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Angkor, Cambodia
IntroductionAngkor, a complex of magnificent temples of the historical Khmer kingdom, was built over a period of 300 years, from the end of the ninth to the end of the twelfth century. This became possible due to a remarkable irrigation system and an extremely favourable geographical location. A tourist industry is currently developing around Angkor and the nearby town of Siem Reap. |
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Click to View : (i)Enlarged Image; (ii)The Angkor Wat; (iii)The Barays; (iv)The Forest |
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Physical geographyAngkor was built on the alluvial plain next to the large lake of Tonlé Sap, the edge of which is seen towards the south of the image. A range of hills occur towards the northeast and scattered low hills rise from the plain leading down to the lake. The sandstone and laterite of these hills were used for constructing the temples of Angkor. Tonlé Sap extends its normal area of about 3000 km2 by another 150 percent during the wet monsoon of May-October. This primarily happens by the upstream passage of water along the Tonlé Sap River from the flooded Mekong reaching the lake. During the dry season, the downstream flow of the Tonlé Sap River is resumed and the lake level drops by 10-12 m. Tonlé Sap therefore is a rich source of freshwater fish which along with technologically enhanced rice yield made the Khmer kingdom prosperous enough to build the Angkor complex.IrrigationDuring the days of the Khmer kingdom, about 1000 km2 of land was served by the irrigation system based on artificial reservoirs called barays. The most striking of these was the Western Baray built around 1050 AD, the largest dark shaded rectangle near the centre of the image. This 8 km X 2.2 km reservoir had a full storage capacity of about 40 million m3 of water. The reservoirs were not dug into the ground but surrounded by embankments. As the level of the stored water rose above ground level, water could be sent to the paddy fields by gravity feed. Such an irrigation practice started towards the end of the ninth century, and as a result, multiple crops of rice could be grown each year even through the dry season. The other large reservoir seen in the image is the Eastern Baray in the centre (Fig. 1), which is now dry but its raised embankments are clearly visible. Water for irrigation today is stored in numerous small tanks seen towards the northeast, which utilise the local relief features.The temple complex of AngkorThe word Angkor is derived from the Sanskrit word for a city. Angkor not only was a complex of temples but also of urban settlements. During the Khmer civilisation, only the temples were built in stone and bricks, all other houses were in wood or earth. Only the temples therefore have survived as archaeological evidences of once prosperous and civilised cities.The Indian contribution to religion, language, art, city planning and irrigated rice farming in historical Cambodia is extremely important. All this is reflected at Angkor. Many of the temples are funerary temples built to commemorate individual kings, but the temples were also at the same time divine structures as Hindu Gods and Bodhisattavas were worshipped there. The kings were perceived as god-kings ruled by divine prerogatives who could communicate directly with the gods, and their deaths transformed the kings into gods. This explains why so many temples were built by the Khmer kings. The architecture of the temples was based on symbolism of the universe from the Hindu mythology. Apart from the temple of Bayon, majority of the temples are Hindu. Bayon is a Buddhist structure where the faces of Bodhisattavas on its many towers resemble the then great Khmer king, Jayavarman VII. The first group of temples were built near Roulos towards the southeastern corner of the image. Later, the Khmer kings moved their capital to Angkor where the Khmer art and architecture flourished to give rise to the temple complex of Angkor. Figure 1 which is a plan of the temple complex helps to identify the temples and reservoirs on the image. The major temples and some background information are listed in Table 1.
It is believed that the intensive building phase towards the end of the rule of the powerful Khmer king Jayavarman VII exhausted the kingdom; and although the Khmer kings ruled at Angkor for another century and half, it was not with the old glory. Finally, invaders from Siam attacked and sacked Angkor three times, in 1353, 1393, and 1431. The irrigation system began to fail due to the shortage of labour and maintenance, and the Khmer capital was shifted to Phnom Penh, the site of the present capital of Cambodia, leaving Angkor to be swallowed by the forest. A large part of the temple complex is still covered by dense vegetation. A number of the structures are in ruin, and are both destroyed and held up by huge trees and creepers. The forgotten Angkor became known again from the accounts of the French travellers in the second half of the 19th century. The effort of the archaeologists at restoration, particularly since the 1920s, have succeeded to some extent. Our knowledge of Angkor is derived from such work and the past accounts of travellers such as Chou Ta Kuen who came to Angkor in the late 13th century and wrote an account of the glory of the Khmer kingdom. Angkor currently is a tourist destination, although tourism is restricted due to the ravages of the Khmer Rouge times and the continuing danger of armed men and unexploded mines in the less trodden parts of the complex. The town of Siem Reap, south of Angkor Wat is growing as tourism develops. The airstrip for Angkor is clearly visible south of the Western Baray. Whether enhanced tourism of the future will affect the serenity and tranquillity of Angkor and the survival of its structures remains to be seen. |
