This 3-day trip to Siem Reap, Cambodia was made en route to India in December 2015. Siem Reap is a popular resort town north of the capital Phnom Penh and serves as a gateway to the Angkor region
Angkor (Khmer: អង្គរ, “Capital City”) was the capital city of Khmer Empire - a powerful Hindu-Buddhist empire in Southeast Asia, which flourished from approximately the 9th to 15th centuries. Angkor was a mega city supporting at least 0.1% of the global population during 1010-1220. The city houses the magnificent Angkor Wat, one of Cambodia’s popular tourist attractions. 1
Woke up and got ready by 8:00AM and went to the hotel reception to set the schedule for the day. Having checked in to the hotel at midnight, I was still very much jet lagged. I arranged for the small tour today with an English guide and the tuk-tuk. There was complimentary breakfast on offer and I was starving since I had skipped my dinner last night. Right after helping myself to a couple of omelettes and mango juice, I was ready for the small tour. My guide and the tuk-tuk driver were right on time. In the small tour, we were going to cover Ta Prom, Angkor Thom and Angkor Wat. The label “small tour” is a bit misleading as it did not mean it was a shorter tour relative to the grand tour (scheduled for the next day). All it meant was we did not have to travel far from the hotel to reach these places. On to our first stop of the day.
Ta Prom
My guide Mr. Chan Sitay mentioned that “Ta Prom” meant “Grandfather Brahma” and was built by King Jayavarman VII to honor his mother. This one is also famous for appearing in the Tomb Raider movie (played the game but not seen the movie yet. Book-marked just because of this visit). We started out with this temple as it was the least crowded compared to the other two in the morning hours. This temple is a 20 minute tuk tuk ride away from the hotel. At the entrance there is a sign board depicting that this temple restoration is undertaken in cooperation between India and Cambodia. Turns out that all the temples that I was visiting for the day were in ruins and reconstruction was recently completed (Ta Prom restoration was completed in 2011) or is underway. The restoration had completely transformed some of the ruins to its original splendor. But quite a lot of temple structures were beyond repair - both nature and wars had taken its toll.
The major war that I will henceforth keep mentioning as the War is the Thai invasion of Cambodia in the 13th and 14th centuries. So Mr. Sithay, why was there a a rivalry between Khmer and the Thai in the first place?
Why do sons fight with each other for their parent’s properties? Thai and Cambodia shared a mutual cultural jealosy. They wanted to conquer us always. They took away everything from the temples. There are no statues left.
In fact, Siem Reap - the city where I was staying - in Khmer means the “Defeat of Siam”, Siam here referring to the ancient capital of Thai Kingdom. After the then Thai king was assassinated when in battle with the Khmer, the Thai forces retreated. A new city was founded next to the ruins of Angkor Thom at that time and was hence given the name Siem Reap.
Our next stop here was the ancient capital city of the Khmer Kingdom.
Angkor Thom
Angkor - Capital; Thom - City
A very short ride from Ta Prom, we entered through the west gate. Each of these gates have the imposing four-faced structure of the king Jayavarman VII. As per Sitay, this face is a combination of the king and the Buddha and the Khmer kings were considered god-like (a similarity we find in almost all the historic cultures - the inseparable nature of the state and the religion). On each side to the city entrance we see a line of statues with Devas to the right and Asuras to the left (Hindu demi-gods and demons) churning the ocean with the nine headed serpent god Naga for the elixir of life (A Hindu mythological story that we see referenced through all the temples here). This particular city entrance is called the Victory Gate as this is where the residing Angkor King leads his army out into battle.
Upon entering through this gate, we are lead to the Elephant Terrance - a great giant platform which is where the Angkor King gave his speeches and judgments to the common man and also addressed his commanders and generals during war time. It was noon by now and was getting very hot. Lunch was on my mind.
Angkor Thom was populated by only the ruling family and their kins with the common folks living outside of its walls. Inside Angkor Thom, there is another set of walls inside of which are the King’s palace and the temple for the royal family. The palace is no more as it was constructed with timber and was probably destroyed by the War. The temple is in complete ruins (something I was getting slowly used to seeing). However, right outside the inner wall is the Ba Phon temple. This is a state-temple, that is a temple built by the king for himself. The state temples can be found elsewhere in the countryside. Usually, the deities in state temples are the King’s ancestors. Mr Sitay was unsure what the temple’s name meant. This state temple was built well after the inner temple and hence was taller, sturdier and bigger. Our next stop was to cross the road from Ba Phoun and visit Bayon - arguably the second most famous Angkor temple - the first being Angkor Wat. Bayon in Khmer means Magic. In this temple, one sees the iconic huge Buddha faces where ever the head turns - 54 of them in total. Why 54 you ask? It is a multiple of 27, which is one lunar month and most Khmer religious rituals are based on the lunar calendar. And why is it called Bayon? As per legend, in this temple is a well and is said to contain the elixir of Life that was churned from the ocean by Devas and Asuras. Unsurprisingly the well is dry. This temple is a combination of Hindu and Buddhist architecture. The temple was built by a very tolerant Angkor king. Unfortunately, one of his descendants King Jayavarman VIII (no relation to Jayavarman VII and a few generations apart) was a staunch hindu believer. He destroyed all the Buddha statues in the temple and replaced them with Shiva lingas (one of Hindu’s holy Trinity of gods, along with Brahma and Vishnu). Now why did he just not build more hindu temples instead of destroying the existing temples? There was widespread discontent during this king’s rule and really sowed the seeds for the fall of the state.
Bayon temple is a very surreal place - maybe its the multitude Buddha faces - and I might probably rank it as the best temple in Cambodia. I can only imagine - somewhat forlornly - how splendid this would have looked back in its heyday.
At this point I just had to have lunch and we took the tuk-tuk to Angkor Wat. There were quite a few restaurants across the temple complex. We went to a Thai restaurant and I had the safest option of vegetable fried rice. Almost all of these restaurants have a side area with a lot of hammocks under tree shade. Chilling there with the Angkor Wat right across was a very pleasant post-lunch activity. It was really hot by then, so just lying in the shade was a welcome treat. After a short break, we made our way to the Angkor Wat.
Angkor Wat - Capital Temple
One of the most famous archeological and historical wonders of the world. Surrounded by a moat, this temple is said to depicted as a floating palace. The most striking sight of this temple are the 5 tall structures at its center, four on the corners of a square and one in the middle. The middle structure is considerably taller than the rest and these five structures together are said to depict the mythical Hindu peak Mt. Meru - the holy aboad of the Gods. Infact, the entire temple is said to portray the path from the underworld to the peak of the universe. We cross the moat through its West gate. This temple was built for lord Vishnu and at the temple gates we see the carvings of various hindu epics related to lord Vishnu. Inside the temple gates, there is a huge garden and back during its golden ages, it was said to be a beautiful flower garden. There are ruined structures, some of which were libraries.
On entering the main temple, we see a steep set of stairs that take us atop the five structures aka Mt. Meru. Very steep set of stairs indeed to climb! Apparently, these steep stairs and their difficulty is to imply how difficult it is for us mortals to become demigods or attain enlighenment whereas it is relatively easier for someone from the underworld to become a mortal. Being a Hindu temple, the concept of re-incarnation runs deep. Atop Mt. Meru, again there are none of the idols remaining, all destroyed ages ago. There was said to be a golden statue of Vishnu but this probably went missing during the Thai invasion. From the top, you get a good view of the surrounding forests. During golden Khmer era, this temple complex was the most important structure in the entire kingdom. With the resplendant golden towers, it would have been a sight to behold!
We made out way out of the complex and the tour was done for the day. Although we visited the temple, there was more to the complex than the temple itself. In the grand tour planned for tomorrow, our first visit was to catch the sunrise at Angkor Wat, so it was decided we explore the complex the next day. It was evening and I went back to the hotel and hit the bed as I was just too tired from jet lag. Next day morning I had to be up by 4AM to catch the 5AM sunrise. An end to a great day! No dinner today - I was getting used to this.