Will Ottley explores the Buddhist and Hindu temples of Angkor in Cambodia, and discovers that ancient civilisations' wisdom lives on in the treasure trove of temples and monuments they left behind.
Walking among the ancient ruins of Angkor Wat — the largest religious monument in the world — one is struck by the overriding presence of the feminine. Images of Devata (goddesses) and playful Apsara (nymphs) are carved into every wall of this vast complex. These dancing celestial beings, graceful and serene, seem to move even in stone, their expressions caught in an eternal moment between worlds.
Angkor was the capital of the Khmer Empire, which flourished from approximately the 9th to the 15th centuries. At its height, Angkor was one of the largest pre-industrial cities in the world. Today, the temple complex stretches across more than 400 square kilometres, a testament to the ambition and spiritual vision of the Khmer kings who built it.
Angkor Wat
Angkor Wat was originally constructed as a Hindu temple dedicated to Vishnu, before gradually transforming into a Buddhist temple. Its five distinctive towers, rising like lotus buds, are visible from miles away and represent Mount Meru, the home of the gods in Hindu cosmology.
The temple's bas-reliefs stretch for nearly half a kilometre along the inner walls of the outer gallery, depicting scenes from Hindu mythology and the reign of the Khmer kings. The detail is staggering — hundreds of figures captured in narrative tableaux, each telling a story of devotion, conquest, and cosmic order.
Bayon and the Smiling Faces
Perhaps the most mysterious of all the Angkor temples is the Bayon, built at the centre of the city of Angkor Thom. Its 54 towers are adorned with 216 giant stone faces — serene, enigmatic, and watching from every angle. Are they the face of a Bodhisattva, a god-king, or something beyond naming? Angkor does not offer easy answers, only a deep sense of something vast and ancient pressing against the edges of the present moment.
The Apsara
Throughout the temples, the Apsara — celestial nymphs of Hindu and Buddhist mythology — appear in their thousands. Carved with extraordinary precision, each dancer is uniquely posed, her jewellery and headdress distinct, her smile particular to her alone. The Khmer craftsmen who created them clearly understood something of grace that transcends the merely decorative.
The Apsara dance tradition, nearly lost during the Khmer Rouge era, has been painstakingly revived by Cambodian artists and is now recognised by UNESCO as an Intangible Cultural Heritage. To see a live performance is to witness one of the world's most refined artistic traditions — each movement an echo of those carved figures, each gesture a language older than words.
Getting There
The nearest airport to Angkor is Siem Reap International Airport, with direct connections from Bangkok, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Ho Chi Minh City. The temples are best explored over two to three days. A sunrise visit to Angkor Wat, when the towers are reflected in the moat and the light is at its most ethereal, is not to be missed.
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