Visitors can travel to Siem Reap either on regular domestic flights, overland or by speedboat long the magnificent Tonle Sap to explore new cultures, meeting local fisherman in their floating villages and tasting ethnic food fares. Angkor Temples are spread throughout the forest. Heading north from Siem Reap, you first came to Angkor Wat, then the walled city of angkor Thom. Further east are temples including Ta Prohm North of Angkor Thom is Preah Khan and way beyond in the north-east, Banteay Srei and Phnom Kulen. To the east of Siem Reap is the Rolous group of early Angkor temples. |
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| Angkor Wat Go to Top | |
The Angkor Wat Temple, the mysterious Hindu Temple built by King Suryavarman II at the height of the Khmer Empire in the 12th century is the world's largest temple complex. onsists of many sandstone temples, chapels, causeways, terraces and reservoirs, it is believed that the gods assisted the architect whose identity remains a mystery until today.
The walls of the temple are covered with thousands of carving depicting scenesof confrontations between the gods and the demons of classical Hindu mythology. |
| Angkor Thom Go to Top | |
The fortified city of Angkor Thom, some 10sq km in extent, was built by Angkor's greatest King, JayavarmanVII (ruled 1181-1201). Centered on Baphuon, Angkor Thom is enclo sed by a square wall 8m high and 12km in length and encircled by moat 100m wide, said to have been inhabited by fiece crocodiles. The city has five monumental gates, one each in the north, west and south walls and two in the east wall.In front of each gate stand giant statues of 54 gods (to the left of the causeway) and 54 demons (to the right of the causeway), a motif taken from the story of the Churning of the Ocean of Milk illustrated in the famous bas-relief at Angkor Wat.In the center of the walled enclosure are the city's most important monuments, including the Bayon, the Baphuon, the Royal Enclosure, Phimeanakas and the Terrace of Elephants. |
| Bayon Temple Go to Top | |
The Bayon takes an easy second places after Angkor Wat .The smile of the four-faced Bayon has become a world-recognized symbol of Cambodia. The towering faces, reaching up to four meters in height, adorn the Bayon Temple at the exact center of Angkor Thom in Siem Reap. As many as 216 faces on the 54 remaining towers, each represented one province of Khmer empire in the ancient time. The Bayon is now known to have been built by Jayavarman VII. There is still much mystery associated with the Bayon - its exact function and symbolism-and this seems only appropriate for a monument whose signature is an enigmatically smiling face. |
| Baphoun Temple Go to Top | |
The Baphuon, a pyramidal representation of mythical Mt Meru, is 200m north - west of the Bayon. It was constructed by Udayadityavarman II (reigned 1049-65) and marked the center of the city that existed before the construction of Angkor Thom. The Baphuon is in pretty poor shape and at the time of writing it was being restored by a French team, with much of the temple marked off-limits. It is approached by a 200m elevated walkway made of sandstone. The central structure is 43m high, but unfor-tunately its submit has collapsed (it may be restored). On the west side of the wall temple, the remaining of the second level was fashioned -apparently in the 15th century into a reclining Buddha 40m in length. |
| Banteay Srei Go to Top | |
Banteay Srei was built in the late 10th century and is a Hindu temple dedicated to Shiva. The temple is square with entrances at the east and west. Of chief inter-east are the three central towers, which are decorated with male and female divinities and beautiful filigree relief work.Banteay Srei is 21km north-east of the Bayon and 8km west of Phnom Kulen. You can combine a visit here with a trip to the sacred mountain of Phnom Kulen. |
| Ta Prohm Go to Top | |
The temple of Ta Prohm rates with Angkor Wat and the Bayon as one of the most popular attractions of Angkor. Ta Prohm is a unique other world experience. The temple is cloaked in dappled shadow, its crumbling towers and walls locked in the slow muscular embrace of vast root systems. If Angkor Wat , the Bayon and other temples are testimony to the genius of the Angkor-period Khmers, Ta Prohm reminds us equally of the awesome fecundity and power of the jungle. Built in approximately 1186, Ta Prohm was a Buddhist temple dedicated to the mother of jayavarman VII.Ta Prohm is a temple of towers, close courtyards and narrow corridors.Many of the corridors are impassable, clogged with jumbled piles of delicately carved stone blocks dislodged by the roots of long-decayed trees. Bas-reliefs on building walls are carpeted by lichens; moss, creeping plants and shrubs sprout from the roofs of monumental porches. Trees, hundreds of years old - some supported by flying buttresses - tower overhead, their leaves filtering the sunlight and casting a greenish pall over the whole scene. |
| Preah Khan Go to Top | |
The temple of Preah Khan (Sacred Sword) is a good counterpoint to Ta Prohm, though it gets far fewer visitors. Preah Khan was built by Jayavarman VII(it may have served as his temporary residence while Angkor Thom was being built), and like Ta Prohm it is a place of towered enclosures and shoulder-hugging corridors. The central sanctuary of the temple was dedicated in 1191, Preah Khan's role as a center for worship and learning. Preah Khan covered a very large area, but the temple itself is within a rectangular enclosing wall of around 700m by 800m. Four processional walkways approach the gates of the temple. These gates are flanked, gods carrying a serpent, as in the approach to Angkor Thom. From the central sanctuary, four long vaulted galleries extend in the cardinal directions. Many of the interior walls of Preah Khan were once coated with plaster held in place by holes in the stone. |
| Phnom Bakheng Go to Top | |
Around 400m south of Angkor Thom, the main attraction of Phnom Bakheng is the sunset view of Angkor Wat. Still, the sunset over the Tonle Sap lake is very impressive from the hill. It is also now possible to arrange an elephant ride up the hill and the location certainly makes for one of the more memorable journeys you will make. Phnom Bakheng is also home to the first of the temple mountain built in the near vicinity of Angkor. Yasovarman I (rule 889 - 910) chose Phnom Bakheng over the Rolous area, where previous temples have been built. Phnom Bakheng is a five-tiered temple mountain with seven levels. All of these numbers are of symbolic significance. The seven levels, for example, represent the seven Hindu heavens, while the total number of towers, excluding the Central Sanctuary, is 108, a particularly auspicious number and which co-relates to the lunar calendar. |
| Phnom Koulen Go to Top | |
Angkor Wat does not mark the start of the Angkorean Empire begun by Jayavarman II in the 9th century. At just about 42km north of Siem Reap Town, many visitors combine a visit to Phnom Kulen with a trip to the pink sandstone temple of Banteay Srei. But Phnom Kulen is also a change of scenery for those who have spent days looking at the impressive lowland temples and wish to see a different, rural Cambodia, waterfalls and forest. In 802 AD, the mysterious King Jayavarman II proclaimed this place and its surroundings as his empire and declared it free of the rule of Java, and Phnom Kulen was born as the new dynasty's first capital. The peak of Phnom Kulen opens out to a large flat plain. On either side, tall waterfalls crash down the mountain; clean, clear and cool water provide a wonderful place for tourists. Carvings of Brahmin yonis and lingas can be seen etched into the riverbed. A mountain peak temple houses a huge reclining Buddha, gazing serenely out from his peaceful mountain home. This is the largest reclining Buddha in the Kingdom. It is an unforgettable memory of this stunning and exotic Kingdom. |
| Tonle Sap Go to Top | |
This has become a popular excursion for visitors wanting a break from the temples and is easy enough to arrange yourself, get a preview as the floating village is near Phnom Krom where the boat docks. It is very scenic in the warm light of early morning or late afternoon. On the Tonle Sap lake, there are 3 biospheres and an establishment of the bird sanctuary there makes it the most worthwhile and straight forward location to visit. If you are able to visit during the dry season (December to May), the concentration of birds is like something out of a Hitchcock film as water starts to dry up elsewhere. |
| Ta Som Temple Go to Top | |
Ta Som (the ancestor Som) Date: Late 12th century King: Jayavarman VII Cult: Buddhist Located east of Neak Pean, built by Jayavarman VII dedicated to Buddha and his father. Ta Som is a single tower monument on one level surrounded by three encl- osing walls with entry small room on each sid connecting to laterite wall, is yet another of the late XIIth century Buddhist temples of Jayavarman VII. Much of Ta Som is in a ruined state. |
| Banteay Kdei Go to Top | |
Banteay Kdei (the citadel of chambers or the cells citadel) Date: second half of the 12th to the beginning of the 13th century (1181) King: Jayavarman VII Cult: Buddhist Banteay Kdei or Parvatathagata, royal monastery and also Jayavarman VII’s monument, was built in 1181, under the reign of the king Jayavarman VII and dedicated to the Buddhist cult. The externallaterite enclosure wall (fourth enclosure),500m by 700m has four gopuras which are exactly the same as those at Ta Prohm - an upper tower with the four faces of Lokeshvara and corner motifs with Garudas. They are evidently of the Bayon Period, like the narrow cruciform terrace which, on the west side at 200m from the entrance crosses the moat and is decorated with lions and naga balustrades with straddling garudas. The gopura of the third enclosure is cruciform in plan, has internal pillars and is covered with a crossing of vaults. It appears to be older and has three passageways those at either extremity are independent and adjoin the 300m by 320 laterite wall. Their wall are sculpted quite crudely with foliated scrolls enlivened with small figures and large devatas standing in niches. In the internal courtyard is a frieze of Buddhas which have been defaced by the iconoclasts. |
| Srah Srang Go to Top | |
Srah Srang (the royal bathing pool) Date: (embarkation terrace) Late 12th century King: Jayavarman VII Across the road from the east entrance of Banteay Kdei, Srah Srang was built by Jayavarman VII at the end of 12th century and dedicated to Buddhism. It is a large lake measuring 700m by 300m with an elegant landing terrace of superb proportion and scale. A majestic platform with stairs leads to the pond. It is built of laterite with sandstone molding. The platform is in the shape of a cross with serpent balustrades flanked two lions. At the front there is enormous Garudas riding a three headed serpents. At the back there is mythical creature comprising a three headed serpent, the lower portion of a Garuda and stylized tail decorated with small serpent head. The body of the serpent rests on a dais supported by mythical monsters. Srah Srang always has water and surrounded by greenery. According to one French archaeologist, it offers at the last rays of the day one of the most beautiful poit vie the park od Angkor. |
| Eastern Mebon Go to Top | |
Date: 952 King: Rajendravarman II Cult: Bramanic (Shiva) Located 500m north of Pre Rup. The monument was built in the middle o the artificial lake of the king Yashovarman I. It was an Island temple as Lokei. Eastern Barrya which was excavated by Yashovarman I (ruled 889-910), who marked its four corners with steles.. The Eastern Baray which was a large body of lake(2km by 7km ) fed by the Siem Reap River and was the most important of the public works of Yasodharapura, Yasovarman I’s capital. The East Mebon is a temple with five towers arranged like the numbers on a die atop a base with three tiers. The whole is surrounded by three enclosures. The towers represent the five peaks of the mythical Mount Meru. This Hindu temple is very similar in design though smallest in size to the Pre Rup temple, which was built 15 to 20 years later and lies immediately to the south. |
| Terrace Elephant Go to Top | |
Date: late 12th century King: Jayavarman VII Cult: Buddhist Clearing by de Mecquenem in 1911 and H.Marchal in 1916 The terrace of the Elephants in its present form extends in length for over 300m - from the Baphoun to the terrace of the Leper King - thought the two extremities remain imprecise in their layout and the terrace itself shows evidence of additions and alterations. The terrace faces on the Royal Square of the city of Angkor Thom.This area was the Royal Palace but the actual buildings were built of wood and havenot survived. The 350m long terrace which extend from Baphoun to the Terrace of Leper King, the Elephants Terrace was used as a giant reviewing stand for public ceremonies and served as a base for the king's grand audience hall. As you stand here, try to imagin the pomp and grandeur of the Khmer empire at its height with infantry, cavalry, horse-drawn chariots and elephants parading across the Central Square in a colorful procession, pennants and standards aloft. Looking on is the god-king, crowned with a gold diadem, shaded by multiplied parasols and attended by mandarins and handmaidens bearing gold and silver utensils. |
| Terrace of Leper King Go to Top | |
Date: late 12th century King: Jayavarman VII Cult: Buddhist The terrace of the leper king lies just to the north of the Terrace of Elephants, aligned with it but standing separate. A mound of masonry about 25m across by 6 high, it is formed as a bastion with side that are lined in sandstone and entirely sculpted with figures in a high relief, juxtaposed and separated in seven registers - the uppermost of which has almost entirely disappeared. Although now standing isolated - joined only at its north and south by the start of some returning walls it is probable that this motif was previously but one element in a vast composition, perhaps complemented with pools, that has evidently undergone alteration. The Terrace of the Leper King is a platform 7m high. On top of the platform stand a nude, though sexless statue. Legend has it that at least two of the Angkor kings had leprosy, and the statue may represent one of them. A more likely explanation is that the statue is of Yam, the god of death, and that the Terrace of the Leper King housed the royal crematorium. |
| Takeo Temple Go to Top | |
Date: till 1000 King: Jayavarman V and Suryavarman I Cult: Brahmanic (Shiva) Located east of Thammanon and Chau Say Tevoda, the absence of the decoration of the monument shows us the very unfinished temple of Takeo, according to the inscription, there was a lightning that hit on it - it was a bad omen and the monument was abandoned. It is an imposing sight, scaling 22m to the sky, and give an impression of power. Takeo was the first Angkorian monument built entirely in sandstone and such serves as a milestone. Enormous blocks of stone were cut to a regular size and place in position. the absence of decoration at Takeo gives its simplicity of design that separates from the other monuments. The summit of the central tower, which is surrounded by four lower towers, is 10m high. This quincunx arrangement with four towers at the corners of a square and a fifth tower in the center is typical of many Angkor temple mountains. |
| Chau Say Tevoda Go to Top | |
Date: late of 11th century to first half of 12th century King: Suryavarman II Cult: Brahmanic Chau Say Tevoda and Thommanon are two small monuments close together(located on the lest and right sides of the road) and similar in plan and style. Although the precise dates of these monuments are unknown, they belong to the best period of "classic art" stylistically and represent two variations of a single theme of composition. Built by King Suryavarman II from the end of the 11th to the first half of the 12th century and dedicated to Brahmanism. Walking toward the temple you can see traces of a moat and vestiges of rectangular laterite base of an enclosing wall. Currently is under restoration. |
| Thommanon Go to Top | |
Located east of the Gate of Victory of Angkor Thom, across the road (north) from Chau Say Tevoda, Thommanon is rectangular in plan with a sanctuary opening the east, a moat and an enclosing wall with two entry towers, one on the east and another on the west, and one library near the southeast side of the wall. Only trace of laterite base of the wall remains. Thommanon is a gem an should not be missed. It is similar in plan and style to Chau Sya Tevoda, which is close by. Built by King Suryavarman II from the end of the 11the to the first half of the 12the century and dedicated to Brahmanism. |
| Pre Rup Go to Top | |
Late 10th King : Rajendravarman II Cult : Hindu Architecturally and artistically superior temple-mountain. Beautifully carved false doors on upper level, as well as an excellent view of the surrounding countryside. Traditionally believed to be a funerary temple, but in fact the state temple of Rajendravarman II Historically important in that it was the second temple built after the capital was returned to Angkorafter a period of political upheaval when the capital had been moved to Koh Ker. |
| Neak Poin Go to Top | |
Date: second half of the 12th century King: Jayavarman VII Cult: Buddhist Located east of Preah Khan; 300m from the road, Neak Pean is a large square man made pond 70m each side bordered by steps and surrounded by four smaller square ponds. A small circular island with a stepped base of seven laterite tiers is in the center of the large square pond. Small elephants sculpted in the round originally stood on the four corners. Although Neak Pean is small and a collection of five ponds, it is worth a visit for its unique features. Most photogenic in the wet season when the pools are full. |
