Faces of Bayon

Having visited most of the temples around Angkor Wat, I decided to spend more time at Angkor Thom today. But first, a quick visit to Banteay Kdei and Thommanom before heading over to Angkor Thom.

Banteay Kdei
Thommanom
Angkor Thom via Victory Gate
Bayon
Bapoun
The Royal Palace
Elephant Terrace
Leper King Terrace

This morning was no different from yesterday...rain. Luckily it wasn't as bad as yesterday's continuous rain, it was more cloudy and misty. Again my day started late but I got to update my journal and fb status. By late morning, my Tuk Tuk driver was getting eager to leave the hotel (he was probably concerned that I may not need his services today), so off we go to Angkor! Angkor Wat may be the largest temple in the world but I loved Angkor Thom more (“the great city” in Khmer), for its massive stone face carvings and intricate rooms. My favorite was just seeing the monks in their classic brilliant orange robes in contrast to the huge stark stone blocks.

Angkor Thom, built by Cambodia's greatest builder, Jayavarman VII, is a ten square kilometer city enclosed by an eight meter high wall and encircled by a hundred meter moat (said to have been inhabited by fierce crocodiles). There are five twenty meter high gates in the wall in each of the North, West and South walls and two in the East Wall. Access is via causeways over the moat that are flanked by the statues of fifty-four Gods on the left and fifty-four devils on the right, all seemingly engaged in a game of tug of war.

The central temple, Bayon, is one of the most famous temples in Angkor. Interestingly, the Bayon is a Buddhist temple built during King Jayavarman VII rule, but the temple adheres to Hindu cosmology with links to the natural world references. It has four huge stone faces of Avalokitesharva, each facing out to a compass point. Bayon is also wrapped by two long walls with bas-relief scenes of legendary and historic events. At one point, the temple was host to 49 such towers; now only 37 remain. The number of faces is approximately 200, but since some are only partially preserved there can be no definitive count.

On to other complexes within Angkor Thom, following the marked path from Bayon to Baphuon and around the Royal Palace, I walked over to Elephant Terrace and Leper King’s Terrace.

The clouds started to lift in the late afternoon, so I went back to Angkor Thom after spending few hours around the Royal Palace. And of course, my Nikon P7000 camera battery dies just as I get to Angkor Thom! Luckily my iPhone (this has become my trusty back-up camera) still had some juice left to capture great photos in the afternoon light...or maybe it's the photographer who can shoot amazing photos with anything? Haha.