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Bayon
head,
Angkor Thom
"Head at Bayon Temple, Angkor Thom, Cambodia" ©2001 photo Elroy Christenson
Bayon Temple is a complex created by the Khmer king,
Jayavarman VII, about 1200 in the center of the fortified
city of Angkor Thom. Jayavarman converted to Buddhism and
based the design on the cosmic mountain of Mount Meru. The
faces are probably not intended as portraits of the king but
rather of Buddha. The mountain of 140 feet high has several
towers with four gigantic faces in primary directions. There
are reliefs that go around the complex on the lower level
illustrating the conquests of the the king. Although many
are beautifully sculpted about half are incomplete or
unfinished. French explorers Francis Garnier, Doudart de
Lagree along with the artist Louis Delaporte rediscovered
and published drawings of the root and tree choked ruins
that they helped to clear for study in 1866.
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