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Situated in the heart of the old town of Angkor
Thom, Bayon Temple was constructed by Jayavarman VII at the end
of the twelfth century. It is topped by a forty five metre high
tower. On the summit there are four sculpture faces of bhodisattava
Avalokitesvara. It is unlike most of the other temples; no walls
surround the terrain, and the style is Buddhist. In fact, the
temple was intended to evoke the form of Mt. Meru - the cosmic
mountain at the center of the world in Buddhist cosmology. There
are more than 200 large faces carved on the 54 towers.
The Silver Pagoda ( located in Phnom Penh) was
constructed in 1892 by King Norodom to house the ashes of the
royal family. The name comes from the 5,000 silver tiles each
weighing 1 kilo ,that cover the interior floor surface, though
nowadays these are protected by rugs. The formal name is the Temple
of the Emerald Buddha, or Wat Preah Keo. The Pagoda formerly a
wooden building, was rebuilt in 1962 in concrete and marble. It
is famous for its 90 kg solid gold Buddha made in 1907 and an
emerald Buddha said to be made of baccarant crystal.
Wat Banan
was built in the mid of 11th century and the end of 12th century
by the king, Ut Tak Yea Tit Tya Varman II (1050-1066) and then
was finally built by the king, Jarvarman VII (1181-1219). It is
located on the top of approximate 400-meter heighten mountain
at Kon Tey 2 commune, Ba Nan District . At the mountain’s valley,
there are the pond Ku Teuk and two main natural wells, namely:
Bit Meas and Chhung or Chhung Achey.
Ek Phnom located
in the North Battambang is an 11th century Angkorian ruin built
as a Hindu temple under Suryavarman I. The temple consists of
prasats on a platform with some carvings in pretty good condition.
Wat Ek Phnom, a modern pagoda, sits next to the ruin.
Wat Nokor also called Nokor Bachey Pagoda (Kampongcham)
is an 11th century Mahayana Buddhist shrine made of sandstone
and laterite with a large reclining Buddha and numerous alcoves
containing Buddha images. An interesting feature of Wat Nokor
is that the Angkorean structures have been incorporated amongst
modern temple buildings, which have colourful paintings lining
the walls and ceiling.
Wat Piphit
or Wat Piphitthearam is a modern wat on the outskirts of Battambang.
It houses colourful wall paintings depicting the life of Buddha,
a host of statues and half a dozen friendly monks. Nearby, a large
stupa was guarded by a disused artillery field-gun, allegedly
surrounded by landmines.
Wat Phnom
was built in 1372 by ‘Penh’ to house the four Buddha statues found
on the banks of the Mekong. Located on a man-made hill 27m high
in the middle of Phnom Penh, Wat Phnom is a revered place of worship
for all Khmers and is the namesake of the capital.
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PHNOM OUDONG - CAMBODIA |
Phnom Oudong (oudong means victorious) dates from
the early 7th century and was the old capital of Cambodia (1618
- 1866) before the capital was moved to Phnom Penh. The main attraction
in this area today is the Oudong Hill area (Phnom Oudong). It
is now the official resting place of the most sacred of Buddha's
bones possessed by Cambodia. Originally stored at the monument
in front of the railway station in Phnom Penh and later Wat Phnom,
the bone has had a new temple built top the mountain and is now
the tallest one of three temples that exist there.
Phnom Sampeau
is a hill-top temple near Battambang town and is approached by
a flight of 700 stairs. The ride to the foot of the hill was quite
an interesting one. Up at Phnom Sampeau, there is the newly built
stupa.
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