THE LAST BLOOMING IN REGION OF JAYAVARMAN VIII

Jayavarman VIII 

After the death of Jayavarman VII, his son Indravarman II (reigned 1219–1243) ascended the throne. Like his father, he was a Buddhist, and he completed a series of temples begun under his father's rule. As a warrior he was less successful. In the year 1220, under mounting pressure from increasingly powerful Dai Viet (Vietnam), and its Cham alliance, the Khmer withdrew from many of the provinces previously conquered from Champa. In the west, his Thai subjects rebelled, establishing the first Thai kingdom at Sukhothai and pushing back the Khmer. In the following 200 years, the Thais would become the chief rivals of Kambuja.

Indravarman II was succeeded by Jayavarman VIII (reigned 1243–1295). In contrast to his predecessors, Jayavarman VIII was a devotee of the Hindu deity Shiva and an aggressive opponent of Buddhism, destroying many Buddha statues in the empire and converting Buddhist temples to Hindu temples. From the outside, the empire was threatened in 1283 by the Mongols under Kublai Khan's general Sogetu (sometimes known as Sagatu or Sodu), who was the governor of Guangzhou, China. The king avoided war with his powerful opponent, who ruled all of China, by paying annual tribute, starting in 1285. Jayavarman VIII's rule ended in 1295 when he was deposed by his son-in-law Srindravarman (reigned 1295–1309). The new king was a follower of Theravada Buddhism, a school of Buddhism that had arrived in Southeast Asia from Sri Lanka and subsequently spread through most of the region.

In August 1296, the Chinese diplomat Zhou Daguan arrived at Angkor and recorded, "In the recent war with the Siamese, the country was utterly devastated." He remained at the court of king Srindravarman until July 1297. He was neither the first nor the last Chinese representative to visit Kambuja. His stay is notable, however, because Zhou Daguan later wrote a detailed report on life in Angkor. His portrayal is today one of the most important sources of understanding historical Angkor. Alongside descriptions of several great temples (the Bayon, the Baphuon, Angkor Wat) — his account informs us that the towers of the Bayon were once covered in gold — the text also offers valuable information on the everyday life and the habits of the inhabitants of Angkor.

-Writing by follow up Khmer King and Khmer Histories Book.

THE KINGS OF ANGKOR WAT AND ANGKOR THOM

Suryavarman II — Angkor Wat

Suryavarman II King

The 12th century was a time of conflict and brutal power struggles. Under Suryavarman II (reigned 1113–1150) the kingdom united internally and the largest temple of Angkor was built in a period of 37 years: Angkor Wat, dedicated to the god Vishnu. In the east, his campaigns against Champa, and Dai Viet, were unsuccessful, though he did sack Vijaya in 1145 and depose Jaya Indravarman III. The Khmers occupied Vijaya until 1149, when they were driven out by Jaya Harivarman I. Suryavarman II sent a mission to the Chola dynasty of south India and presented a precious stone to the Chola Emperor Kulothunga Chola I in 1114.

Another period followed in which kings reigned briefly and were violently overthrown by their successors. Finally in 1177 the capital was raided and looted in a naval battle on the Tonlé Sap Lake by a Cham fleet under Jaya Indravarman IV, and Tribhuvanadityavarman was killed.

Jayavarman VII — Angkor Thom

Jayavarman VII King

King Jayavarman VII (reigned 1181–1219) was generally considered as Cambodia's greatest king. He had already been a military leader as a prince under previous kings. After the Cham had conquered Angkor, he gathered an army and regained the capital. He ascended the throne and continued the war against the neighbouring eastern kingdom for another 22 years, until the Khmer defeated Champa in 1203 and conquered large parts of its territory.

Jayavarman VII stands as the last of the great kings of Angkor, not only because of his successful war against the Cham, but also because he was not a tyrannical ruler in the manner of his immediate predecessors. He unified the empire and carried out noteworthy building projects. The new capital, now called Angkor Thom (literally: "Great City"), was built. In the centre, the king (himself a follower of Mahayana Buddhism) had constructed as the state temple the Bayon, with towers bearing faces of the boddhisattva Avalokiteshvara, each several metres high, carved out of stone. Further important temples built under Jayavarman VII were Ta Prohm for his mother, Preah Khan for his father, Banteay Kdei, and Neak Pean, as well as the reservoir of Srah Srang. An extensive network of roads was laid down connecting every town of the empire, with rest-houses built for travellers. In addition, he established 102 hospitals.

-Writing by follow up Khmer King and Khmer Histories Book.

THE FIRST CITY OF ANGKOR

YASODHARAPURA 

Indravarman I was followed by his son Yasovarman I (reigned 889 – 915), who established a new capital, Yasodharapura – the first city of Angkor. The city's central temple was built on Phnom Bakheng, a hill which rises around 60 m above the plain on which Angkor sits. Under Yasovarman I the East Baray was also created, a massive water reservoir of 7.1 by 1.7 km.

KOH KE TEMPLE

At the beginning of the 10th century the kingdom split. Jayavarman IV established a new capital at Koh Ker, some 100 km northeast of Angkor, called Lingapura. Only with Rajendravarman II (reigned 944 – 968) was the royal palace returned to Yasodharapura. He took up again the extensive building schemes of the earlier kings and established a series of temples in the Angkor area, not the least being the East Mebon, on an island in the middle of the East Baray, and several Buddhist temples, such as Pre Rup, and monasteries. In 950, the first war took place between Kambuja and the kingdom of Champa to the east (in the modern central Vietnam).

The son of Rajendravarman II, Jayavarman V, reigned from 968 to 1001. After he had established himself as the new king over the other princes, his rule was a largely peaceful period, marked by prosperity and a cultural flowering. He established a new capital slightly west of his father's and named it Jayendranagari; its state temple, Ta Keo, was to the south. At the court of Jayavarman V lived philosophers, scholars, and artists. New temples were also established: the most important of these are Banteay Srei, considered one of the most beautiful and artistic of Angkor, and Ta Keo, the first temple of Angkor built completely of sandstone.

THOMMANON TEMPLE

A decade of conflict followed the death of Jayavarman V. Three kings reigned simultaneously as antogonists until Suryavarman I (reigned 1006 – 1050) gained the throne. Suryavarman I established diplomatic relations with the Chola dynasty of south India. Suryavarman I sent a chariot as a present to the Chola Emperor Rajaraja Chola I. His rule was marked by repeated attempts by his opponents to overthrow him and by military conquests. Suryavarman was successful in taking control of the Khmer capital city of Angkor Wat. At the same time, Angkor Wat came into conflict with the Tambralinga kingdom of the Malay Peninsula. In other words, there was a three-way conflict in mainland Southeast Asia. After surviving several invasions from his enemies, Suryavarman requested aid from the powerful Chola Emperor Rajendra Chola I of the Chola dynasty against the Tambralinga kingdom. After learning of Suryavarman's alliance with Rajendra Chola, the Tambralinga kingdom requested aid from the Srivijaya king Sangrama Vijayatungavarman. This eventually led to the Chola Empire coming into conflict with the Srivijiya Empire. The war ended with a victory for the Chola dynasty and of the Khmer Empire, and major losses for the Sri Vijaya Empire and the Tambralinga kingdom. This alliance also had religious nuance, since both Chola and Khmer empire were Hindu Shivaist, while Tambralinga and Srivijaya were Mahayana Buddhist. There is some indication that before or after these incidents Suryavarman I sent a gift, a chariot, to Rajendra Chola I to possibly facilitate trade or an alliance. Suryavarman I's wife was Viralakshmi, and following his death in 1050, he was succeeded by Udayadityavarman II, who built the Baphuon and West Baray. In 1074, conflict arose between Harshavarman III and the Champa king Harivarman IV.

-       -Writing by follow up Khmer King and Khmer Histories Book

THE FOUNDER OF ANGKOR CITY

Jayavarman II

According to Sdok Kok Thom inscription, circa 781 Indrapura was the first capital of Jayavarman II, located in Banteay Prei Nokor, near today's Kompong Cham. After he eventually returned to his home, the former kingdom of Chenla, he quickly built up his influence, conquered a series of competing kings, and in 790 became king of a kingdom called "Kambuja" by the Khmer. He then moved his court northwest to Mahendraparvata, far inland north from the great lake of Tonle Sap.

Jayavarman II is widely regarded as a king who set the foundations of the Angkor period in Cambodian history, beginning with a grandiose consecration ritual that he conducted in 802 on the sacred Mount Mahendraparvata, now known as Phnom Kulen, to celebrate the independence of Kambuja from Javanese dominion. At that ceremony Prince Jayavarman II was proclaimed a universal monarch (Cambodian: Kamraten jagad ta Raja) or God King (Sanskrit: Deva Raja). He declared himself Chakravartin, in a ritual taken from the Indian-Hindu tradition. Thereby he not only became the divinely appointed and therefore uncontested ruler, but also simultaneously declared the independence of his kingdom from Java. According to some sources, Jayavarman II had resided for some time in Java during the reign of Sailendras, or "The Lords of Mountains", hence the concept of Deva Raja or God King was ostensibly imported from Java. At that time, Sailendras allegedly ruled over Java, Sumatra, the Malay Peninsula and parts of Cambodia, around the Mekong delta.

The first pieces of information on Jayavarman II came from the K.235 stone inscription on a stele in Sdok Kok Thom temple, Isan region, dating to 1053. It recounts two and a half centuries of service that members of the temple's founding family provided for the Khmer court, mainly as chief chaplains of the Shaivite Hindu religion.

Archers mounted on elephants

According to an older established interpretation, Jayavarman II was supposed to be a prince who lived at the court of Sailendra in Java and brought back to his home the art and culture of the Javanese Sailendran court to Cambodia. This classical theory was revisited by modern scholars, such as Claude Jacques and Michael Vickery, who noted that Khmer called chvea the Chams, their close neighbours. Moreover, Jayavarman's political career began at Vyadhapura (probably Banteay Prei Nokor) in eastern Cambodia, which makes more probable long time contacts with them (even skirmishes, as the inscription suggests) than a long stay in distant Java. Finally, many early temples on Phnom Kulen shows both Cham (e.g. Prasat Damrei Krap) and Javanese influences (e.g. the primitive "temple-mountain" of Aram Rong Cen and Prasat Thmar Dap), even if their asymmetric distribution seems typically khmer.

Bakong, one of the earliest temple mountains in Khmer architecture

In the following years he extended his territory and eventually, later in his reign, he moved from Mahendraparvata and established his new capital of Hariharalaya near the modern Cambodian town of Rolous. He thereby laid the foundation of Angkor, which was to arise some 15 km to the northwest. Jayavarman II died in the year 835 and he was succeeded by his son Jayavarman III. Jayavarman III died in 877 and was succeeded by Indravarman I.

The successors of Jayavarman II continually extended the territory of Kambuja. Indravarman I (reigned 877 – 889) managed to expand the kingdom without wars, and he began extensive building projects, thanks to the wealth gained through trade and agriculture. Foremost were the temple of Preah Ko and irrigation works. Indravarman I developed Hariharalaya further by constructed Bakong circa 881.Bakong in particular bears striking similarity to the Borobudur temple in Java, which strongly suggests that it served as the prototype for Bakong. There must have been exchanges of travellers, if not mission, between Khmer kingdom and the Sailendras in Java. Transmitting to Cambodia not only ideas, but also technical and architectural details.

:Writing by follow up Khmer King and Khmer Histories Book.

KHMER EMPIRE

               

           The predecessor state to modern Cambodia ("Kampuchea" or "Srok Khmer" to the Khmer people), was a powerful Khmer Hindu-Buddhist empire in Southeast Asia. The empire, which grew out of the former kingdoms of Funan and Chenla, at times ruled over and/or vassalize most of mainland Southeast Asia, parts of modern-day Laos, Thailand, and southern Vietnam.

Its greatest legacy is Angkor, in present-day Cambodia, which was the site of the capital city during the empire's zenith. The majestic monuments of Angkor such as Angkor Wat and Bayon bear testimony to the Khmer empire's immense power and wealth, impressive art and culture, architectural technique and aesthetics achievements, as well as the variety of belief systems that it patronised over time. Satellite imaging has revealed that Angkor, during it peak in the 11th to 13th centuries, was the largest pre-industrial urban center in the world.

The beginning of the era of the Khmer Empire is conventionally dated to 802 AD. In this year, king Jayavarman II had himself declared chakravartin ("king of the world", or "king of kings") on Phnom Kulen. The empire ended with the fall of Angkor in the 15th century.

:Writing by follow up Khmer King and Khmer Histories Book.

ELEPHANT TERRACE

The Terrace of the Elephants is part of the walled city of Angkor Thom, a ruined temple complex in Cambodia. The terrace was used by Angkor's king Jayavarman VII as a platform from which to view his victorious returning army. It was attached to the palace of Phimeanakas, of which only a few ruins remain. Most of the original structure was made of organic material and has long since disappeared. Most of what remains are the foundation platforms of the complex. The terrace is named for the carvings of elephants on its eastern face.

 

The 350m-long Terrace of Elephants was used as a giant reviewing stand for public ceremonies and served as a base for the king's grand audience hall. It has five outworks extending towards the Central Square-three in the Centre and one at each end. The middle section of the retaining wall is decorated with life size garuda and lions; towards either end are the two parts of the famous parade of elephants complete with their Khmer mahouts.

Source: wikipedia.org

BAKSEI CHAMKRONG

Indra on Airavata, with Ganesh riding his trunk on either side, at Baksei Chamkrong, Siem Reap, Cambodia

 Baksei Chamkrong is a small Hindu temple located in the Angkor complex (Siem Reap, Cambodia). It is dedicated to Lord Shiva and used to hold a golden image of him. The temple can be seen on the left side when entering Angkor Thom at the southern gate. It was dedicated to Yasovarman by his son, King Harshavarman I. The temple was completed by Rajendravarman II (944-968).

He name Baksei Chamkrong means "The Bird Who Shelters under Its Wings" and comes from a legend. In it, the king tried to flee Angkor during a siege and then a huge bird landed and sheltered him under its wings.

 This temple is one of the first temples constructed of durable material such as bricks and laterite and with decoration in sandstone. Much of the stucco on the surface of the temple has vanished. The main sandstone lintel is decorated with a fine carving of Indra standing on his three-headed elephant Airavata. Garlands emanate from either side of Indra in the style current to the monument. There is an inscription on either side of the small doorway.

The pyramid measures 27 metres across at the base and 15 at the summit for an overall height of 13 metres.

Source: wikipedia.org/wiki/Baksei_Chamkrong

PHNOM BAKHENG

   Phnom Bakheng Temple is at Angkor Area, Cambodia, is a Hindu and Buddhist temple in the form of a temple mountain. Dedicated to Shiva, it was built at the end of the 9th century, during the reign of King Yasovarman (889-910). Located atop a hill, it is nowadays a popular tourist spot for sunset views of the much bigger temple Angkor Wat, Every day have a lot of tourism claim up to watching Sunset at the temple on top the Bakheng Mountain, which lies amid the jungle about 1.5 km to the southeast. The large number of visitors makes Phnom Bakheng one of the most threatened monuments of Angkor. Since 2004, World Monuments Fund has been working to conserve the temple in partnership with APSARA.

   Constructed more than two centuries before Angkor Wat, Phnom Bakheng was in its day the principal temple of the Angkor region, historians believes. It was the architectural centerpiece of a new capital, Yasodharapura that Yasovarman built when he moved the court from the capital Hariharalaya in the Roluos area located to the southeast.

   
An inscription dated 1052 AD and found at the Sdok Kak Thom temple in present-day Thailand states in Sanskrit: "When Sri Yasovardhana became king under the name of Yasovarman, the able Vamasiva continued as his guru. By the king's order, he set up a linga on Sri Yasodharagiri, a mountain equal in beauty to the king of mountains. Scholars believe that this passage refers to the consecration of the Phnom Bakheng temple approximately a century and a half earlier.

   Surrounding the mount and temple, labor teams built an outer moat. Avenues radiated out in the four cardinal directions from the mount. A causeway ran in a northwest-southeast orientation from the old capital area to the east section of the new capital's outer moat and then, turning to an east-west orientation, connected directly to the east entrance of the temple.

Phnom Bakheng is a symbolic representation of Mount Meru, home of the Hindu gods, a status emphasized by the temple’s location atop a steep hill 65 m above the surrounding plain. The temple is built in a pyramid form of seven levels, representing the seven heavens. At the top level, five sandstone sanctuaries, in various states of repair, stand in a quincunx pattern one in the center and one at each corner of the level’s square. Originally, 108 small towers were arrayed around the temple at ground level and on various of its tiers; most of them have collapsed.

   Phnom Bakheng is one of three hilltop temples in the Angkor region that are attributed to Yasovarman's reign. The other two are Phnom Krom to the south near the Tonle Sap Lake, and Phnom Bok, northeast of the East Barayreservoir.

Following Angkor's rediscovery by the outside world in the mid-19th century, decades passed before archeologists grasped Phnom Bakheng's historical significance. For many years, scholars' consensus view was that the Bayon, the temple located at the center of Angkor Thom city, was the edifice to which the Sdok Kak Thom inscription referred. Later work identified the Bayon as a Buddhist site, built almost three centuries later than originally thought, in the late 12th century, and Phnom Bakheng as King Yasovarman's state temple.

Source: wikipedia.org

WEST BARAY

East-west is located just west of the walled city of Angkor Thom. Rectangular in shape, it measures about 8 km long and 2.1 km wide, making it the largest baray at Angkor. Its waters are contained by tall earthen dikes. The center of the baray is the artificial island of Western Mebon, where a Hindu temple is built.

The construction of the baray probably began in the eleventh century under the reign of King Suryavarman I and was completed under the reign of King Udayadityavarman II.

Angkor engineers who created the Western Baray seem to have used elements of the existing site buildings. Is the dam seems to be largely a section of a dike surrounding the capital of King Yasovarman which was built in the center of the temple of Phnom Bakheng. In other places, the construction of the baray resulted burial or submersion other sites. South dike and partially buried temple Ak Yum pyramidal and built of brick. The western baray appears to have been formerly inhabited archaeological research have indeed unearthed in the area of the bases of walls, stairs and shards of pottery and a stone engraved dating from 713 AD which provides an overview how were delimited fields of rice were offered a queen Jayadevi.

In the early excavations, French archaeologists believed that the Western Baray functioned as a vast reservoir of water retention for powering irrigation canals in times of drought, thus multiplying rice crops each year. More recent studies, however, theorize that the Baray had mainly symbolic function, acting as an earthly representation of the primordial ocean, with the Western Mebon temple at its center.

In modern times, a valve was built on the south dike of the baray, thus raising the water level and water supply to the fields of the south. Today the baray not retain water throughout the year in its western end. During the rainy season, however, the water advances to the eastern breakwater.

Baray waters, clear and calm, made it a place frequented by locals, for swimming and boating. The body of water was also used occasionally landing site for seaplanes.

MY TRIP AT SIEM REAP TOWN AFTER ANGKOR WAT TEMPLE

It was a week into my time at Siem Reap when we were all sitting around the hostel bar, and the topic Angkor Wat came up. I mean of course it did, how it could not, after all we were sitting 20km away from the ancient temples, drinking Angkor Beer. It was then that I realized I had been in Siem Reap a full week without seeing what has been dubbed the 8th wonder of the world, Angkor Wat. My fellow travellers couldn't believe it, for sure I was bluffing, but I wasn't. At that point the question arose, what did I do for a week in Siem Reap?

Vegetables's Farmer 

The simple of it would be that I hung out with the nicest people I've ever met, Cambodians! However, the nicest Cambodians are found in the country side and the villages. These people truly are genuine; they value their quality of life more than trying to get rich quick. Rich obviously being a loosely used term here, as most Cambodians make around a $1000 a year. The ones that haven't decided to move to the city still make it by farming their own food and trading it amongst the village people. Working by sunrise and drinking rice wine by day, and early to bed at night. One of my best days in Cambodia was when I took a trip out to a village and visited with true Cambodian's for the day. Cooking fish and beef on an open fire, next to a fresh water reservoir where the locals fish and take fresh afternoon dips to cool off! Furthermore they showed us their farm, their techniques, their home and introduced us to their family, making us all feel extremely blessed.

Growing the Rice

The town of Siem Reap is also the perfect place to be at any time of day. With the French influence here, there's always a coffee shop, or a baguette for 25 cents nearby. Bustling bars line every street here, not just on Pub Street! The locals are always keen for a game of pool or snooker at one of the many snooker halls, or on one of the many bars if your lucky enough to score a table. Or why not grab an ice cream cone from Swensens' ice cream (the best in town) and head out on a river stroll towards where the locals play beach volleyball. The fast paced game, of the highly talented locals will keep you on your toes, or maybe you even want to join in and play on one of the many courts available. Looking for more sporting opportunities, well Siem Reap is also home to Cambodia's only climbing gym. Not quite your pace? Maybe try heading back across the river towards "Common Ground" an American owned coffee shop with a good cause. The prices are a little hefty, but with every $1000 of profit they're able to build a house in a new city located in Khan Dang Kao. Cambodia's poorest area where 1500+ families are living in extreme poverty, It's a $1.50 for an ice coffee, a buck for a small bottle of water or more than I care to admit paying, $2 for a large bottle of water. I went for the molten lava cake, a rich chocolate dish topped with whip cream, that ran me a well worth it $2.

Then I'm sure 0.75 cent draft Beer at one of the many pubs on Pub Street will do you well! Bustling bars line every street here, more than just on Pub Street! The locals are always keen for a game of pool or snooker at one of the many snooker halls, or at one of the bars if your lucky enough to score a table. Some places serve 50 cent draft through all hours of the night, but most backpackers tend to head towards the famous "Angkor what" bar, the bar that started it all back in 1998. Here you can meet countless other like-minded travelers, eager to tell their stories and hear yours. It's no longer 1998 anymore, nowadays there's plenty more late night bars for you to check out as well. Temple bar is across the street, and is the place to go for a late night meal, since their kitchen never closes. Down the street is X bar, an Australian ran rooftop bar with a half pipe at the top! Yes! A half pipe, even if you don't have your own board (since I'm yet to meet someone who travels Asia with a skateboard) you can rent one for 5 bucks and they'll throw in a pint with it! More options include Tuk Tuk Bar, Laundry Bar, Mezze bar, Miss Wongs Bar and whatever special one you find on your own!

Siem Reap is much more than just a party town of buckets and music. In fact for a week of my stay the music was shut off and I never once was left wishing it was on. Music less Pub Street lost its vibe quickly, so we looked elsewhere to entertain us. Whether that be, the locals taking a group of us out and showing us there favorite spots or spontaneous decisions to go mini-golfing at 9:30pm a good time was always found! Some nights were nothing more than a beautiful sunset at lesser known locations like Phnom Krom or Wat Atwea and then early to bed. If overcrowded tourist attractions aren't your thing, then these temples will be for you! Maybe not as impressive, but seemingly as good when there's no crowd!

Tee, the owner of the mini-golf course, was another genuine local of Siem Reap, who arranges a pick-up service for his mini-golf, as it's on the south out skirts of town. Unfortunately for Tee, he owed me three beers before are group even left the hostel, after a few games of pool. Once at mini golf, a hole-in-one, won you a free beer and between the five of us we managed to get two hole-in-ones which made six free beers out him. Since Tee wanted a rematch, but this time at snooker, he took us out to a local snooker hall on the way home from mini-golf where I managed to keep my streak up and beat him once more. The group of six of us shot many games of snooker and drank a few more beers for only eight bucks in own private a/c room. Tee then dropped us off at Temple bar for a late night eat to cure are hunger before it was time to go in. We talked over pizza, a little in awe about how nice the locals here can be, and of course about the mini golf course itself, a fun challenging course in which we all shot over sixty in just fourteen holes!

KULEN MOUNTAIN WATERFALL, SIEM REAP CAMBODIA

Getting to Phnom Kulen, Cambodia is a bit of an adventure in itself. Best reached from Siem Reap, Cambodia, it is about an hour to an hour and a half away. While not necessarily off-roading, there was about ten miles of dirt road, recently grated, that went from two lanes to a single lane pretty rapidly. In the rainy reason, however, parts of the road would be impassable to a vehicle without a high axle and four-wheel drive.

It is beautiful. It is in the mountains, and like so many places in Asia there is mysteriousness to the mountains. In Southeast Asia, they are where people who don't cultivate wet rice dwell, this being a major civilization divide through insular and mainland Southeast Asia alike. Mountains are not the paddy; they are wild, undomesticated foreign. This means that unlike most other places, they have not been bared of their forests and still are wild even if one sees paths penetrating them or gathers taking what they are allowed from the controlled forests, like fallen limbs and plant resins.

Phnom Kulen is where the Angkorian era "officially" began, with Jayavarman II initiated the cult of the king, a linga cult, in what is dated as 804 CE and declaring his independence from Java of whom the Khmer had Photobucketbeen a vassalage state (whether this is actually "Java" or "Lava" (a Lao kingdom) is debated, as well as the legend that he was earlier held as a ransom of the kingdom in Java. An inscription from the Sdok Kak Thom temple recounts that on the top of the Kulen Hills, Jayavarman instructed a Brahman priest named Hiranhadama to conduct a religious ritual known as the cult of the devajara which placed him as a chakravartin, universal monarch. The cult established him as the supreme ruler of the land, and therefore he succeeded in unifying the country. But Hindu civilization had existed already for centuries in the region; the fact that Jayavarman was the second monarch to carry that name was an indication that there had been a powerful king of an earlier epoch.

This is also near the river head of the Siem Reap River. In the bedrock of the river are carved hundreds of linga images. There are also some minor ruins. It was not long after the declaration of independence that Jayavarman moved his capitol, not yet to Angkor but to what is known today as the Rolous Group, among the oldest temples with the Angkor area.

Phnom Kulen is also a national park, and it houses a few very impressive waterfalls. On the weekends, it is very popular with Cambodians. However, if you'd like the place to yourself for at least a little while, try arriving by 9:00AM on a weekday. It is about 55 KM from Siem Reap, and the trip takes anywhere from an hour to ninety minutes. By 11:00AM on our last visit a few Cambodian holiday-makers showed up, and by noon foreign tourists began to pour in also. Also, be sure to view the carving of Vishnu in the river bedrock above the first falls, with Lakshmi as his feel and Brahma seated on a lotus growing from his navel.

Most people spend their time at the two waterfalls and exploring the ruins of a small temple nearby as outside of these wonders there is little to see. There are several Khmer eateries 
(as well as a few souvenir stands) that serve typical Khmer dishes. And the flocks of chicken running around the area are also available for your plate.

           The ruins, while not particularly impressive in terms of structures are in terms of age-they are among the oldest Khmer ruins in the Siem Reap area, and no real restoration work has happened. Seeing the rubble makes one appreciate what a difficult job just re-visioning the temple would be. After having a lunch (or without), one can go for a swim at the bottom or the very impressive Kulen waterfall. Stay on the trail. While not known to be a mined area, parts of Kulen are undergoing de-mining. As elsewhere in Cambodia, stay on well-trod trails.

After the waterfalls, you can visit a very active temple, Preah Ang Thom that has a 16 meter long reclining Buddha carved on the top of a huge bolder-maybe itself 20 meters tall. The carving dates to the 16th century. This is the largest reclining Buddha in the country. On the way, you can also stop and quickly view the "1000 Lingas" also carved in the river above the waterfalls.

This article is copyrighted by Jarrod Brown.

KBAL SPEAN WATERFALL

   Tucked away off the beaten track, some 50 km from Siem Reap, is an unusual sight. Kbal Spean. The name literally means “Bridge Head”. Here you will find the “River of the 1,000 lingas”. Don’t confuse this one with another river in the Kulen Mountains by the same name. These are not the same place.

Kbal Spean is set 2km from the road. You drive up a dirt track and park up. The trail starts at the back of the car park. One annoying feature of the area is you need an Angkor pass to visit – but that’s just an annoyance (especially if you’ve trekked out without one!)

The trail is well defined. There’s no chance of getting lost. Every 100m, there’s a board announcing how much further you have to go. It starts at 1,500m. So off you trek. It’s not a hard walk, but reasonable shoes are recommended. 

    We passed an elderly lady; possibly in her 80s walking along.

She was looking forward to getting there. At the steepest sections there are wooden steps. But it’s not the path that gets your attention, it’s the scenery. It’s beautiful out in the jungle. The time passes really quickly. You stop to take a picture; another vista opens up, another stop. There’s a huge perched rock, shaped like a mushroom, there’s an interesting insect, and butterfly or bird, there’s a tree growing in an unusual shape. Yes, the walk passes quickly.

   When you finally get there, the first waterfall is interesting. It’s not too high, but all around are carvings of Hindu deities. Vishnu, Lakshmi, Shiva, Uma mounted on the bull, they are all there. The carvings were started in the reign of King Suryavarman I and ended with the reign of King Udayadityavarman II; these two kings ruled between the 11th and 12th centuries. But the detailed description is boring. If you want to read the detailed descriptions, check Wikipedia, or one of the hosts of online guides. By now you know this is a website about the experience, the feeling. Walking along the riverbed, you are treading a 1,000 year old path.

   The river flow over 1000 lingas. These Hindu features we have seen before in many of the earlier temples. They represent the male sexual organ. Although much worn now, they are set out in a perfect grid pattern. The concept was it purified and blessed the water which flowed over it, on its way to the main temples at Angkor and out into Tonle Sap Lake.

If you start by looking upstream for a little – maybe less than 100m, you will find many of the carvings. Return to the bridge itself and in the floor is a hole. You can drop through the hole and your friend can take a photo of you, perched on the side of the bridge. It’s all good in the eyes of the tourists and their guides. Keep going downstream and there are masses of lingam. I asked my guide if anyone had ever counted them. He replied that he’d counted them twice personally. With a huge grin he announced once he counted 1,001 and once 1,002! Somehow I don’t believe him.

   

Keep walking downstream. The oldest lingas themselves may date from the 9th century. Follow them and the river dives off a cliff. A rather spectacular waterfall announces the end of the carvings and time to return down the path. You can tarry and take your time. Such pristine countryside with quite this amount of history is rare to find. Enjoy!

Source: www.siemreappost.com

ANGKOR THOM CITY AND TAPROM TREE

ANGKOR THOM CITY

Tourists should not forget to drop by Angkor Thom City, which was built by King Jayavarman VII nearly 100 years after Angkor Wat. The place is just as attractive as the world-renowned Angkor Wat. Between the ruined landscapes, travelers can walk around the huge boulders sprawling in the Bayon Temple. The road to the gate of Angkor Thom is truly impressive; the two sides feature the statue of the snake body hugging 7 First, about a few hundred yards along the border of this ancient city. The center is called the Bayon, with four doors pointing in different directions. North-west of Bayon is the palace of King Phimeanakas. It also has a road running east to a gate door called "Victory". So there are two central Angkor Thom expressions of two different historical periods. Currently, the city is in ruins, inside the dense jungle, vines everywhere... and you may spot an area where a scene from Lara Croft: Tomb Raider was filmed.

Ta Prohm Temple is also known as the Tomb of the Queen. This is the most romantic temple in Angkor, built by King Jayavarman VII in 1186 to commemorate his mother Jayarajachudanami. The ancient trees such as kapok, Ficus religiosa grow on the temple with large roots literally covering the tower. There is also a mysterious corridor which leads to the interior. In addition, there are other Angkor ruins such as Preah Khan, Roulos, Banteay Srei, Phnom Bakeng places... each boasting of a different ancient beauty.

BEAUTY OF ANGKOR TEMPLE

Beauty of Angkor Temple

Located 317 kilometers north of Phnom Penh, Angkor Temple was built of stone from the twelfth century. It became a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage in 1991, comparable with the Great Wall of China, the Taj Mahal in India, and the Great Pyramid in Egypt.

 

Everything Carved from Stone

Angkor Temple is a complex consisting of more than 100 architectural stone temples built by kings who ruled the ancient Khmer kingdom. The place was constructed near Siem Reap between the ninth and fifteenth century. The temples, sculptures and vast corridors are made of large boulders, stacked to convey a natural look. All decorative stones appear lively as they depict Buddha, dancers, warriors and the lotus. They all illustrate the epic Ramayana and Mahabharata. Perhaps the most notable are the 1,700 Apsara dancers since they have completely different features including gorgeous bodies, faces, postures, etc.

Angkor Wat - "the capital of the temples" over 5.6 kilometers in circumference, with five massive towers. The 65-meter high main tower is the tallest and also regarded as the world’s largest. The road to Angkor Wat is a long stone bridge surrounded by smaller temples. Angkor Wat is rectangular when viewed from up above - 1,500m long and 190m wide. It was built under the reign of King Suryavarman II and with the help of legendary sculptor god Visnu. To feel the mystical power and glamor of Angkor Wat, tourists are advised to visit at sunset. The golden sunlight and the stone tower temples here emerge as bright yellow blocks, hidden under the jaggery of massive trees.

THE BAYON TEMPLE (THE GREAT KHMER EMPIRE)

The Bayon

Jayavarman VII built the Bayon in the late 12th century as his state temple. It is located at the physical center of Angkor Thom, the nine square kilometer or (three and a half square) mile city complex, and is the focal point of the building boom Jayavarman VII initiated after he defeated the Chams to reclaim the Khmer Empire. As with his other constructions, the Bayon is a Mahayana Buddhist temple; its primary deity is Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva of compassion. Since the Bayon sits in the center of Angkor Thom, his state capital, this monument makes the entire capital a temple complex, with the walls of the city and the moat representing the outer mountain ranges and oceans of the mythical Hindu universe. In various ways the relationship between Hinduism and Buddhism is seen here. Just as the Victory Gate was part of a three-dimensional representation of the Churning of the Sea of Milk, with Phineas as the central churning stick, the Bayon is a similar representation with the gates at the four cardinal points of Angkor Thom. The naga balustrade of one side of a gate that symbolically extends to the Bayon, wraps around the temple, and then continues to the opposite gate, where the opposing force holds the other side of the snake. The Bayon sits in the center as another metaphorical Mt. Meru. This setup also makes the Bayon look a bit different, since its outer walls are so far removed as to seem nonexistent. From the outside, this gives the Bayon an open feel, but the interior of the temple is actually quite cramped. The temple is organized on three levels, but the specific arrangement has led scholars to believe that the original plan was a flat temple along the lines of Ta Prohm, which is located to the east.

While the bas-reliefs of the Hindu temples often deal with the gods and their epic adventures, those in the outer gallery of the Bayon deal more with historical events and everyday life. Part of the reason for this change in focus may be the differing views of the Hindu and Buddhist religions. The Hindu religion puts much emphasis on matters of cosmic importance like the battle of gods to maintain good and evil. The Buddhist religion emphasizes that enlightenment is achievable by the actions of the individual. For an example of a Buddhist bas-relief, take a look at the bas-reliefs of the southern gallery. Some of its highlights are the bas-relief that details battles with the rival Cham Empire as well as everyday market scenes, fisherman, and even a cockfight. The inner galleries primarily depict Hindu mythology again. These were added by Jayavarman VIII, a successor who restored Hinduism as the state religion of the Hindu Khmer Empire. He converted the Bayon to a Hindu temple, and these bas-reliefs were added later to reflect this change. Some of these images are vague beyond their connection to certain gods like Shiva and Vishnu, but of course classic stories like the Churning of the Sea of Milk appear, too. In addition to adding the more strictly Hindu imagery, Jayavarman VIII took the main statue from the central tower's sanctuary, a 3.6 meter (or 12 foot) tall Buddha, and smashed it, throwing the pieces down a well. The statue was recovered and pieced back together again in 1933. It now sits in a small pavilion on the road from the Victory Gate to the Elephant Terrace to the northeast of here.

The exact meaning of the faces is still under debate by scholars. One explanation is that the primary deity of the temple is Avalokiteshvara, also known as Lokesvara, or the "lord who gazes down on the world" or "he who hears the cries of people who need help". Avalokiteshvara is a bodhisattva or Buddha-to-be who listens to the prayers of people in need and has postponed his own enlightenment until he has assisted all people in achieving nirvana. To help all of these people and hear all their prayers, he would need many eyes and ears, which may explain the multiple faces. Others have argued that the face is that of Jayavarman VII himself. This is also realistic, since Jayavarman VII considered himself a devaraja, or god-king. George Coedes, a former director of the École Française d'extrème-orient, also known as the EFEO, saw these two interpretations as complementary rather than mutually exclusive. Since Jayavarman VII considered himself a god-king, it makes sense that he would use himself as the prototype of Avalokiteshvara. The reason for the huge number of faces remains a mystery. Some have tried to tie some significance to the number of faces, but the state of disrepair of the temple has made accurate counts difficult.

The Bayon is one of the more popular temples. To avoid most of the crowds, you might want to time your visit for dawn or sunset. Most of the crowds flock to Angkor Wat at dawn and the hill Phnom Bakheng at sunset, allowing you to enjoy some solitude at the Bayon. The golden, slanted light at those times of the day make the faces even more magical, as the enigmatic smile of one face will jump out past the shadow of another. It's worth an early morning trip, because those moments are the true magic of the temples of Angkor.