experience the awe and wonder of Angkor Wat. The Idiots will let a few of the several hundred photos they took give readers a feel for a wander around Angkor Wat.
Approaching the site, visitors are greeted by what appears to be a wide, peaceful river. It is, in fact, a gigantic rectangular moat that surrounds the complex. A long causeway connects the temple “island” to “the mainland.” At the end of the causeway visitors approach the huge wall and magnificent temple buildings.
One is greeted around every corner by beautiful women.
And then the Idiots were startled to find the “temple” they were enjoying so much was really just a “gatehouse” and the main temple was still far away along another grand causeway raised about plaza areas and lotus ponds. As they have seen in so many ancient sites, great designers have always recognized the beauties of reflecting ponds and water plants.
It is impossible to convey in a few photographs how ornate all the interior and exterior surfaces are. Inside, one passes through what seem like endless galleries and doorways, oriented along the cardinal directions and leading to a maze of courtyards and smaller temples.
Shortly after Angkor Wat was completed, the Khymer kingdom was conquered by another people, the Cham. As the Khymer regime regained power the state religion switched from Hindu to Buddhism. Angkor Wat contains a bewildering mix of Hindu and Buddhist décor and it continues to function today as a Buddhist temple. Visitors must have their shoulders and knees covered and are expected to show respect to the Buddha.
Walking among the ruins and reconstructed temple, it is startling to see a large glowing Buddha beckoning. Readers might notice the wooden steps over doorsteps. The Khymer had very high doorsteps between rooms. Today, in heavily visited areas, there are wide wooden steps. Visitors often have the misunderstanding that these are built for tourist convenience. In fact, they are built to prevent the millions of tourists from scraping and tripping and damaging the stonework.
Facing the Buddha from several galleries away is a rectangular stone in the floor. This stone is the center of Anghor Wat… and according to the original inhabitants – it is the center of the earth. The standard ritual is to stand barefoot on the stone and to bow and say a prayer facing 0, 90, and 180 degrees to the Buddha. Why only 3 of the four cardinal points? The Idiots have not a clue!
Near the Buddha a monk blesses those who wish it. A red ribbon is tied around the worshipers wrist – since monks cannot touch a woman, he ties it very carefully! – and there is a blessing with holy water
Everywhere one looks, the surfaces are decorated in carvings. Some are meant to be beautiful, others are meant to teach. Many of them tell stories from the Hindu book, the Mahabarata. Battles between good guys and bad guys… and between gods and demons… are common themes.
The closer one examines them, the more detail is revealed. For example, in the fourth and fifth of the following pictres – there’s an action scene in which one guy jumps onto the back of the horse pulling the chariot to attack the guy in the chariot – and the chariot guy wraps his arm around the back of the attackers neck and cuts off his leg… the dismembered leg is featured flying through the air.
On their wedding days, Cambodians are “king and queen for a day.” Weddings used to last three days, but one and a half days is more common now. A smallish wedding party will have 200 or so guests. It isn’t unusual to invite many more than that. (Weddings are expensive – but guests are expected to pay for their own meals at the party.)
The bride and groom wear seven different outfits that resemble those worn by real Cambodian royalty. They don’t buy these outfits… they rent them.
So it is only fitting that some folks come to pride of Cambodia – Angkor Wat – to take advantage of the atmospheric surrounding to get some great wedding pictures!
The Idiots took hundreds of pictures. Looking up, looking down, walking around each corner… always more details to marvel at. Even the wooden steps tell a story. The long, wide staircases covers the original very steep, tall stairs.
And the four lions are guardians. Entrances to temples will always have guardians to turn away evil. Lions… dogs… Naga the snake demon/god… Garuda… birdlike or humanoid-birdlike god… the protectors stand watch. And not just temples… even very humble homes in the Cambodian countryside often have guardians.
Looking backward… a postcard view of Angkor Wat.
The Idiots had to pinch themselves. They never thought they would visit Cambodia and this “Wonder of the World.” They are indeed, as they so often observe, truly lucky fish.
