0092, 0171, 0534, 1004-1005 CAMBODIA (Siem Reap) - Angkor (UNESCO WHS)

Posted on 06.01.2012, 14.04.2012, 02.03.2013 and 16.02.2014
Subjected to the Indian influences, passed through filters Thai or Lao, for more than 1,000 years, the Khmer have created firstly kingdoms of Funan and Chenla, to achieve peak during the Khmer Empire (centuries 9th-15th), of which greatest material legacy is Angkor, the site of the capital city during the empire's zenith. The spiritual legacy is Theravada Buddhism, introduced to the area through monks from Sri Lanka in the 13th century, considered for centuries an esential element of the khmer's ethnic and cultural identity. If about the early days of the empire we don't know too much, after the 13th century Angkor was visited by many travelers, starting with chinese Zhou Daguan and continuing with Portuguese and Spanish missionaries. The Khmer already constructed the most important architectural masterpieces in the area known as Angkor, the largest preindustrial city in the world, with more than one million inhabitants. .Angkor, located to the north of the Great Lake (Tonlé Sap) and south of the Kulen Hills, near modern-day Siem Reap, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site from 1992.

The principal temple, Angkor Wat (in the first three postcards), was built between 1113 and 1150 by King Suryavarman II, as his personal temple mausoleum. It’s the world's largest religious building and it has become a symbol of Cambodia, appearing on its national flag. Very well preserved, it’s the only one to have remained a significant religious centre since its foundation - first Hindu, dedicated to the god Vishnu, then Buddhist. The most comprehensive presentation of the temple and the most easily accessible to a wide public seems to be that of The Monuments of the Angkor Group by Maurice Glaize, published in 1944 in Saigon. I will quote only a few short, but representative fragments, a "snack" if you like:

"Angkor may be visited in all seasons. However the most favourable period extends from November to March, during the first months of the dry season, when the temperature is particularly clement. […] It is preferable, particularly in the hot season, to leave early in the morning and to return before eleven o'clock, and not to revisit in the afternoon until three or four o'clock - the light at the end of the day being generally more favourable. The majority of the monuments - and in particular Angkor Wat - lose much in being viewed against the light. […] We would especially recommend the setting of the sun at Angkor Wat, where sometimes the spectacle will include the flight of the bats in the fading light, or from the top of Phnom Bakheng or Phnom Krom, or the terrace of the Srah Srang - or else from the beach of the baray, where the bathing is delightful. Finally, if you have the opportunity, do not miss, by the light of the full moon, the second level courtyard of Angkor Wat at the foot of the central tower, or the upper terrace of the Bayon."

"Constructed to the south of the capital (Angkor Thom), Angkor Wat is sited in the south-east corner of the ancient city of Angkor - Yasodharapura - built by Yasovarman I, centred on Phnom Bakheng and which stretched between the Siem Reap river to the east and the dike of the baray to the west. […] Isolated from the forest by its moats, Angkor Wat was, of all the monuments of the group, the best placed to escape the invasion of the jungle and hence ruin. Moreover, following the establishment of Buddhism of the small vehicle, it has always sheltered pagodas, as a place of pilgrimage for the Khmer, within its enclosure - though at one time partially masking the main façade these had to be re-sited in order not to detract from the overall perspective."


Another very interesting work that talks also about Angkor is Voyage dans les royaumes de Siam, de Cambodge, de Laos et autres parties centrales de l'Indo-Chine (Travels in the Central Parts of Indo-China, Cambodia and Laos During the Years 1858,1859, and 1860), by Henri Mouhot, published in 1863 in Paris. Mouhot is the one who popularized Angkor in the West, naming it "the work of the King of Angels."

In the fourth postcard are two Apsaras, females spirits of the clouds and waters in Hindu and Buddhist mythology (also known as Vidhya Dhari or Tep Apsar in Khmer, which means "nymph" or "celestial maiden"). Beautiful, youthful and elegant, often the wives of the Gandharvas (the court musicians of Indra), Apsaras are superb in the art of dancing, seducing equally gods and men. As caretakers of fallen heroes, they may be compared to the valkyries of Norse mythology, and as ethereal beings often depicted taking flight, to angels, but sometimes are also compared to the muses of ancient Greece. Probably due to the association with water, they are able to change their shape at will. Apsaras represent an important motif in the stone bas-reliefs of the Angkorian temples, but not all female images are considered to be apsaras, the ones who have static attitude being called devatas. Angkor Wat features both apsaras and devatas, but the devatas are the most numerous. Khmer classical dance, the indigenous ballet-like performance art, is frequently called "Apsara Dance" and reflects one of the origin myths in Cambodia, depicting the union of Mera, a celestial dancer, and Kambu, a wise man.