Temple Tour @Angkor Archaeological Park, Cambodia

This place had been one of my dream destinations since I first read about it in school. ~Arumita

So owing to the desire of exploring the ruins of Angkor me and my husband pin-pointed the first country for our joint visit.

This was Day 2 of our visit to this beautiful country with beautiful people who made us feel at home. 

Angkor Pass Counter

We completed our breakfast early and started  at 8 am with our guide Reth in a car for a full day temple tour at Angkor Archaeological Park. On the way Reth narrated the stories linked with Angkor Thom, the last and most enduring capital city of Khmer empire. We soon reached the ticket counter of the archaeological Park. On reaching the counter we were offered three options for buying pass - for single day $20, $40 for 3 days and $70 for one week visit. As we were to stay in Siem Reap for three days of which two were dedicated for visiting ancient structures we went for the second option. At the counter the personnel clicked our photos and we got our photo passes worth $40 each. Reth warned us to take special care of the pass as it had to be produced before entering every significant temple/structure inside the park and Bantreal Srei and Kbal Spean which was included in our 3rd day itinerary. Post completion of formalities at counter we first headed towards the Angkor Thom and entered the walled city from the south gate .

Gate of Angkor Thom

Carvings on the outer wall

Smiling faces on Bayon Temple

Bayon Temple

Magnificient demon and God structure lined on both sides and smiling faces over the gate welcomed us to the ancient city established by King Jayavarman VII. We passed several structures until our car stopped at The Bayon which was Jayavarman's State temple and as informed by Reth geometrically placed at the centre of Angkor Thom. We walked towards the huge temple and noted several smiling faces on each dome. Reth informed that there were well over 200 smiling faces carved on the temple tower. The entire temple was divided into three levels with the first and second containing square galleries featuring bas-reliefs and third level containing the Central Sanctuary. The mazing narrow passages, extensive carvings on the walls and huge dimension of the Bayon temple reflected the architectural excellence of that Era. After spending a good time clicking and exploring this temple we made an exit. 

The sandstone bridge leading to the entrance of Prasat Baphuon

View from level 1

Prasat Baphuon

From the Bayon we walked towards Prasat Baphuon on way Reth informed us that although situated within the historic city of Angkor Thom this temple was built much earlier the city got established. A long elevated bridge made of standstone formed a bridge to this temple. The temple stood on rectangular sandstone base and had five levels. Steep staircase guided us to the first level which was surrounded by sandstone galleries. We walked round in the galleries and got a beautiful vire of the surrounding. Reth had informed that the first three level had similar galleries and the higher levels were almost destroyed. So we restricted ourselfs to only the second level and climbed down the stairs to view the Gaint reclining Buddha that spanned the entire west wall of the temple and was built using stones that got collapsed from the temple enclosure. The Buddha structure was abstract and could be distinguished only on viewing  minutely from a particular angle.

Gaint reclining Buddha on the west wall

Phimeanakas

Having explored the temple we walked further through the forest and entered the enclosure of Royal Palace of Angkor Thom which was completely in ruins. Reth narrated tales all through our walk. He pointed out some berries which according to him was poisonous enough to make the consumer loose consciousness. We passed by Phimeanakas a hindu temple in Khleang flavour. Having three levels of varying area it resembled Pyramids. We crossed ruins of broken walls which according to Reth was a part of Royal palace. Until we came out into clearing reaching the Terrace of the Elephants and Terrace of Leper King. While the former had bigger carvings the latter had intricate work on its entire wall. From the terrace we could get view of Suor Prat Towers and the wide ground in front where royal ceremonies were conducted.

Terrace of Leper King

Terrace of Elephant 

Ta Prohm

Our car was waiting outside the Terrace of King Leper and we drove towards the second most photographed structure in the Angkor archaeological park Ta Prohm (the first undoubtedly being the famous Angkor Wat). We got down from our car at the entrace and saw a huge board carrying the contribution of Archaeological Survey of India for restoration of Ta Prohm and felt quite proud ! We walked through the forest towards the main temple and on reaching the site we were amazed with what we saw. Gigantic Trees  had completely engulfed a temple ! Reth explained that it took years to cut through the dense forest and clear a portion of the temple to showcase the power of Nature. Most of the temple was in ruins and the rest blanketed by trees. Walking galleries was present and we were not allowed to enter few portions of the temple for obvious reasons. Apart from the distinctive nature of its present state the temple is also famous as it was used for shooting a popular holly movie "The Tomb Raider"

Temple Wall engulfed by Tree

Ta Prohm

It was past 2 when we exited from the temple. Although our cameras were extremely satisfied our stomach were craving for food. We went to  Samroh Srah Srang Restuarant for our mid day lunch. This restuarant located very close to Sras Srang, a gaint reservoir, served yummy authentic Khmer cuisines. We tried chicken Amok here and totally loved it. Post lunch we rested here on the easy chairs for sometime before we would start for the topmost attraction of the day and the one we were eagerly looking forward to "The Angkor Wat".

We headed to the most sought after destination in Siem Reap province which is "Angkor Wat". Angkor Wat was initially a Hindu religion temple that was later turned into a Buddhist Temple. Built in 12th Century AD, this was built by the Khmer King Suryavarman II in Yasodharapura which used to be the capital of Khmer Empire. Angkor Wat's breath taking view and gigantic size is something one can relish throughout his/her lifetime for which it has now become one of the world's largest religious architectures & one of the most sought after sites in the World.  Reth explained that Angkor Wat was the best presentation of the Khmer style of architecture and had been built to represent Mount Meru, the home of Hindu Gods Brahma & demi-god Devtas. After giving a brief insight Reth then guided us inside the Angkor Wat premise.

Moat surrounding Ankot Wat

As we approached, we observed that the Temple stood within a gigantic moat. We were informed that the temple has been dedicated to Lord Vishnu & Suryavarman II started the work of building "temples inside temples" to represent a 'Varah Vishnu Lok' in the Khmer Empire. Soon after his death, temple construction work stopped & it was Jayavarman VII who restored the work by taking control of the Khmer Empire and establishing Angkor Thom & Bayon Temples to the north side of the place.  The different relics of the Bishnu Temple were clearly seen, some got fade away & destroyed with time. 

 A strange fact which our guide told was that temples in Angkor Wat are built oriented to the West which in Hindu tradition signifies the "death", contrary to the Hindu temples built in  the East Direction. The Angkor Wat has been built with sandstone while laterite was used for the outer wall and hidden structure parts. This again comes from the Khmer style of architecture. The temples had fine carvings of devtas, apsaras, bas-reliefs,scenes from different mythology epic & on the pediments has extensive garlands and narrative-scenes.


After exploring the Khmer style of calligraphy, we moved inside the temples. We moved to the area where their were fine carvings of Hindu Gods & Goddess that depicted episodes from Hindu epics like the Mahabharata & the Ramayana. From the north-west corner of the temple, the western gallery portrayed the battle of Lanka (where Ram defeats Ravana) & the battle of Kurukshetra (where the Pandavas defeats the Kauravas). The Southern galley depicted a procession of King Suryavarman II and the gates to 32 hells & heavens !! .. It was very fascinating to see the depiction of Hindu culture away from our country and that too portrayed & preserved so beautifully for so many decades. Other than the Hindu epics, their were also depictions of stories that linked to Hindu God Vishnu.

It was evening by the time we made an exit from the huge temple complex completely soaked in history and enriched with all tales narrated by our guide Reth. We purchased some magnets as soveniors and drank coconut juice in the makeshift market adjoining the temple and returned back to our hotel soaked with Khamer history