One of my colleagues, Smita, has been to Cambodia recently for a week. Here's her experience of her stay.
Siem Reap
Siem Reap City
The name literally means Siamese defeated referring to the victory of the Khmer Empire over the army of the Thai kingdom of Ayutthaya in the 17th Century.
Area: 10,299Km2
Population: 696,164 (1998)
Source: www.wikipedia.com
The locals playing the “kicking arrow”…It is no child’s play
Siem Reap river that flows into the Tonle Sap lake.
The wetlands of Cambodia – Tonle Sap lake & it’s floating civilization.
Floating civilization – many of these are Vietnamese refugees who thrive on the abundant waters of the lake.
A floating Catholic Church
A floating village
…and even a floating school.
The jewels of Cambodia – The Angkor Temples
The Angkor Wat
Angkor Wat was built for King Suryavarman II in the early 12th century as his state temple. It is the largest and the best-preserved temple at the site. Over the years it has been a place of worship for two religious groups — first the Hindus, praying primarily to Vishnu, and then to the Buddhists. Hence, here you find statues of both Vishnu and Budha.
The Sun rising ahead of us…
Time: 5:35AM
The Angkor Wat –It is absolutely awe inspiring to watch the magnificent monument unveil itself at dawn with the first light of the day falling on its towers and slowly revealing to you the shear size of the structure in mysterious ways.
Depending on the time of the year, the sun can rise as early as 5am. On April 2nd, 2007 we were lucky to have had a full-moon day the night before and hence we caught this splendid view of the sun rising ahead of us while the moon was setting right behind us. (Note that the Angkor Wat temple is facing due East.
… and the Moon setting behind us
Time: 5:35AM
Yet another view of the Moonset. This view is from the open ground in-front of the Angkor Wat. Everyone here is waiting to see the Angkot Wat unveil itself at 6am. There were fewer people than we expected at that time of the day which adds on to the peaceful atmosphere there. The temple is surrounded with dense forest which makes the place echo with the sounds of the birds and the other creatures breaking the silence of the night.
There are many locals who offer you chairs and coffee, at a price of course! So, the best thing to do is to bring your own coffee in a thermos and breakfast and simply enjoy the beauty unfold. We brought our breakfast packed at the inn however coffee would’ve been great.
The next few shots are of the temple at times just few minutes apart slowly revealing the “gopuras” (towers) and the vastness of the Angkor Wat. This photo was taken at 6am.
Time: 6:00AM
Time: 6:15AM
Time: 6:25AM
Top View
Along the corridors of Angkor Wat…
The epic of Ramayana
The Heaven and Hell gallery
Nails being driven into a mortal
The depiction of the Churning of the Ocean of Milk
Here you see Vishnu on top of Kurma (turtle) situated right at the center of the gallery being pulled on either sides by the Asuras (giants) and the Gods. It is sort of like a celestial tug-of-war where the rope is the snake Vasuki wrapped around the Mount Mandara churning the sea of milk.
Churning the sea for 1000 years released a seminal fluid that creates a divine ambrosia, amrita, the essence of life and immortality. Many other treasures are also flung up. Born of this action are apsaras, or celestial dancers, a purely Khmer innovation
Asuras at the tail of Vasuki
Yama, the God of death, mounted on his vehicle, the buffalo
Suryavarman II, the builder of Angkor Wat
Tourists offering incense to the Gods
Buddha avtaras
Center tower of the Angkor Wat
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