Temples in Cambodia

 Did you know that Siem Reap Cambodia has 91 temples. Angkor Wat is the largest Temple in the world. The Buddhist and Hindu temples represent places of worship. Most were built from the 9th to 14th century. I loved exploring these wonderful works of art.

Angkor Wat is also the largest religious monument on earth. It took 5 million tons of sandstone to build and they had to use 6000 elephants to transport the stone from 50 km away. It is almost 900 years old but has been refurbished. The entrance to the temple is very large and the first thing you see are thousands of detailed hand done carvings. At the top of the temple you could see the whole property of Angkor Wat.

After the Angkor Wat we went to the Bayon Temple. It was fascinating because there are 54 pillars. Each pillar has  4 faces, looking north, south, east and west. The Bayon Temple is very open and symmetrical. It has beams holding up the walls due to years of erosion. The temple is in the shape of a pyramid and there are many levels where you could walk around. 

The next temple we explored was the Ta Prohm. It is popular because the movie Tomb Raider was filmed here. What caught my attention were the trees and its large roots that broke though the temple stones. 

 

I have learned a lot while exploring the many temples in Cambodia. This has compelled  me to continue my understanding about the history of Cambodian Temples.