Cambodia - Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Northern Thailand - page 453

About 200m northwest of the Bayon, the Baphuon is a pyramidal representation of myth-
ical Mt Meru that marked the centre of the city that existed before the construction of
Angkor Thom. Restoration efforts were disrupted by the Cambodian civil war and all re-
cords were destroyed during the Khmer Rouge years, leaving French experts with the
world's largest jigsaw puzzle. The temple was grandly reopened in 2008 but the central
structure is still closed to visitors. On the western side, the retaining wall of the second
level was fashioned - apparently in the 15th or 16th century - into a reclining Buddha
60m in length.

HISTORIC SITE

Terrace of the Elephants
MAP
The 350m-long Terrace of the Elephants - decorated with parading elephants towards
both ends - was used as a giant viewing stand for public ceremonies and served as a base
for the king's grand audience hall. As you stand here, try to imagine the pomp and
grandeur of the Khmer empire at its height, with infantry, cavalry, horse-drawn chariots
and, of course, elephants parading across the Central Sq in a colourful procession, pen-
nants and standards aloft. Looking on is the god-king, crowned with a gold diadem,
shaded by multi-tiered parasols and attended by mandarins and handmaidens.

Terrace of the Leper King
MAP
The Terrace of the Leper King, just north of the Terrace of the Elephants, is a 7m-high
platform. On top of the platform stands a nude, though sexless, statue, another of
Angkor's mysteries. Legend has it that at least two of the Angkor kings had leprosy, and
this statue may represent one of them. More likely it is Yama, the god of death, and that
the Terrace of the Leper King housed the royal crematorium.
Its front retaining walls are decorated with at least five tiers of meticulously exe-cuted
carvings of seated apsaras (celestial nymphs), kings with short double-edged swords and
princesses, the latter adorned with beautiful rows of pearls. At the base on the southern
side, there is narrow access to a hidden terrace that was covered up when the outer struc-
ture was built. The figures, including nagas (mythical serpent-beings), look as fresh as if
they had been carved yesterday.

HISTORIC SITE

TOP OF CHAPTER