In an era where most structures (like most places in the ancient and medieval world) were measured in terms of a single story, the scope of Bayon Wat must have been stunning to those who came here.
"Brooding" is not a term I use often. But the ruins here definitely brooded over one as you made your way through them.
Access to them ruins is surprisingly (unless the West, where we seem to be kept out of anything that would be remotely dangerous).
I can imagine these passageways, roofed and filled with people.
Bayon Wat - like Angkor Wat that we will visit soon - is still considered an active place of worship.
Even from a distance, it is impressive.
It's impressive from every angle, even in its worn state of deterioration. Am I correct that they built those massive stone piles? What a feat. Another architectural wonder; one nobody talks about.
ReplyDeleteLeigh - They did in fact build them, all of them. The social structure that made them is perhaps not clear to us (forced labour, etc.) but they are - in that sense - 100% crafted by hand.
DeleteIn our modern technological world, such things do not make the impression they should on us.
That's a LOT of stone TB, one wonders how far away the quarries were and how that stone was moved.
ReplyDeleteNylon12 - It is a lot of stone, and there are multiple temples at Angkor. The current belief is that they used materials from quarries about 25 miles away and shipped them via canals to the site. The canals have since disappeared.
DeleteI fight the part of me that is in awe of what they accomplished way back them with the knowledge of other cultures like the Incas, Egyptians and Chinese, all of whom did awe inspiring things even by today's standard.
ReplyDeleteEd, the more one studies pre-technological (thinking pre-Industrial Age here) societies, the more impressive such things become, especially in our age of mass produced (and more and more, non-human produced) materials.
DeleteBrooding seems a good word, TB. Fascinating and large sculptures!
ReplyDeleteBecki - There was a weighty sense at Angkor overall, something I cannot fully explain. Not ominous, just...presence.
Delete