Angkor Thom
From Academic Kids
AngkorThom-SouthGate2.jpg
Terrace_of_the_Leper_King(1).JPG
Angkor Thom was the fortified inner royal city built by Jayavarman VII (1181 - 1220?), Buddhist king of the Khmer Empire, at the end of the 12th Century, after Angkor had been conquered and destroyed by the Chams.
It lies on the right bank of the river Siem Reap, a tributary of Tonle Sap, about a quarter of a mile from the river.
The royal city was built as a quadrangle, nearly 2 miles in each direction, surrounded by a 1000 meter moat and an 8 metres high wall. According to Aymonier it was begun about 860 and finished towards 900. Within the enclosure, which is entered by five monumental gates, are the remains of palaces, temples, and other ruins overgrown by the forest. The chief of these are:
- The vestiges of the royal palace, which had been built during the reign of Suryavarman I 150 years earlier. It stood within an enclosure containing also the pyramidal religious structure known as the Phimeanakas. To the east of this enclosure there extends a terrace decorated with magnificent reliefs.
- Extending north from the eastern gate of the royal palace are two magnificent terraces- the Terrace of the Elephants and the Terrace of the Leper King. The Terrace of the Elephants served as a viewing platform for royal parties and was decorated with elaborate reliefs, depicting both elephants and garuda (a mythical creature taking on the shape of a humanoid bird). The Terrace of the Leper King is located to the north of the Terrace of the Elephants. Atop this decorative platform stands a recently restored statue. Some argue that the statue is the likeness of Yama, the Hindu god of death. Yet, surrounding this statue to each of the cardinal directions are four lesser statues, each facing away from the central statue. Because of this, recent scholarship believe the statue is the likeness of a Khmer ruler who allegedly died of leprosy- either Yasovarman I or Jayavarman VII.
- The temple of Bayon, Jayavarman VII's state temple. It is a square enclosure formed by galleries with colonnades, within which is another and more elaborate system of galleries, rectangular in arrangement and enclosing a cruciform structure, at the centre of which rises a huge tower with a circular base. Fifty towers, decorated with quadruple faces of the Buddha, are built at intervals upon the galleries, and the inside walls are covered with reliefs of kings and town life, the whole temple ranking as perhaps the most remarkable of the Khmer remains.
Its buildings also included the Heavenly Palace where the king spent the first part of each night engaged in sexual intercourse with the Sun Queen, according to legend.
See also
External links
- Bayon (http://www.leidenuniv.nl/pun/ubhtm/mjk/bayon.htm)
- Angkor Thom (http://www.sacred-destinations.com/cambodia/angkor-thom.htm)
