Banteay Srei Temple, Angkor, Cambodia
Tuesday, October 23 2007 @ 01:10 PM | Contributed by: Oliver | Views: 1,235
 | Banteay Srei ("Citadel of Women") is one of the temples in Angkor that fits least to the rest, mainly because or its size and also because of its distance to the main Angkor sites. You have to drive 25km there, which is further than you think given the road conditions and a maximum speed of 30km/h. But the trip is well worth the time. Not only can you see a very beautiful temple with exquisite carvings, but also in a very nice color, not to mention the insights about the live in Cambodia that you get on the road. It is highly recommended to see this temple in sunlight, since the colors of the stone will have different shades depending on the time of the day. As you will be able to see from the images below, the ones with sunlight on them are far more beautiful than the others. |
 |  |  |
| All the entrances and gates that are still standing are ornamented with quite large carvings, each with a central single object surrounded with a floar pattern. You can see a "kala", representative of Shiva (pic 1), Vishnu as a Lion-figure on top of a Demon, clawing into its chest, the only way to defeat this creature, invincible by weapons (pic2) and other religious scenes. | ||
 |  |  |
| There are two small libraries on each side of the central 3-towered sanctuary, each with small doors that force the entrant to bend down to honor the gods. | ||
 |  |  |
| Despite the fact that some of the original buildings were destryed and almost all the roofs of the outer buildings are collapsed, the original layout is easy to understand since some parts are still there. In other temples, simply a small fragment or even a pile of rubble is left over were once building could be found. | ||
 |  |  |
| At this point the evening sun came out and allowed these nice images. As you can see (and as mentioned before), the light gives this temple a speically nice touch one should not miss. The dark stone of most the other temples does not have such an impact when under sunlight. | ||
 |  |  |
| The threee towers of the central building are almost 10 meters high. Today the central building and the libraries cannot be entered. | ||
 |  |  |
| The pond around the temple and the wall give the whole structure a very cosy look, in strong comparison to the towering, vast dimensions of Angkor Wat. | ||
Please see also these articles about Angkor Temples:
Angkor Wat | Sunrise at Angkor Wat | Reliefs of Angkor Wat
Banteay Srei Temple | Preah Palilay Temple | Bayon Temple | Ta Phrom Temple
These are more articles from Cambodia:
Khmer Dance | Floating Village | Royal Palace | On the road | Hotel de la Paix
Angkor Wat | Sunrise at Angkor Wat | Reliefs of Angkor Wat
Banteay Srei Temple | Preah Palilay Temple | Bayon Temple | Ta Phrom Temple
These are more articles from Cambodia:
Khmer Dance | Floating Village | Royal Palace | On the road | Hotel de la Paix
