Page 44 - Experience Thailand and More

WHAT TO DO

AND SEE

Prasat Banteay Chhmar: Citadel of the Cat
National Road No. 56A, Banteay Chhmar Commune,
Thmor Puok, Banteay Meanchey
(+855) 97 516 5533

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Built by King Jayavarman VII in the 12 century as a memorial to
his late son, Prasart Banteay Chhmar, the fourth-largest Angkorian
complex, was one of the largest Buddhist monasteries of the period.
Today, under the supervision of the Banteay Chhmar Community
Based Tourism organization and the assistance of the Global
Heritage Fund and Heritage Watch, it has slowly been restored. And
with just a few thousand visitors compared to the many millions
visiting Angkor Wat, it is one of the most serene and least disturbed
idyllic Ancient Khmer settings to imagine what once might have
been. Most impressive are the two remaining Bayon-style, four-faced, eight-
armed Avalokiteshvara, Bodhisattva of Compassion, at the western gallery
Within the confines of a nine-kilometer-long moat and wall are internal wall. Rising above the ramparts are ten of the once 56 towers, half of
galleries with intricately carved bas-reliefs on stone walls depicting which had four faces. Growing in and around the ruins are massive
court and village life at that time. After these come renderings of the broadleaf trees, the ancestors of those that provided a similar welcoming
Khmer defeat of the invading Cham in battles on sea and land. shade when Angkorian culture reigned.
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