Today is the Temples of Angkor day. The Angkor archaeological site is huge and filled with remains of hundreds of temples and one can spend days exploring them. Our first stop was Ta Prohm, often called the ‘Jungle Temple’ because of the trees that are intertwined among the ruins. Ta Prohm was a Hindu temple and monastery built in the late 12th century by the Khmer king, Jayavarman VII.
Archaeologists have decided to leave this temple in its natural state to show how Angkor looked when it was ‘rediscovered’ in the 19th century. The trees growing amidst the temple are beautiful and exotic. This was the site where the movie Tomb Raider was filmed.
We drove to another large ancient city, Angkor Thom, also built by Jayavarman VII and likely the capital of the Khmer empire until the 17th century. We stopped to view the Elephant Plaza, the long terrace at the heart of Angkor Thom that overlooked the royal square. The plaza gets its name because of the beautiful elephant carvings along the facade.
Banyon Temple was our next stop. This was the state temple of Angkor Thom built by Jayavarman VII and finished by his successor.
It consists of over 40 towers, each with four faces looking to the north, south, east and west. Originally constructed as a Hindu temple, it was later converted to a Buddhist shrine. Many of the towers with faces and carved lintels are in amazingly good condition.
We spent a few hours in the heat of the afternoon exploring the Angkor National Museum. The museum has galleries devoted to different periods in Cambodian history and houses many of the artifacts, statues and carved lintels from Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom. All exhibits are labelled in both Cambodian and English and the videos and media presentations are shown in English. Museum was well worth a visit and was walkable from our hotel. We were in a hurry on the way back so we took a tuk tuk. Tuk tuks in Cambodia are no longer pedal carts but pulled by motorcycles.
Our final temple visit did not occur until later in the evening and was an unforgettable experience. We donned traditional Cambodian attire provided by the hotel and drove to Angkor Thom. It was dark when we arrived at what we thought was a large plaza lighted with luminaries. We were greeted by Cambodian dancers and served appetizers and cocktails. Shortly after all the guests arrived, there was a crescendo of music and all of a sudden, Thommeanon Temple was illuminated in the distance with Khmer warriors and ladies standing in the doorway and terrace.
Thommeanon Temple illuminated
It was breathtaking and a complete surprise! We enjoyed a wonderful dinner and were entertained by traditional Cambodian dancers. The Blessing Dance prays for prosperity for the audience and peace for the world. Monimekhala or the Lightening Lady dance tells the story of the goddess of the ocean who competes against a giant in martial arts and is awarded a diamond of thunder and lightening. Other dances included the Fishing Dance and a Celestial Dance that commemorates the thousands of dancers that once performed in the ancient temples of Angkor.
It was a magical evening and a fitting end to our time in this wonderful, welcoming country. Tomorrow we are off to India.