Cambodia Galleries

Cambodia BEST : Angkor is a name conventionally applied to the region of Cambodia serving as the seat of the Khmer empire that flourished from approximately the 9th century to the 15th century A.D. (The word "Angkor" itself is derived from the Sanskrit "nagara," meaning "city.") More precisely, the Angkorian period may be defined as the period from 802 A.D., when the Khmer Hindu monarch Jayavarman II declared himself the "universal monarch" and "god-king" of Cambodia, until 1431 A.D., when Thai invaders sacked the Khmer capital, causing its population to migrate south to the area of Phnom Penh. The ruins of Angkor are located amid forests and farmland to the north of the Great Lake (Tonle Sap) and south of the Kulen Hills, near modern day Siem Reap, and are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The temples of the Angkor area number over one thousand, ranging in scale from nondescript piles of brick rubble scattered through rice fields to the magnificent Angkor Wat, said to be the world's largest single religious monument. Many of the temples at Angkor have been restored, and together they comprise the most significant site of Khmer architecture. Visitor numbers approach one million annually. In 2007 an international team of researchers using satellite photographs and other modern techniques concluded that Angkor had been the largest preindustrial city in the world with an urban sprawl of 1,150 square miles. The closest rival to Angkor, the Mayan city of Tikal in Guatemala, was roughly 50 square miles in total size. source: Wikipedia

Cambodia BEST

Angkor is a name conventionally applied to the region of Cambodia serv ...

Updated: Jan 25, 2009 8:22am PST

Angkor Wat : Angkor Wat is a temple at Angkor, Cambodia, built for King Suryavarman II in the early 12th century as his state temple and capital city. Angkor Wat is the largest temple in the world. Also the best-preserved temple at the site, it is the only one to have remained a significant religious centre since its foundation—first Hindu, dedicated to Vishnu, then Buddhist. The temple is the epitome of the high classical style of Khmer architecture. It has become a symbol of Cambodia, appearing on its national flag, and it is the country's prime attraction for visitors.

Angkor Wat

Angkor Wat is a temple at Angkor, Cambodia, built for King Suryavarman ...

Updated: Jan 25, 2009 8:20am PST

Banyon Wat : The Bayon is a well-known and richly decorated Khmer temple at Angkor in Cambodia. Built in the late 12th century or early 13th century as the official state temple of the Mahayana Buddhist King Jayavarman VII, the Bayon stands at the centre of Jayavarman's capital, Angkor Thom. Following Jayavarman's death, it was modified and augmented by later Hindu and Theravada Buddhist kings in accordance with their own religious preferences. The Bayon's most distinctive feature is the multitude of serene and massive stone faces on the many towers which jut out from the upper terrace and cluster around its central peak.[3] The temple is known also for two impressive sets of bas-reliefs, which present an unusual combination of mythological, historical, and mundane scenes. The main current conservatory body, the JSA, has described the temple as "the most striking expression of the 'baroque' style" of Khmer architecture, as contrasted with the 'classical' style of Angkor Wat. (source: Wikipedia)

Banyon Wat

The Bayon is a well-known and richly decorated Khmer temple at Angkor ...

Updated: Jan 07, 2008 2:43am PST

Ta Prohm : Ta Prohm is the modern name of a temple at Angkor, Cambodia, built in the Bayon style largely in the late 12th. It was founded by the Khmer King Jayavarman VII as a Mahayana Buddhist monastery and university. Unlike most Angkorian temples, Ta Prohm has been left in much the same condition in which it was found: the photogenic and atmospheric combination of trees growing out of the ruins and the jungle surroundings have made it one of Angkor's most popular temples with visitors.

Ta Prohm

Ta Prohm is the modern name of a temple at Angkor, Cambodia, built in ...

Updated: Jan 25, 2009 8:28am PST

Phnom Bakheng Wat : Phnom Bakheng at Angkor, Cambodia, is a Hindu temple in the form of a temple mountain. Dedicated to Shiva, it was built at the end of the 9th century, during the reign of King Yasovarman (889-910 A.D.). Located atop a hill, it is nowadays a popular tourist spot for sunset views of the much bigger temple Angkor Wat, which lies amid the jungle about 1.5 km to the southeast. The large number of visitors makes Phnom Bakheng one of the most threatened monuments of Angkor. Constructed more than two centuries before Angkor Wat, Phnom Bakheng was in its day the principal temple of the Angkor region, historians believe. It was the architectural centerpiece of a new capital, Yasodharapura, that Yasovarman built when he moved the court from the capital Hariharalaya in the Roluos area located to the southeast.

Phnom Bakheng Wat

Phnom Bakheng at Angkor, Cambodia, is a Hindu temple in the form of a ...

Updated: Jan 07, 2008 7:28am PST

Floating Villages : Cambodia’s Tonle Sap (Great Lake) is the largest freshwater floodplain lake in the world, increasing and decreasing in size annually from 3000 sq. km at the peak of the dry season in May to 12,000 sq. km in the wet season in October, and varying in depth from 1m to 14m over the same period. This annual flood cycle creates an incredibly productive environment for both wildlife and people. The seasonally inundated forest and scrub around the lake has been recognized since 1994 as the last breeding stronghold in Southeast Asia for a number of globally threatened large waterbirds, particularly pelicans, storks and ibis. Since early 2000, WCS has worked with the Cambodian Government to establish conservation activities in Prek Toal, one of three Core Areas of the Tonle Sap Biosphere Reserve. Three-and-a-half million people live on the floodplain around the Tonle Sap and there are 170 floating villages on the lake itself. Fishing is the dominant activity of all the villagers and over 70% of the protein consumed throughout Cambodia is estimated to come from fish from the Tonle Sap. The Tonle Sap Biosphere Reserve was designated to conserve the wildlife, cultural practices and ecological functions of the lake. source: http://www.wcs.org/international/Asia/Cambodia/Tonle_Sap

Floating Villages

Cambodia’s Tonle Sap (Great Lake) is the largest freshwater floodpla ...

Updated: Jan 07, 2008 5:10am PST

Snapshots "Trip Pics" from Cambodia : Memory shots (not my favorites)

Snapshots "Trip Pics" from Cambodia

Memory shots (not my favorites)

Updated: Jan 07, 2008 7:47am PST