Tomb Raider!

Thin white sun-rays were such a relief after the teasing bout of tropical rain. The bright green leaves were still full of water and there were huge water droplets dripping from leaf ends. It was mostly bright green or damp brown – huge tree trunks with a dense canopy of leafy branches. The sunlight was streaming in through every inch of void between the leaves, somewhat illuminating the sandstone path ahead of me. The path was almost overrun by very intimidating roots. They were huge, larger than the branches and looked like devilish serpents straight out of fantasy! It took me quite a while to negotiate the undulations and reach a small hillock in the middle of the dense rain forest. On top of it were several unnaturally large heads made of stone which looked very familiar. I learnt later that there were over 200 heads smiling peacefully and watching my every move. It was the ruins of an ancient civilization. Relics of a 12th century Hindu Empire built according to the whims of King Suryavarman II. The heads surrounding me were those of Vishnu of whom the King was considered to be an incarnation.

The temple complexes were huge, extravagantly built and intricately carved. What was most fascinating were the tree roots wound around the stone walls and doorways, pushing them out of place over the centuries. It was as if the forest was trying to reclaim what was rightfully her’s. The scene was straight out of an Indiana Jones movie. I was half expecting natives in war paint swinging through the trees and shooting poisoned arrows at me!!
Exploring the numerous shrines and dark chambers I discovered an abrupt clearing in the forest and the sight was just stunning. A huge temple complex, reflecting the red glow of the setting sun. Surrounded by a moat stood the most magnificent of Cambodia’s ancient temples – the Angkor Wat. It is an example of architectural and artistic perfection and has an aura around it matched only by the temples at Machu Picchu. The moat is crossed by a 200 metre-long and 12 metre-wide sandstone-paved causeway, lined with lions along its sides.
Entering the lower enclosure I was greeted by galleries of bas-relief. They represent “legendary and historic scenes for the enlightenment of the faithful.” Some of the scenes were pretty familiar : like the Battle of Kurukshetra, "The Churning of the Sea of Milk" and The Battle of Lanka. Others were not very discernible. The upper level was awe-inspiring! The gallery, named “the Thousand Buddhas”, dates from the Middle Period, when the prestige of Angkor Vat spread across Buddhist Asia. Over the course of time the faithful erected here a great number of statues of the Buddha in stone, wood or metal. There were rows and rows of statues neatly aligned and exquisitely carved. It was a great feat of faith and devotion.
Originally the principal sanctuary of Angkor Vat's uppermost terrace was open to the four cardinal points, and probably sheltered a statue of Vishnu, the supreme god of the temple. Later, when Angkor Vat became a center of Buddhist pilgrimage, the four entranceways into the central sanctuary were filled in with sandstone blocks; each of the newly constituted walls was then sculpted with a deep relief of the standing Buddha. In 1908 archaeologists opened the southern entranceway. In the place of any original Vishnu statue, they found multiple statue and pedestal fragments, as well as a sarcophagus. Further research carried out in the well of the central sanctuary in the 1930s revealed, at a depth of 23 meters, the temple's original foundation deposits: two circular gold leaves embedded in a laterite block! Very mysterious indeed!
Here, at the top of the most remarkable temple in Cambodia, I could see the sun setting behind a silhouette of tall trees. Who needs to go to Peru or Mexico, when we’ve got ancient wonders of equal stature in our own continent! Angkor Wat was absolutely mesmerizing but the jungle ruins were more alluring in a mysterious way. The moon was up now, reflecting in the wide moat surrounding me…It was time to go home…

For those who are curious to know – I have never been to Cambodia or anywhere near it but plan to go there as soon as my worthless graduation term ends!