Temple Bakong…..blending old with the new

Once again, we are up before dawn heading to a temple. This one is further away from the center of Siem Reap than the other temples that we have visited so far.  It is a 45-minute drive and the first part of the journey is on heavily trafficked roads filled with construction, heavy equipment and a never-ending sea of scooters.  After about a mile, the tuk tuk driver stops to buy us face-mask.  I dislike wearing them because they make me feel even hotter… as if that is possible.  However, they do help with the dust and diesel fumes enveloping us as we chug along in our open carriage and so after weighing the pluses and minuses…hot versus black lung…I opt for the blue surgical mask.

Temple of Bakong

We are heading to Temple Bakong, which is one of the earliest and most distinctive of the Angkor temples.  The temple consecrated in 881, is the first in a style called “Khmer Temple –Mountain” and was the State Temple of Indravarman l at Hariharalya the capitol city at the end of the 8^th century.

It was originally a large complex – 900m X 700m that included two moats and three concentric enclosures.  What remains for us to visit is the inner enclosure, which consists of the pyramid, and the 22 regularly spaced brick towers. The pyramid has five tiers with a tower at the summit similar to the latter temples of Angkor Wat. The temple was dedicated to Shiva and all the sculptures and bas-relief carvings are Hindu, as Buddhism did not appear in Angkor until the 12^th century.

The Temple of Bakong with one of its brick towers

Maurice Glaize, a French Archeologist, painstakingly reconstructed the pyramid in the 1930’s.  Before this, the whole of the site was just scattered stones. The steps are steep and the edges of the stones, either well-worn or broken, makes getting to the top an effort for travelers of a certain age.  The long climb, which is punctuated by stops at the five tiers to catch ones breath and see if the knees and hips are still functioning properly, takes one to a summit surrounded by views of a lush tropical landscape, broken brick towers framed by palm trees  and the peaked  tile roof of the adjacent Wat Prasat Bakong.  I like this temple…it is simple and easy to appreciate.  It is not an endless series of collapsed galleries or grand courtyards but it is a very straightforward pyramid…you go up and by looking around can get the lay of the land very quickly.  The whole of the plan is self-evident, where as in the other temples constructed much later there is not a way to get a view that give one a sense of the overall layout.  In addition, I just like the view.

Wat Prasat Bakong

Another reason I like this temple is the Buddhist Monastery located on the grounds.  Wat Prasat Bakong is a 20^th century construction filled with recently restored frescoes depicting the life of Buddha from a Khmer perspective.  The paintings are charming and this small laid back Wat was fun to visit.   We encountered two young monks who wanted to talk in English and a small boy who just wanted to hang out with the tourist and followed us wherever we went.

Young Monks in Siem Reap, Cambodia

The old Abbot was holding a discussion with other monks in an open-air building that presented a great photo…with the blackboard in the background and the monks in saffron robes sitting, kneeling and standing it created great tension in the image.

Monks in class at Wat Prasat Bakong

A NGO group had recently raised money to help restore the Wat and its murals. The paintings were started in 1945 and work continued into the early 1950’s. The real significance of the paintings lies not in their greatness but in the fact that there are very few surviving temple paintings in Cambodia.

Interior of Wat Prasat Bakong

My friend Barbara and I headed back to town with a couple of other stops at minor temples along the way.  She was leaving the next day on a bus to Bangkok and heading on to Hua Hin for a little beach time, I was heading back to Phnom Penh to see the National Museum and check out the visual art scene before returning to Chaing Mai.  On the road again….