The Demons of Angkor Thom
Cambodia: Angkor Thom
Angkor is composed of many cities built by Khmer kings from 800 AD to 1300 AD. Angkor Thom is one of the largest and was built in the late 12th century.
The water here is the moat surrounding the city. The statues line the bridge across the moat which leads to the famous “S” gate. I’ll show that tomorrow. The bridge has statues on both sides. The ones you see here are asuras or demons. The other side has a line of statues representing gods.
Each side carries a Naga or dragon. A lot of the Naga is missing but you can see it here between the second and third demon. It serves as a bannister, or seems to. The heads of many statues have been stolen. You can see the lighter heads. Those are the replacements of the originals. Can’t you imagine one of these ancient heads in some ultra wealthy but unscrupulous person’s home? What else would a person steal one of these heads for but to sell it? They even steal the replacement heads!
The bridge is unique. Two long lines of large statues leading to a magnificent gate graced by four huge faces. It is reminiscent of Aztec culture, but these are less ‘busy’ and easier to discern.
I like the intense colors here. They say “Tropics” to me. I’ve always loved the idea of the tropics. Too bad I’m afraid of snakes and such. I’ll just love it at a distance.