Cambodia Day 9: Angkor Wat, South gate of Angkor , Bayon, Phimeanakas, Ta Prohm

Day 9: Angkor Wat, South gate of Angkor , Bayon, Phimeanakas, Ta Prohm

We visited the  12^th Century Angkor Wat. 



The whole area is divided into 3 parts. The earth, heaven, hell.

Here is a Vishnu Temple with statues of Goddess  Vishnu and  Lakshmi that is worshipped even today. Also the walls around the temple are depicted  with scenes from Mahabharata and Ramayana ( the 2 epics of Hindu Religion).The last temple portion is 65 meters from the ground and can be seen  even as we approach from far  away. It covers a vast area. From the top of the temple, we can have a beautiful view of the entire area.

Then we visited South gate of Angkor. There is a line of statues of Gods of Good -Devas  and  Gods of Evil- Asuras. This is the scene according to the Hindu Mythology, where it is believed the Gods of Good and Evil tried to gain the Elixir of Immortality- Amirtham .

Bayon is the temple where the  smiling faces of Buddha grace the towers. The Bas reliefs tell the stories of the battle between the Thai and Khmer and daily life. Buddhist temple  where Buddha sits under a Naga-snake. This temple was dedicated to Buddha by King Jayavarman VII, this state temple was originally called “Jayagiri” (which means “Victory Mountain”) but was renamed “Banyan Temple” sometime after the period of French occupancy.

Phimeanakas is a temple  shaped like a pyramid with pond in the rear. Ponds were used for religious rituals. We can see the Angkor Complex view from the terrace. Phimeanakas is located inside the walled enclosure of the Royal Palace of Angkor Thom. According to legend, the king spent the first watch of every night with a woman thought to represent a Nāga in the tower, during that time, not even the queen was permitted to intrude. Only in the second watch the king returned to his palace with the queen. If the naga who was the supreme land owner of Khmer land did not show up for a night, the king's day would be numbered, if the king did not show up, calamity would strike his land.

Ta Prohm  is a  crumbling temple is held together by the tree roots  giving it a magical feel. This temple can be seen in Hollywood Films-  Lara Croft and Tomb Raider. It was built as a Mahayana Buddhist monastery and university. Jayavarman VII dedicated Ta Prohm to his family, as evidence by the inscriptions on the stele. The inscription lists many of Jayavarman’s ancestors, as well as giving details of the construction enterprise on the site. Nearly 80,000 people were involved in serving the temple, coming from over 3,000 surrounding villages. The stele also mentions that there were 102 functioning hospitals in the Kingdom. Numbers like this give a fantastic insight into the sheer scale of the Khmer empire at that time.

We returned to the hotel and had dinner  near  Night Market. We also scrolled around Night Market did some shopping and returned back. Crocodile meat is very common in Cambodia. Also there are guys selling scorpions and other reptiles for eating on the streets.