Joe Louis has a staring contest
The Bayon temple was one of the coolest to visit. It felt like being transported into a game of Zelda and entering a new level on a quest to find the missing trident. The signature feature of the temple are the bas relief faces carved into the walls. It makes me wonder if the temple was meant for spiritual adoration or egotistical worship. In either case it is impressive.
The faces brought the structure to life. While the architecture of temples stirs concepts of a great historical city of the past, seeing the faces, with pronounced regional features, reminded me of the actual people that walked these grounds and residing in the buildings. These may just be ruins, but the memories of the people still out from the walls’ eyes.
See what other blogs are saying about the Bayon faces:
“The architectural scale and composition of the Bayon exude grandness in every aspects. Its elements juxtapose each other to create balance and harmony.
Over 2000 large faces carved on the 54 tower give this temple its majestic character. The faces with slightly curving lips, eyes placed in shadow by the lowered lids utter not a word and yet force you to guess much, wrote P Jennerat de Beerski in the 1920s. It is generally accepted that four faces on each of the tower are images of the bodhisattva Avalokitesvara and that they signify the omnipresence of the king. The characteristics of this faces – a broad forehead, downcast eyes, wild nostrils, thick lips that curl upwards slightly at the ends-combine to reflect the famous ‘Smile of Angkor’.”
–Tourism of Cambodia
“Disorder in the construction of the Bayon is reflected in the numerous architectural changes. It seems that after the Cham sacked Angkor in 1177, Jayavarman VII decided the Hindu deities had failed, so he switched allegiance to Mahayana Buddhism. However, he made no attempt to alter existing Hindu elements. The Bayon was caught in the middle — the foundations are Hindu, but the superstructure is Buddhist. It is estimated that the Bayon took 20 years to build. Jayavarman VII’s son and grandson reverted the use of the temple to Hindu (Shivaist) worship, with Brahmans from India gaining great influence over the Angkor court. Heads and faces on statues were destroyed and replaced with Hindu gods.”
–VeloAsia
