The Construction of Angkor Wat (anga nagara vatta) by the National Geographic Soc. 7 Parts Serie

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[Khmer] Temples of delight in Thailand

Wat's up? ... Buddhist monks outside the main shrine at the Khmer temple at Phimai, Thailand. Photograph: Getty
Making a splash … Tok Haew Narok waterfall. Photograph: Alamy

There are no full moon parties in Isaan, perhaps Thailands' least touristy region. Instead you'll find sleepy villages, Khmer architecture, and a boutique hotel right on the Mekong

Saturday 18 September 2010
Chris Coplans
The Guardian (UK)

After hacking through undergrowth for a couple of hours, we emerged sweaty, muddy and bedraggled at the 25m-high Tok Haew Narok falls, which (please excuse yet another reference to The Beach in a Thailand article) are the ones Leonardo DiCaprio leapt from in the film. We scrambled down to swim in the turquoise pool below it.

My guide – called Apple – and I were following a challenging 8km trail through the Khao Yai national park, a huge tract of monsoon forest and a Unesco world heritage site two hours north of Bangkok. On the western edge of the Isaan region, it is home to tigers, bears, leopards, deer, gibbons, hornbills and elephants.

The Isaan region covers a huge swathe of north-east Thailand stretching to the Mekong river, Laos and Cambodia. It is the country's least visited area – as close to the "old Thailand" as you can get, and a welcome change from the tour group- and backpacker-choked northern destinations of Chiang Mai and the Golden Triangle.

Boutique hotels are few and far between, a steaming broth of noodle soup replaces the banana pancake breakfast, and pedicabs rather than taxis or tuk-tuks are the main mode of transport. I encountered sleepy, small rural towns that depend on farming, not tourism, despite the fact that this area is not only a stunning natural wilderness, but also full of fantastic Khmer temples.

Just like those in Cambodia (including Angkor Wat), the 182 Khmer sites in Isaan were built by the God Kings of Angkor, who at the height of their supremacy, from the ninth to the 13th century, extended their empire into Burma. Many of the finest examples of Khmer architecture are to be found on Issan's Khorat Plateau, clustered around Buriram, Surin and Khorat provinces. I explored many of them and, more often than not, I had them pretty much to myself.

The jewel in the crown was undoubtedly Phimai, 60 miles north-east of Khorat, less than three hours from Bangkok. The temple complex is right in the heart of the otherwise humdrum little town of Phimai, and entering it is like walking into a secret, mythical garden. The whole complex is dominated by an exquisite prang (tower), the iconic corn-on-the-cob-like Khmer structure – in fact, some claim that Angkor Wat was modelled on Phimai.

Apple and I sat, cocooned in a soporific tropical haze, transfixed, as the sandstone of the temple absorbed the last rays of the weakening sun, and were joined by a group of novice monks in saffron robes, who imparted spiritual wisdom about Lampard and Rooney.

The next morning we were up at dawn for a two-hour drive east across the flat, dusty landscape of the Khorat Plateau to another great Thai Khmer monument, Phanom Rung. Although Isaan is a vast region, distances between the Khmer temples are short, and all the main sites can be seen in a couple of days.

Phanom Rung is perched atop an extinct volcano, with panoramic views of the surrounding plain, and I climbed up steps worn down by centuries of visiting Buddhist pilgrims to a promenade overlooking the exquisite sandstone tower of the main temple, with its labyrinth of hidden chambers.

A few miles on was the Meuang Tam complex, based on the design of Angkor Wat, but with four L-shaped ponds covered with colourful lotus flowers.

I ventured east next, towards the Mekong valley, into rural landscapes full of paddy fields broken up by palm trees – Thailand is the world's largest rice exporter and much of the crop is grown in Isaan.

Isaan hot is a different kettle of spice from regular Thai hot as I found out when I ordered larb moo (minced pork salad) in a small roadside restaurant.

Several hours later we had made it to Khong Jiam, a somnolent river town, beautifully located on a peninsula where the blue waters of the river Mun are overwhelmed by the bubbling chocolate that is the Mekong. After staying in many basic rural lodges during our journey, I was overjoyed to find a boutique hotel here, the Tohsang Khong Jiam, right on the bank of the Mekong, with enchanting views of the mountains of Laos on the other side.

Leaving Kong Jiam to head back to Bangkok, we stumbled upon Wat Tham Khuha Sawan, which overlooks the town and the river. In complete contrast to the bewitching Khmer temples, this modern temple, built in 1978, has a surreal theme park feel to it, with a mish-mash of flamboyant architectural styles. A huge elephant protects the Buddha images below, and the main stupa's golden spires wink conspiratorially in the dazzling light. There is a dreamlike bell tower, topped with fierce nagas (mythical serpent deities) and golden spires. In Isaan, always prepare for the unexpected.

Sacrava's Political Cartoon: Lost Territory

Disputed temple named world landmark

Monks at the ruins of Preah Vihear, a new world heritage site. The temple sits in the disputed Cambodia-Thailand border area. (Sukree Sukplang/Reuters)

Tuesday, July 8, 2008
The Associated Press

MONTREAL: An 11th-century temple that sits in a disputed border zone between Thailand and Cambodia has been named by UN officials as a world landmark.

A Unesco spokeswoman, Joanna Sullivan, said Monday that Preah Vihear was designated a heritage site at a meeting in Quebec City.

In 1962, the International Court of Justice in the Hague ruled Preah Vihear was located inside Cambodia's border, a decision opposed by many in Thailand.

Thai citizens were asked to donate money to help finance the country's push to defend the temple in the international court. The crumbling temple is a few hundred meters from Thailand's eastern border with Cambodia.

Cambodia has been trying to obtain the designation for the Khmer-style temple since 1992.

However, Thailand has vetoed its neighbor's previous submissions, fearing the status would include nearly five square kilometers, about two square miles, of disputed land along the border.

In June, Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama of Thailand signed a joint communiqué with Cambodia, endorsing the country's bid to nominate the temple as a world heritage site.

But the Thai cabinet suspended its decision to support Cambodia's bid on July 1. The action had little effect on Preah Vihear's world heritage application, since Cambodia does not need Thailand's support.

The dispute surrounding the ancient temple continues to fuel nationalist sentiment in Thailand.

Tensions along the border boiled over last month when protesters threatened to evict Cambodians living in the disputed territory. Cambodia responded by closing access to the temple.

The temple's select status as a world heritage site is expected to attract tourists and grants from the United Nations' World Heritage Fund.

Preah Vihear, a Hindu-themed temple that reflects the beliefs of the kings who ruled what was then the Angkorean empire, is on the top of a cliff in the Dangrek Mountains, about 240 kilometers, or 150 miles, north of the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh. Reaching it by road is easiest from the Thai side of the border.

The stone temple is revered partly for having one of the most stunning locations of all the temples constructed during the Khmer empire - the most famous of which is Angkor Wat.

As the Khmer empire, which once encompassed parts of Thailand and Vietnam, shrank to the size of present-day Cambodia and the country was plunged into civil war, the temple fell into disrepair. Walls and pillars have collapsed.

Cambodian History Writ Large At Angkor Wat

January 25, 2008
By LESLIE HOOK
The Wall Street Journal

SIEM REAP, Cambodia -- This country's most famous temple may be 900 years old, but the message it sets out to convey is timeless: Angkor Wat is all about glory. The temple is one of hundreds built by kings of the Khmer Empire to commemorate themselves and their empire, as well as to worship their gods. But Angkor Wat stands out from the rest -- in artistry, in scale and in popular imagery.

One of the largest religious structures in the world, and the only religious monument to appear on a national flag, Angkor Wat has become synonymous with Cambodia at its most powerful -- when it was the seat of the Khmer Empire, stretching from the South China Sea to the Bay of Bengal. The monumental scale of the temple has the same effect on visitors today as when it was first built. Angkor Wat has but a single approach: a wide stone causeway more than a third of a mile long (that's as long as six football fields end-to-end). The entry walkway crosses a moat 600 feet wide (my guide assures me it used to be filled with crocodiles) and ends at a wall and gates leading into the center of the compound. The central compound covers about 400 acres and once supported a town of about 100,000 people.

With one central tower more than 130 feet high surrounded by four shorter towers, the center of the temple imitates the five peaks of Mount Mehru, the mythical mountain at the center of the Hindu universe. The temple walls (three concentric rectangles that demarcate the progressively higher levels of the temple), garden grounds and moat represent the soil and seas of the earth.

Reaching Mount Mehru is no easy chore: The temple's stone steps are dizzyingly steep -- more like a stone ladder than a staircase -- as a reminder of the effort it takes for humans to get closer to heaven. And, as if to drive home the point, the inner sanctuaries of the central tower were accessible only to the king and a select handful of priests.

When Angkor Wat was built, Cambodia was primarily Hindu and Khmer culture drew much of its inspiration from India. Most of the inscriptions at Angkor are in Sanskrit, and the nymph-like apsaras, or celestial dancers, that grace the walls derive from Hindu mythology. Later, however, the Khmer kings became interested in Buddhism, and Angkor Wat was converted into a Buddhist monastery between the 12th and 15th centuries. The central statue of the innermost sanctuary -- likely a statue of Vishnu -- was removed and a Buddhist image erected in its place. For several centuries, the Khmer empire practiced a syncretic faith that combined Buddhism and Hinduism.

In many ways Angkor Wat is so much larger than life that the details of the temple get overlooked amid the legends that surround it. It's easy to forget that it contains nearly 2,000 feet of the finest Khmer bas reliefs in the world. Its nearly 2,000 celestial apsaras represent the apogee of Cambodia's apsara-carving tradition and provide a detailed account of court dress and female fashions during the period of its creation, the elaborate headdresses, heavy jewelry worn on the arms and neck, and flowing skirts. Traditional Cambodian dance to this day imitates the apsaras' poses and costumes.

One of the most intricate reliefs decorating the walls of the temple's first gallery depicts the Churning of the Sea of Milk, a key event in Hindu cosmology in which the world was created by an epic tug-of-war between gods and demons. Each side pulled on a giant five-headed snake wrapped around Mount Mehru, and the subsequent twisting of the mountain and churning of the seas gave birth to the apsaras that grace the walls of Angkor Wat, as well as an elixir of immortality over which the gods and demons subsequently dueled. In this story, Mount Mehru is not only the center of the universe, but also the birthplace of the known world.

The Khmer empire included modern-day Burma, Thailand and Vietnam -- the largest area ever covered by Cambodia -- and laid the foundations for Cambodian culture and art for centuries to come. In a sign of the temple's importance, the king's palace was most likely on the temple grounds, although nothing of it remains today. About one million men, women and children populated the Angkor area, according to an estimate by French archaeologist Bernard-Philippe Groslier, making it the largest settlement in the preindustrial world.

All this manpower was necessary to build the temples, which were painstakingly erected from giant sandstone monoliths hewed out of a quarry more than 37 miles away. Rather than having foundations that sink into the ground, most Angkorean temples are built on huge mounds of earth that give them their pyramid shape, the soil excavated from a moat or from one of the lakes. Some historians theorize that the blitz of building during the Khmer Empire could have been accomplished only through a mandatory labor requirement levied on all citizens, or perhaps even through slavery.

The grandeur that marked the Khmer Empire was not to last, however. The royal city of Angkor was repeatedly sacked by the Thai army during the 14th century, and in 1431 the capital was relocated farther away from Thailand. Angkor Wat itself -- by that time converted to a Buddhist temple -- continued to function, and for centuries it was home to a flourishing monastery that attracted pilgrims from as far away as Japan, even while the former capital city nearby was gradually overtaken by the jungle. Although the Buddhists occupying the temple removed most of the original Hindu art, Angkor Wat's habitation and its continuous maintenance helped the temple remain relatively intact while many other Angkorean temples now lie in ruins.

Even after surviving the removal of its Hindu art, Angkor Wat did not entirely escape the turbulence of Cambodia's recent history. The Western part of Cambodia in which Angkor Wat is located was a Khmer Rouge stronghold through the 1990s (the Khmer Rouge were ousted from the capital city, Phnom Penh, in 1979). Restoration work on the temples took a forced, decades-long hiatus during the wars that wracked Cambodia through the later half of the 20th century. The area was unsafe for tourists until about 10 years ago, when the Khmer Rouge signed a peace treaty that formally ended Cambodia's civil war. There was relatively little physical damage to the temple as a result of the wars, but they did irreparable damage by destroying almost all of the remaining written records pertaining to the Angkorean period. Khmer archaeology scholar Christophe Pottier of the French Research School of the Far East estimates that 95% of the relevant documents have been destroyed in the past three decades, an irreplaceable loss.

In the years since peace has come to Cambodia the opportunities for looting have also increased, and many of the finest sculptures have been spirited out of the country and sold to buyers abroad. Tourism also poses its own set of dangers, with some temples suffering from overexposure to footsteps or curious hands. But despite this -- even as the physical structures of the temples inevitably decay -- Angkor will continue to symbolize something greater than itself. The memory of the Khmer Empire, and with it Cambodia's full potential, is unlikely to fade anytime soon.

Ms. Hook is an editorial page writer for The Wall Street Journal Asia.

On the road to Angkor

September 9, 2007
Aree Chaisatien
The Nation (Thailand)

Bilateral project seeks and preserves 12th-century trade route built by the ancient Khmer

Braving the sizzling late-summer heat of the border jungle between Surin province in lower Northeast Thailand and Uddor Mean Chey province in northern Cambodia, I joined researchers tracing a route trodden by the ancient Khmer from Angkor to Phimai.

"Stay on the track," we are warned from time to time. The trail has not been completely cleared of landmines.

This route has been in use since ancient times and parts of the road can still be seen - laterite blocks covered with moss and lichen.

"We are on the ancient road from Angkor to Phimai, believed to have been used since the time of King Jayavarman VII in the 12th century," explains Colonel Surat Lertlum of the Chulachomklao Royal Thai Military Academy at the Ta Mean pass in Surin Province.

The reason we are out here in the stifling heat is that this trail will soon become a "living" route, thanks to the Living Angkor Road Project. The project is a joint Khmer-Thai endeavour of the Authority for the Protection and Management of Angkor and the Region of Siem Reap (APSARA), the Chulachomklao academy, and Thailand's Prince of Songkhla and Silpakorn universities' Fine Arts Departments. Financial support has come from the Thailand Research Fund.

Stretching southeast from Phimai in Nakhon Ratchasima onto the Khorat Plateau, leading across the Phnom Dongrak mountain range on the Thailand-Cambodia border and on to Angkor, the 254-kilometre Angkor-Phimai road is believed to be one of five royal Angkor roads linking its dominions in what are now modern-day Laos, Vietnam and Thailand. They were built in the reign of Jayavarman VII, reputably the greatest king of ancient Angkor.

According to ancient Preah Khan stone inscriptions, Jayavarman VII was a follower of Mahayana Buddhism. He built hospitals and 17 rest houses for travellers and pilgrims on the route from his capital to Phimai. The laterite rest houses - agnisala in the Khmer language, dhammasala in the argot of French archaeologist Louis Finot - are of uniform size and style. Dotted along the route 12-to-13 kilometres apart, their five south-facing windows once contained Buddha images and lights to guide travellers at night.

The hospitals, or arogyasala, looked after sick pilgrims and the health of local residents.

Surat is leading our five-day expedition on foot to explore the remains of the agnisala and arogyasala, setting out from Phimai.

At the Ta Mean border pass in Surin we visit temples and an agnisala, the best preserved of all on the Thailand side, according to archaeologist Pongdhan Sampaongern.

Evidence here suggests earlier French archaeologists might have been wrong in their belief that the ancient road cut through Chong Chom, or Osmach. The agnisala and laterite suggests that this is the true route, explains Surat.

The Angkor-road project started in 2004 and is the first in Thailand to take a multi-disciplinary approach, using remote sensing to complement historical, archaeological and cultural information, says research fund deputy director Silaporn Buasai.

Other new discoveries include two formerly missing agnisala - Prasat Ampil and Prasat Chan in Cambodia - many stone bridges, and ancient industrial relics such as iron furnaces and ceramic kilns.

"These roads are like those of the Roman or Chinese empires. The Khmer used their roads as military and trading routes supplying the capital at Angkor," Pongdhan says

On the second day, entering Cambodia at Osmach we are greeted by Khmer researchers from Apsara, led by archaeologist and anthropologist IM Sokrithy.

We visit agnisalas only reachable on foot. They are dilapidated but still recognisable. Water tanks constructed of laterite are clearly visible. The original boundary markers with still-visible Mahayana Buddhist features were modified as Hindu stupa during the reign of Srindravarman a century after Jayavarman VII.

We found the Spean Toap bridge, which is in good condition and still being used today. "This is the longest ancient bridge, and about 10-metres high," explains Sokrithy.

To get an idea how large royal processions along this route were in its heyday, we view bas-reliefs at the gallery of the Bayon temple. "There were likely many hundreds of soldiers on foot, with several hundred elephants and horses," Sokrithy says.

Heavy modern vehicles will soon be banned in the vicinity of the ancient road to ensure the area's preservation for archaeological and cultural tourism.

"Culture has no boundaries and a road is a link between people. There is an old saying: 'If we have roads, we have hope,' says Sokrithy.

By the fourth afternoon we reach Angkor, entering by the Western Gate of Angkor Thom, believed to be the original departure point for the Angkor-Phimai road.

Pongdhan believes the road preservation project can generate cultural tourism and improve bilateral relations between neighbours. Surat has plans for an animation game to help young people learn and enjoy the history of the road.

For more information visit larp.crma.ac.th and www.autoriteapsara.org.

The writer was a guest of the Thailand Research Fund.