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Presenting the past
Ongoing work by the Global Heritage
Fund (GHF) has uncovered the root
cause of Banteay Chhmar’s fragility:
terrible foundation work. “The
foundations vary randomly from just a
bed of sand in some areas to a layer of
laterite [a type of soil] to the occasional
sandstone block,” a 2011 GHF paper
concluded. “If this lack of foundations
is indeed carried throughout the
complex, the extent of the collapse is
perhaps not so surprising.”
The surrounding jungle also played a
part in Banteay Chhmar’s destruction.
Cracks between the stone slabs were
invaded by tree roots and creepers; as
the trees grew, the expanding roots
pushed the blocks apart and ultimately
brought the walls down. Human greed,
though, inflicted greater damage
within a shorter span. As we scramble
over the western side of Banteay
Chhmar’s inner wall, we pass one of
the temple’s two surviving bas-reliefs
of the
bodhisattva
Avalokitesvara,
the enlightened being who emanates
compassion for humanity.
Avalokitesvara was revered
throughout the Khmer Empire; devout
Buddhists rendered the image of this
great aspirant to Buddha-hood with
eleven heads and a thousand arms to
symbolize his receptiveness to the cries
of the unredeemed and his willingness
to help the needy. An ugly hole in the
southwestern wall, jack-hammered
away in 1998 by suspected rogue
Cambodian Army troops, testifies to
the detrimental effect of avarice on
Cambodia’s priceless cultural heritage.
The authorities nabbed some of the
thieves responsible and recovered part
of the pilfered wall in a covered truck
bound for Thailand. This shipment
was taken to the National Museum
in PhnomPenh for safekeeping but a
larger portion, containing two other
reliefs of Avalokitesvara, simply
vanished into the ether.
Such threats are being held at
bay, at least for the moment. Since
undertaking massive restoration
work in 2008, US-based NGOGlobal
Heritage Fund’s (GHF) archaeologists
and their Khmer counterparts have
managed to prevent further looting,
reconstruct large sections of the temple
and coordinate with surrounding
towns to implement a community-
based tourism program.
After touring the
temple, Banteay
Chhmar visitors
can check out the
area’s other top sites
such as Soieries du
Mekong silk factory,
farther-flung ruins
like Banteay Top and
the Pol Pot Baray
