Khmer temples of splendour The City Advertiser, 2 Edition

The shining jewel in the great crown of the Khmer Empire, this former Hindu temple is a dazzling legacy of a civilisation that reached its peak between the 10th and 13th centuries. This was known as the Angkor Period, and it was to result in the flowering of Southeast Asia's most important cult...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inNew Straits times
Main Author Sheema Abdul Aziz
Format Newspaper Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Kuala Lumpur The New Straits Times Press (M) Berhad 04.01.2003
Subjects
Kuk, Prei
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Summary:The shining jewel in the great crown of the Khmer Empire, this former Hindu temple is a dazzling legacy of a civilisation that reached its peak between the 10th and 13th centuries. This was known as the Angkor Period, and it was to result in the flowering of Southeast Asia's most important cultural legacy. The influence of the Khmers reached far and wide, encompassing what is today Laos, Vietnam, Myanmar, and even southern Thailand. The effects of this great civilisation were felt even as far south as the Indonesian islands. Then there is the Bayon. Located within the ancient city of Angkor Thom, this temple is famous for its numerous faces of the Avalokiteshvara, a representation of the Buddha. Like the apsara of Angkor Wat, the most striking thing about this monument is that each enigmatically serene face is uniquely individual in its facial features and expression. Some of them have become almost completely overgrown by trees, giving you the incongruous impression of being in a scene from The Lord of the Rings. Once the capital of the pre-Angkor kingdom of Chenla, Sambor [Prei Kuk] predates the Angkor monuments by about five centuries. As such it provides a useful insight into the evolution of Khmer art and architecture.