Temples in Siem Reap

Spean Thmar is located 200 meters (656 feet) east of Thommanon.

Access: Walk to the side of the road and down the path.

Background

Spean Thma is a bridge constructed of reused blocks of sandstone of varying shapes and sizes, which suggests it was built to replace an earlier one. The orientation of the bridge seems odd because the course of the river has changed. The river one flows along the right side of the bridge of under its arches.

Layout

The bridge is supported on massive pillars, the openings between them spanned by narrow corbel arches. There are reportedly traces of 14 arches.

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Leper King

The stone monarch is absolutely naked, his hair is plaited and he sits in the Javanese fashion. The legs are too short for the torso, and the forms, much too rounded, lack the strong protuberances of manly muscles; but, however glaring are his defects, he has many beauties, and as a study of character he is perhaps the masterpiece of Khmer sculpture.

Whilst his body is at rest his soul boils within him... His features are full of passion, with thick lips, energetic chin, full cheeks, aquiline nose and clear brow... his mouth, slightly open, showing the teeth. this peculiarity of the teeth being shown in a smile is absolutely and strangely unique in Cambodian art.

Location: immediately north of the Terrace of the Elephants
Access: from the main road
Date: end of the 12th century
King: Jayavarman VII (reigned 1181-1220)

Background

The terrace of the Leper King carries on the theme of grandeur that characterises the building during Jayavarman VII's reign. It is faced with dramatic bas-reliefs, both on the interior and exterior. During clearing, the EFEO found a second wall with bas-relief similar in composition to those of the outer wall. Some archaeologists believe that this second wall is evidence of a late rites, two meters wide of laterite faced with sandstone. It collapsed and a second wall of the materials, two meters wide, was built right in front of it without any of the rubble being cleared. Recently, the EFEO has created a false corridor which allows visitor to inspect the relief on the first wall.

Leper King

The curious name of this terrace refers to a statue of the Leper King that is on the platform of the terrace. The one you see today is a copy. The original is in the court-yard of the National Museum in Phnom Penh. the figure is depicted in a seated position with his right knee raised, a position some art historians consider to be Javanese-style. Its nakedness is unusual in Khmer art.

Who was the Leper King ? Mystery and uncertainty surround the origin of the name. The long-held theory that Jayavarman VII was a leper and that is why he built so many hospitals throughout the empire has no historical support whatsoever. Some historians think the figure represents Kubera, god of wealth, or Yasovaraman I, both of whom were allegedly lepers. Another ideas is based on an inscription that appears on the statue in characters of the 14th or 15th century which may be translated as the equivalent of the assessor of Yama, god of death or of judgment. Yet another theory suggests that the Leper King statue got its name because of the lichen which grows on it. The position of the hand, now missing, also suggests it was holding something.

Coedès believes that most of the Khmer monuments were funerary temples and that the remains of kings were deposited there after cremation. He thinks, therefore, that the royal crematorium was located on the Terrace of the Leper King. The statues, then, represents the god of death and is properly situated on the terrace to serve this purpose. Yet another theory derives from a legend in a Cambodian chronicle that tells of a minister who refused to prostrate before the king, who hit him with his sword. Venomous spittle fell on the king, who then became a leper and was called the Leper King thereafter.

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Mebon (W)

Prasat Mebon (east) is located four kilometres (2.4miles) west of Angkor Thom. The south dyke of the West Baray, take a boat to the island in the center; walk to the east entrance of the temple. It was built in second half of the 11th century by Udayadityavarman II, probably dedicated to Visnu (Hindu), with following to Prasat Baphuon art style.

Background

The West Mebon is situated at the center of an artificial lake on a circular island with a diameter of about 150 meters (492 feet).

Layout

The base for the temple was a square. A sandstone platform at the center is linked to a causeway of laterite and sandstone that leads to the east dyke. The West Mebon was originally surrounded by a square enclosure with three-square sandstone entry towers and a sanctuary on the East Side is reasonably intact. The sides of the towers are carved with lively animals set in small squares, a type of decoration found only at the Baphuon. Tip: Walk along the shoreline and look back at the island to see heaps of stones from the collapsed areas.

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Mebon(E)

The lovely temple of Mebon, a pyramid of receding terraces on which are placed many detached edifices, the most effective being the five towers which crown the top Could any conception be lovelier, a vast expanse of sky-tinted water as wetting for a perfectly ordered temple.

The East Mebon is 500metre (1,640feet) north of Pre Rup. A enter and leave the temple from the east entrance. It was built in the second half of the tenth century (952) by king Rajendravarman II, dedicated to Siva (Hindu), an ancestor temple in memory of the parents of the king with following the Pre Rup style art.

Background

The Mebon stands on a small island in the middle of the Eastern Baray, which was a large body of water (2 by 7 kilometres, 1.2by4.3miles) fed by the Siem Reap River. The temple was accessible only by boat. Today the baray, once a source of water for irrigation, is a plain of rice fields and the visitor is left to imagine the original majesty of this temple in the middle of a large lake.

Layout

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.

The outer enclosing wall (1) is identified by a terraced landing built of laterite with two seated lions on each of the four sides (2). The interior of this wall is marked by a footpath. The neat enclosing wall (3) is intercepted in the middle of each of its four sides by an entry tower in the shape. Of a cross (4) The towers are constructed of laterite and sandstone and have three doors with porches. An inscription was found to the right of the east tower. A series of galleries surrounds the interior of this enclosing wall (5) . The walls are of laterite and have porches, sandstone pillars and rectangular windows with short balusters. The galleries were originally covered with wood and tiles but today only vestiges remain. They probably served as halls of meditation.

The stairways of the tiered base are flanked by lions (6). Beautiful monolithic elephants stand majestically at the corners of the first and second tiers (7). They are depicted naturalistically with fine detail such as harnessing. Tip: The elephant in the best condition, and the most complete, is in the southwest corner.

Entry Towers

The lintels on the west entry tower (4) depict Visnu in his avataras of man-lion tearing the king of the demons with his claws (east). At the northeast corner Laksmi stands between two elephants with raised trunks sprinkling lustral water on her.

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Srah Srang

It was perhaps a chapel to Kama, God of Love. The spot would suit the temper of the strange power, terribly strong and yet terribly tender, of that passion which carries away kingdoms, empires, whole worlds, and inhabits also the humblest dwellings...Love could occupy this quiet nest embedded in water...gave the impression that love had come one day and had left there, when he went away, apart of his spirit.

Srah Srang is located across the road from the east entrance of Banteay Kdei. A enter and leave Srah rang from the road.

Tip

Srah Srang always has water and is surrounded by greenery. According to one French archaeologist, it offers at the last rays of the day one of the most beautiful points to view the Park of Angkor. It was built in the end of the 12th century, by the King Jayavarman VII, dedicated to Buddhist, replica to Bayon style of art.

Background

Srah Srang is a large lake (700 by 300 meters, 2,297 by 984 feet) with elegant landing terrace of superb proportion and scale.

Layout

A majestic platform (landing stage) with 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 by two lions. At the front there is an enormous Garuda riding a three-headed serpent. At the back there is a mythical creature comprising a three-headed serpent, the lower portion of a Garuda and a stylized tail decorated with small serpent heads. The body of the serpent rests on a dais supported by mythical monsters. See map page 70.

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Thomanon

Thommanon at Angkor, Cambodia, is one of a pair of Hindu temples built in the end of the 11th century, completed during the reign of Suryavarman II (from 1113-1150). It is located east of the Gate of Victory of Angkor Thom.

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