Banteay Chhmar, the Last Temple of the Angkorian Period

The temple of Banteay Chhmar lies in the commune of Banteay Chhmar (in Banteay Meanchey province) located 63km north of its provincial town, Serei Sisophon (or Svay). It is one of the last temples built during the Angkorian period of Cambodia in either the late 12th Century of early 13th Century during the time of Javayarman VII (the most famous King of Cambodia who ruled during the naval victory for which Water Festival is celebrated). Not much is known about this temple as a result of years of looting and being uprooted by trees. The temple features many of the famous "faces" of Javayarman VII at different parts of the site. They are hard to find, though. As well, many of the walls features reliefs of military excursions that are quite violent: spears poking through the bottom of ships stabbing enemies beneath the water; alligators eating enemies. The Global Heritage Fund is currently attempting to figure away to make it safer place (for the temple itself) to visit, making low-rise walkways, so as to avoid any further damage done to the temple. None of that has been done yet. Currently though, the town has labeled certain blocks of stone and are attempting to recreate some of the wall faces. It is a very slow process, but a little bit has been done.

I came up here, because I have a friend (another PCV) who lives in this commune, just 2 minutes (biking) from the temple, and he showed me around. It really is quite amazing to see the stones absolutely strewn everywhere across what used to be the temple. Some hallways are intact that we were able to crouch down through, but for the most part, the site is in absolute ruins. Everywhere you look, there are just piles and piles of stones and rocks laid out, and its hard to imagine how some of them ended up there! It is still an amazing place to visit, and I feel a little more cultured for it. The temple is similar to Angkor Thom (the famous temple of Angkor Wat), and was, apparently, more expensive, so I'm excited to see late in my service what it used to look like when I finally visit.

Here are some photos:

Talk to you soon,

Garrett