? Stucco Lintel

SEE APSARA DANCE HERE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUeapoAgelw

THE BAYON: SINISTER SMILE


12th - 13th century


In 1177, a surprise attack by the Chams resulted in the sacking of Angkor. The throne was regained in 1181 by King Jayavarman VII, a socially minded king and a prolific builder. He converted his people to Buddhism and centred his kingdom on the Bayon, in the middle of Angkor Thom. He built the temples of Prah Kahn, dedicated to his father, and Ta Prohm, dedicated to his mother, as well as numerous other temples, hospitals, roads and bridges. Following a period of decadence, Angkor exhausted itself and fell into decline.

Towards the end of the 12th century, the Buddhist king Jayavarman VII, in order to assure perpetuity to the symbolic cult of the Devaraja, instituted the similar cult of the Buddha-king at the Bayon - the central temple of Angkor Thom - manifest in the portrait statue that was found broken at the bottom of the well (and which has now been restored). This form of adaptation, however, was not to last, and from the 13th century, following a return to Shivaïsm, the Buddhism of the Large Vehicle - of the Sanskrit language - was replaced by that of the Small Vehicle - of the Pali language - to which Cambodia has remained faithful.

In Cambodia, Avalokitesvara or Lokesvara is the spiritual son of the transcending Dhyani-Buddha Amitabha - the image of whom he carries on his chignon. He personifies, as Paul Mus has explained "the notion of providence, unknown to primitive Buddhism". He is the "Lord of the World" from whom all gods emanate, himself the god of morality and graciousness - a masculine replica of Kouan-Yin, the other dominant figure in far eastern Buddhism. The face often has a third eye on the forehead and the heads can be multiple and in tiers. In the living architecture of the towers of the Bayon, by the turning of his four faces to the four cardinal points, he is omnipresent.

angkor from sunset on phnom bakheng, a super crowded spot, with death defying stairs

some real magic goose-bumps here!

full moon rise over angkor wat

after photoshop post-processing


Banteay Srei - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"The south library's pediments both feature Shiva: to the east Ravana shakes(?the multiple arms) Mount Kailash, with Shiva on the summit"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banteay_Srei

??Banteay Srei - Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia

"On the west pediment is Krishna killing
his uncle Kamsa. Glaize wrote that the four library pediments, "representing the first
appearance of tympanums with scenes, are works of the highest order. Superior in composition to any
which followed, they show true craftsmanship in their modelling in a skilful blend of
stylisation and realism."

BANTEAY SREI

bantey samre

Siesta Time, for the temple keeper/cleaners for the APSARA - APSARA Authority
Authority for the Protection and Management of Angkor and the Region of Siem Reap ...

Short sees Cambodians and Vietnamese as "two incompatible peoples". Vietnam is domineering, China more benign, Cambodia "medieval". He finds a "core of truth" in the colonialist gibe that "the Vietnamese grow the rice; the Khmers watch it grow; the Laotians listen to it grow".

back at angkor wat proper, infrared exposure

this is what is inside the central tower of angkor wat!

Death and the entrance to Nirvana are portrayed with the representation of the Buddha lying on his right side, with one arm along his body and the other folded under his head., sleeping on a naga/serpent, the heads of serpant visible to right of buddha's head here

before pshop

after pshop

the devata of the bas-reliefs who stand, richly adorned and motionless, holding flowers - and the nagas, the stylisation of a multi-headed cobra, descendants of Nagaraja, the mythical ancestor of the Khmer kings, and genies of the water.