Cambodia – Banteay Srei

Banteay Srei, about fifteen miles northeast of the main Angkor Wat and Angkor Tom complexes, is small compared to those better-known temples. Small but really sweet. And perhaps this is why it came to be called “Banteay Srei,” which means “Ladies’ Citadel.” Some say this is because the structures, doorways, and so on, are small, as if they were built for women. Others say the name came from the fact that the stone was so delicately carved and in such detail that only a woman could have done it. (Ladies, watch out for those second sort of men…)

Banteay Srei was built in 967AD and used into the fifteenth century. Its original name (in Sanskrit) was (er, sounds like…) Shiri Tre Bhuvan Mahes Vara, which means “Sacred Home of the Great Lord of the World.” The Great Lord in question is Shiva.

The temple later fell into disuse and was then abandoned and lost, to be rediscovered by the French but not until 1914.

The temple was built mostly of red sandstone, which is amenable to detailed carving and strong enough to endure a long time. And indeed the carvings are still after all these centuries so breathtaking that I’ve had a hard time narrowing down the photos to include here.

       

 

Remember, these carvings are well over a thousand years old!

 

Here’s a detail of the above pediment.

 

  

 

Welcome to Cambodia

Dear friends and followers,

After something like six days of travel and six weeks of blogging, we now leave Myanmar for the wonders of Cambodia. There will be more ruins, many of them absolutely stunning, more friendly people, more (yes!) silk weaving, and more great food.

The first several posts will cover the area in and near Angkor Wat. Here, for your reference is a map from the Wikimedia Commons. The first place Dan and I visited is the ancient temple of Banteay Srei, which is not actually on this map, but instead is about fifteen miles northeast beyond Ta Som, off the top righthand corner. The rest of the places will be on the map.