Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
centuries. The majority of temples are made of sandstone, which tends to dissolve when in
prolonged contact with dampness. Bat droppings took their toll, as did sporadic pilfering
of sculptures and cut stones. At some monuments, such as Ta Prohm, the jungle had
stealthily waged an all-out invasion, and plant life could only be removed at great risk to
the structures it now supported in its web of roots.
Initial attempts to clear Angkor under the aegis of the EFEO were fraught with technic-
al difficulties and theoretical disputes. On a technical front, the jungle tended to grow
back as soon as it was cleared; on a theoretical front, scholars debated the extent to which
temples should be restored and whether later additions, such as Buddha images in Hindu
temples, should be removed.
It was not until the 1920s that a solution was found, known as anastylosis. This was the
method the Dutch had used to restore Borobudur in Java. Put simply, it was a way of re-
constructing monuments using the original materials and in keeping with the original form
of the structure. New materials were permitted only where the originals could not be
found, and were to be used discreetly. An example of this method can be seen on the
causeway leading to the entrance of Angkor Wat, as the right-hand side was originally re-
stored by the French.
The first major restoration job was carried out on Banteay Srei in 1930. It was deemed
such a success that many more extensive restoration projects were undertaken elsewhere
around Angkor, culminating in the massive Angkor Wat restoration in the 1960s. Large
cranes and earth-moving machines were brought in, and the operation was backed by a
veritable army of surveying equipment.
The Khmer Rouge victory and Cambodia's subsequent slide into an intractable civil
war resulted in far less damage to Angkor than many had assumed, as EFEO and Ministry
of Culture teams had removed many of the statues from the temple sites for protection.
Nevertheless, turmoil in Cambodia resulted in a long interruption of restoration work, al-
lowing the jungle to resume its assault on the monuments. The illegal trade of
objets d'art
on the world art market has also been a major threat to Angkor, although it is the more re-
mote sites that have been targeted recently. Angkor has been under the jurisdiction of the
UN Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) since 1992 as a World
Heritage Site, and international and local efforts continue to preserve and reconstruct the
monuments. In a sign of real progress, Angkor was removed from Unesco's endangered
list in 2003.
