The Rough Guide to Cambodia by Rough Guides

Author:Rough Guides
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780241326145
Publisher: Rough Guides

Portraying events associated primarily with Vishnu, to whom the temple is dedicated, the famous Angkor Wat bas-reliefs, some 2m high on average, are carved into the wall of the magnificently colonnaded gallery that runs around the perimeter of the temple, forming the third enclosure. This was as far into the complex as the citizens of Angkor were allowed to get, and the scenes depicted were meant to impress them with their king’s wealth and power, as well as contributing to their religious education.

Extending over 700m, the bas-reliefs are broken into sections by porches midway along each side, along with corner chambers. The older bas-reliefs are delicately carved with minute attention to detail, in contrast to the more roughly executed scenes added in the sixteenth century. In some areas you can still see evidence of the red and gold paint that once covered the reliefs, while other areas are black; one theory is that the pigments have been eroded and the stone polished by thousands of hands caressing the carvings over the years.

The account that follows assumes you progress around the gallery in an anticlockwise direction, in keeping with the ancient funerary practices.

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