Khmer | Tiger Riding for Beginners

This is the fourth and final installment of pictures from my October 2012 visit to Angkor in Cambodia.

These are all from the Bayon, a large temple in Angkor Thom. Unlike many of the sites that were originally Hindu and were later modified to meet the needs of Buddhist successors, this was built as a Mahayana temple — though later Hindu and Theravada Buddhist leaders made changes.

The Bayon is sometimes called the temple of a thousand faces. The reason will be clear.

The site is circled by the road through Angkor Thom.

A three-tiered bas relief depicts battles with the Champa.

Northside facade

Wall carving

Janus-faced spire

One can see what looks like old foundations that were built over.

more faces

Water standing in the lower level of the temple.

Another face, one can see the size of the blocks from which the sculptures were formed.

Looking down at the substructure from above

The south facade

More bas relief.

This is the third installment of photos from Angkor that I took in October 2012. Unlike the previous two installments, each of which included photos from multiple sites, all of these photos come from the Angkor Wat. (While most people think of the entirety of the ancient city as Angkor Wat, in reality Angkor Wat is just a portion (granted a big and important portion) of what was the city of Angkor. “Wat” means temple, and this was the main (though by no means the only) temple in the ancient Khmeri capital.