The Breathtaking Beauty of Angkor Wat

The city was built in the 12^th century for King Suryavarman as his state capital and temple. It is an embodiment of two types Khmer architecture - the temple mountain and later the galleried temple, based on South Indian Hindu architecture. Angkor Wat is built surrounded by a moat and 3.60 km. long outer wall and within the walls are three rectangular galleries, one on top of the other. At the centre stands the quincunx of towers - five towers placed in the geometrical pattern that is found on the face of a dice. A singularity of Angkor Wat is that it faces the West unlike other temples that face the East. Angkor Wat was discovered by the French.

Angkor Wat has all the stamp of Hindu religion. It was in the 12^th century that Hinduism reached Cambodia, because if you look at the bas-relief carvings on the walls you will invariably come across scenes from the Mahabharata and the Ramayana, both Hindu epics. Here you can find a relief of Lakshmi, there a Saraswathi and yet again a figures of Vishnu, Brahma and Hanuman, all Hindu deities and of the omnipresent Ganesh. All of them intricately carved within the walls of the huge dome that represents Mount Meru, the home of the devas (gods) in Hindu mythology. The only difference is that the faces of these gods and goddesses have a striking resemblance to Buddha.

Close by is Angkor Thom (Thom means "big" in Khmer) and the gateway to the city is lined with gods and demons, fifty four of them on each side of the road. These gods and demons represent the Hindu myth of the Ocean being churned with Kalinga, a serpent, as a rope to produce Amrita or the nectar of immortality. The statues are gigantic in size, many of them decapitated. This city was the last city of the Khmer regime.

Inside Angkor Thom, at the center, is the Bayon temple, built by Jayavarman VII, the Mahayana Buddhist king. In contrast to the imposing structure of Angkor Wat, Bayon resembles a pile of stones till you go in and climb upwards. It is then the beauty of the structure revealed. The beauty of Bayon is the 216 faces of Lord Avalokiteshwara. Lord Avalokiteshwara literally means "Lord who looks down".

So if you have a spare weekend on hand a trip to Cambodia and a visit to Angkor Wat and its neighbor Angkor Thom is a good choice. Cambodia in itself has now become a great tourist attraction and a ride in a Tuk-Tuk is a must, so is a browse of the Old Market and Cambodian silk is a must-buy.