We had to travel further to get there, 40km east of the main temple complex, through the Cambodian countryside of orange dirt roads, endless rice paddies, whole pigs transported on the back of motorbikes, and stilted wooden bungalows, hammocks swinging below. The secluded location meant it was quieter than the other temples and we were alone when we entered the magical world.
Beng Mealea is 900 years old and was one of the Khmer Empire’s largest temples, but unlike Angkor Wat it is mostly unrestored. The jungle is devouring the ruins, tree roots and twisted vines taking over what was once its towers, courtyards and chambers.
We felt like explorers discovering a lost world as we clambered and crawled over piles of moss covered rubble and sprawling roots, occasionally coming across an intricate carving of Hindu or Buddhist motifs in the sandstone blocks, gems among the debris.
The period of Angkor is the period from approximately the latter half of the 8th century AD to the first half of the 15th century. If precise dates are required, the beginning may be set in 802 AD, when the founder of the Khmer Empire, Jayavarman II pronounced himself universal monarch (chakravartin) and declared independence from Java, and the end may be set in 1431 AD, when Thai invaders from the kingdom of Ayutthaya sacked Angkor and caused the Khmer elite to migrate to Phnom Penh.
In any study of Angkorian architecture, the emphasis is necessarily on religious architecture, since all the remaining Angkorian buildings are religious in nature. During the period of Angkor, only temples and other religious buildings were constructed of stone. Non-religious buildings such as dwellings were constructed of perishable materials such as wood, and so have not survived.
The religious architecture of Angkor has characteristic structures, elements, and motifs, which are identified in the glossary below. Since a number of different architectural styles succeeded one another during the Angkorean period, not all of these features were equally in evidence throughout the period. Indeed, scholars have referred to the presence or absence of such features as one source of evidence for dating the remains
Angkor Wat is a temple complex in Cambodia and the largest religious monument in the world. It was first a Hindu and later a Buddhist temple. It was built by the Khmer King Suryavarman II in the early 12th century in Yaśodharapura , the capital of the Khmer Empire, as his state temple and eventual mausoleum. Breaking from the Shaiva tradition of previous kings, Angkor Wat was instead dedicated to Vishnu. As the best-preserved temple at the site, it is the only one to have remained a significant religious center since its foundation. The temple is at the top of the high classical style of Khmer architecture. It has become a symbol of Cambodia, appearing on its national flag, and it is the country's prime attraction for visitors.
Angkor Wat combines two basic plans of Khmer temple architecture: the temple-mountain and the later galleries temple, based on early Dravidian architecture, with key features such as the Jagati. It is designed to represent Mount Meru, home of the divas in Hindu mythology: within a moat and an outer wall 3.6 kilometers (2.2 mi) long are three rectangular galleries, each raised above the next. At the center of the temple stands a quince of towers. Unlike most Angkorian temples, Angkor Wat is oriented to the west; scholars are divided as to the significance of this. The temple is admired for the grandeur and harmony of the architecture, its extensive beys-reliefs, and for the numerous devastate adorning its walls.
No comments:
Post a Comment