59. Bayon - 2

The temple of many faces
The giant stone faces of Bayon have become one of the most recognizable images connected to classic Khmer art and architecture. There are 37 standing towers and most have four carved faces oriented toward the cardinal points.

Above: Statue
Close-up of a statue at the front entrance.

Above: Buddha
This statue of Buddha is the Happy Home Buddha - a seated figure with an umbrella behind the back. The flowers are real as is some of the fruit put their by devotees. The incense had been lit.

Above: Linga
The linga or lingum is a religious phallic symbol symbolic of the Hindu god Shiva and of creative power. As a religious symbol, the function of the linga is mainly that of worship and ritual. In the Khmer empire, certain lingas were erected as symbols of the king himself and were housed in royal temples in order to express the king's consubstantiality with Shiva. The linga is implanted in a flat square base called a yoni, symbolic of the womb. It was most likely added to the temple during the reign of Jayavarman VIII in the mid-13th century when the Khmer empire reverted to Hinduism and Bayon was altered accordingly.

Above: Carving detail
This was in the east gallery. It was difficult to get a decent photo looking up through the gap from where I was standing.

Above: Carving detail
If you look closely, you can see the row of lotus flowers which is the third section down from the top.

Above: Faces of Avalokiteshvara
There are more than 200 carved faces at Bayon and they evoke a feeling of peace as you look at these sightless eyes.

Above: Jayavaram VII
King Jayavaram VII bears a strong resemblance to the face of Avalokiteshvara, as can be seen from the portrait above which is in the Musée Guimet in Paris. Jayavarman stood squarely in the tradition of the Khmer monarchs in thinking of himself as a "devaraja" (god-king), the notable difference being that while his predecessors were Hindus and regarded themselves as consubstantial with Shiva and his symbol the lingam, Jayavarman as a Buddhist identified himself with Buddha and the bodhisattva.

Above: Smiles of Avalokiteshvara
The faces all have this enigmatic smile which make you just want to stare at them and wonder what they are thinking.

Above: Avalokiteshvara
Detail of one of the huge faces of Bayon towers.

Above: Four faced tower
The easily recogniseable tower of Bayon.

Above: The other side

Above: Elephants at Bayon
When I was leaving the temple, there were elephants in the grounds and I'd love to have had a ride on one but the temperature by this stage was very hot and I knew I still had a lot of ground to cover. But I did stop long enough to take a photo.

 

 

Above: 200 Riel banknote
One of the towers of the temple is depicted on the 200 Riel banknote.

Above: Bayon temple plan