Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
designed to be viewed anticlockwise, both of which are associated with death.
Nowadays, it's generally accepted that it was used by the king for worship during his
lifetime, and became his mausoleum following his death.
Moat and fourth enclosure
Entry to the complex is from the west, via an impressive laterite
causeway
built from
massive blocks of stone and edged by the scant remains of a crumbling naga balustrade
and with terraces guarded by lions.
The causeway crosses the 200m-wide
moat
to the western gopura of the
fourth
enclosing wall
. he
western gopura
itself stretches for nearly 230m and has three
towers, plus entrances large enough to allow elephants to pass through. Inside the
southern section of the gopura is an eight-armed statue of
Vishnu
, more than 3m tall,
while looking out from the gopura there's a panoramic view of the temple. The first of
Angkor Wat's fabulous
apsaras
are carved into the sandstone on the eastern exterior of
the gopura, their feet strangely foreshortened and skewed to the side.
From the gopura, a second
causeway
leads to the temple, 350m long and even more
impressive than the one across the moat. The buildings partway along are libraries. In front
of the temple is the cruciform-shaped
Terrace of Honour
, framed by a naga balustrade;
apsara dances (see box, p.154) were once performed here and ceremonial processions
received by the king. Beyond the terrace, a short flight of steps leads up to the third
enclosing wall, whose western gopura is linked to a cruciform cloister and two galleries.
3
The third enclosure
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.
West gallery: south section
The battle between the rival families of cousins, the
Kauravas
(marching from the left)
and the
Pandavas
(from the right), as described in the
Mahabharata
, is in full swing in
the first section of the gallery. Fighting to the death at Mount Kurukshetra, the two
families are respectively backed by the supernatural powers of Kama, son of the sun
god Surya, and Arjuna. Along the bottom of the panel, foot soldiers march towards the
fray in the centre of the gallery; above them, generals ride in horse-drawn chariots or
AVOIDING THE CROWDS AT ANGKOR WAT
As Angkor's headline attraction, Angkor Wat is filled with crowds of tourists virtually every hour
of the day, although fortunately there's more space here to swallow up the visiting crowds
than at places like the Bayon and Ta Prohm. The
best time
to visit is early morning from
around 7-9am: after the sunrise watchers have left and before the first of the coach parties
arrives.
