The complex was originally constructed in 1150 CE, dedicated to the god Vishnu and then changed into a Buddhist temple. It too more than 30 years to build the temple and was constructed by the hard work of at least 3,000 people... The building is mostly made of sandstone, with an estimated 5-10 million sandstone blocks weighing at least 1.5 tons each. The restoration took place in the 20th century and is still going. You may recognize the temple is you checked out our earlier post about the Cambodian national flag!
This temple is so beautiful. there are such intricate carvings everywhere to tell stories, the decorations show figures and creatures. There are many towers, so big you would wonder how people built them without the help of modern machines. Something that also surprised us is that the temples were only for religion and not part of daily life with houses or anything often found at ancient sites.
We watched night turn into day from just outside the temple on the moat, which is broad and deep coloured. The temples reflecting perfectly in the water as the morning light came to the sky and changed the stone bridge from black to grey. Angkor Wat is known as a combination of temple mountain (a design used for state temples) and concentric galleries (religious temples) with trees and water arround it. We wandered the halls and visited the library and galleries as well as the towers. The courtyards show thought about the seasons and drainage with huge basins for water to pool.
This temple is so beautiful. there are such intricate carvings everywhere to tell stories, the decorations show figures and creatures. There are many towers, so big you would wonder how people built them without the help of modern machines. Something that also surprised us is that the temples were only for religion and not part of daily life with houses or anything often found at ancient sites.
After we toured Angkor Wat, we got in a van to go to breakfast. When we were finished, we rode our bikes to another temple. We walked around and took pictures, while our guide old us about the temple. It was built after Angkor Wat, but the stone it is built with is weaker, so it looks much older. We looked at all the intricate carvings that told old stories and tales from Cambodian history. It was hot, so Alex and I hid behind crumbly pillars to get shade! The king who built this temple was King Suryavarman II, he built over 20 temples and 100 hospitals. He built more temples than any other king.
Then we biked to the third, and last, temple for the day. This temple was built by the same king who built the previous temple. It was dedicated to his mother, and was an Ancestor Temple. In Cambodia, there are three kinds of temples. A State Temple, which is owned by the government; a Religious Temple, for worshipping; and a an Ancestral Temple, which-like is name- is to honour ancestors. The temple was way bigger than I thought it would be, but still beautiful. So beautiful, that part of the movie Tomb Raider was filmed here.
We had a fun and interesting day, and we are so tired now!! The temples were all beautiful- and we got to see Angkor Wat, the Eighth Wonder of the World. Stay tuned for more fun adventures!
Love from Cambodia
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Now that is an early wake up, but I bet it was sure worth it. Another great opportunity you have had. I bet everyone was tired after the early rise and lots of biking!
ReplyDeleteA great description of your amazing time touring and learning about Angkor Wat. I had done a bit of research and did know the depiction of Angkor Wat is what was on the Cambodia flag. Pretty amazing construction for its time!
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