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Presenting the past
Getting to Banteay Chhmar — as with exploring the temple
itself — requires a solid commitment, and therein
lies part of its charm
Off the beaten path
No
tuk-tuk
or public transport
connects SiemReap with Banteay
Chhmar. Getting there — as with
exploring the temple itself — requires
a solid commitment, and therein lies
part of its charm. A hired van picks us
up in SiemReap early in the morning
and we’re soon speeding west down
National Highway 6 for about 100km.
At the city of Sisophon, the van
makes an abrupt turn north, heading
up the unfinished National Road 56
and kicking up clouds of dust as we
go along. All told, three hours have
passed by the time we reach the moat
encircling the temple complex.
The journey to Banteay Chhmar,
even at the height of its glory, was
never easy. The site was always out
of the way, even as the Khmer kings
built a highway system that stretched
fromPrasat Hin Phimai in the north
(in present-day Thailand) to Angkor
Wat in the south. Travelers to Banteay
Chhmar had to venture about 50km off
the nearest road; 800 years later, the
trip isn’t a whole lot easier to make.
So why build a massive temple in
such a remote place? Nobody can say
for sure. There may already have been
a thriving Buddhist community on
this site circa 800AD, long before the
Khmer King Jayavarman VII ordered
the construction of Banteay Chhmar
in the 12th century. But the presence
of images of Jayavarman’s son in the
temple’s stone-relief carvings may
point to a personal — and quite tragic —
point of origin.
Battle on the easternwall
In the pantheon of Khmer kings, King
Jayavarman VII stands as the greatest
of them all. During his 30-year reign
about eight centuries ago, he expelled
Cham invaders, put down a rebellion
and initiated an ambitious building
program that gave the world Bayon, Ta
Prohm, Preah Khan and Angkor Thom,
all in present-day SiemReap.
Temple guide Pon Lok
(at left) interprets
the stories etched
in stone at Banteay
Chhmar; the lives
of locals in the area
are as compelling
a backdrop as the
carvings on the walls
