Baphuon Temple, Angkor Thom, Cambodia

16th August, 2012 (our 37th wedding anniversary).

Emerging from the overwhelming size and magnificence of the Bayon, we were momentarily diverted by the sight of more beautiful elephants, before our guide whisked us off to the next temple, the Baphuon.

 

No standing around admiring elephants for us - our guide shepherded us along to our next temple, the Baphuon, only about 200 metres northwest of the Bayon.

This temple has a wonderful modern-day story.

 

The Baphuon is a three-tiered temple mountain built in the mid-11th century and dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva. It measures 120m by 100m at its base and stands 34m tall without its tower, which would have made it roughly 50m tall.

 

Pen and watercolour reconstruction of what the temple may have looked in the 11th century by Lucien Fournereau in 1889.  Picture from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baphuon

 

In the late 15th century, the Baphuon was converted to a Buddhist temple.

 

As part of this 15th century reconstruction, a 9m tall by 70m long statue of a reclining Buddha was built on the west side's second level, which probably required the demolition of the 8m tower above, thus explaining its current absence. The temple was built on land filled with sand, and due to its immense size the site was unstable throughout its history. Large portions had probably already collapsed by the time the Buddha was added.

I didn’t even bother to photograph the reclining Buddha when it was pointed out to me, as I couldn’t see it.  When I found out how important it was to the current plan of the temple, I decided to add this picture from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baphuon

Can you see the reclining Buddha?

The Baphuon was once among the finest of the great monuments of Angkor, but by the 1950s it was on the brink of collapse.

A French-led team of archaeologists decided that the only way to save the temple was to take it apart and reassemble it.  They dismantled the monument, laying all the stone blocks in the surrounding jungle. Each piece was painted with a number, matching an entry on the master plan, so the tower could be rebuilt.

But work was disrupted by the civil war and the records needed to reconstruct it were destroyed by the Khmer Rouge.  The reconstruction was only restarted in 1995.

Pascal Royere, who has been overseeing the project, said the early years had been the hardest.

"We were facing a three-dimensional puzzle, a 300,000-piece puzzle to which we had lost the picture. And that was the main difficulty of this project.  There is no mortar that fills the cracks which means that each stone has its own place. You will not find two blocks that have the same dimensions." 

In 2011, after 51 years, the archaeologists finished the restoration of the temple.  It was opened at a ceremony attended by Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni and French Prime Minister Francois Fillon.

 

However, quite a few pieces - more than 10,000 - are left over, and dot the forest floor surrounding the temple.

 

Notwithstanding the spare 10,000 pieces, the temple is now solid enough for Angkor’s two million tourists a year to climb.

 

There goes Pat, prudently holding onto the railing with both hands.

 

It looks a long way up, and that’s only to the first level!

 

View from the top.  Yes, I’ll be careful, it’s a long way down.

From the top, you can see two pools associated with the temple, and some of the 10,000 spare stone blocks.

 

Looking down from the top gave me the feeling that I was on another planet.

 

An interesting feature of Baphuon are the bas-reliefs which are scenes carved in small squares, realistic depictions of daily life and forest scenes.

Amongst the leftovers, are some blocks which look as though they have come from these bas-reliefs.  I wonder if anyone will ever try to put these together again?

 

After we had all come down, one of the girls on our tour discovered that she had left her day pass at the top of the temple in a guide book she had put down.  If you are caught in the complex without a ticket, you are fined $100.

Our guide kindly went up the many steps to look for it, leaving us a welcome respite sitting in the shade under some trees, on some of the 10,000 leftover blocks.  He didn’t find the ticket, but she was able to buy another one later in the day.

Meanwhile, we were able to recharge our very depleted batteries, ready for our next adventure (and it’s not even lunch time yet!)