CAMBODIA ~Ankor Wat-UNESCO~

Received a great booklet full wit gorgeous postcards from Angkor Wat. They where send from Malaysia but bought in Cambodia during a vacation there... The outside of the package was also with wonderful stamps!!



Apsara, or heavenly nymphs, decorate Angkor Wat's main temple complex.





Kuk Ta Reach
Kuk Ta Reach, the "Sanctuary of the Royal Ancestor" is the traditional name of the series of porticos in this colonnade leading into the interior of Angkor Vat. Of the many divinities and spirits worshipped here, 'Ta Reach' is by far the most important. Embodied in a colossal four-armed statue worshipped in the portico to the south of the main entrance, Ta Reach's protective powers are known throughout the Angkor region. Over the past decades, local caretakers have restored parts of the Ta Reach statue with cement. In 2003, the cement replica head was replaced by the original that had been stored for safekeeping at the National Museum of Cambodia.



Angkor Wat (Angkor temple) is the central feature of this UNESCO World Heritage Site containing the magnificent remains of the Khmer civilization. Angkor Wat's rising series of five towers culminates in an impressive central tower that symbolizes mythical Mount Meru. Thousands of feet of wall space are covered with intricate carving depicting scenes from Hindu mythology.



Stone temples representing the five peaks of Mount Meru at Angkor Wat, built in the 11th century by Suryavarman the 2nd - Cambodia



The Temple of Banteay Srei at Angkor Wat, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Siem Reap, Cambodia



Angkor Thom is the inner royal city, built by the end of the 12th century during the reign of King Jayavarman VII, shortly after Angkor had been conquered and burnt down by the Chams. This inner royal city was built as a quadrangle and bordered by a 100-metres-wide moat and an 8-metres-high wall. Angkor Thom is geometrically oriented: it covers an area which is an exact quadrangle; the sides of this quadrangle run exactly in North-South and East-West direction. A gate opens exactly in the middle of each wall, connecting, through a bridge over the moat, the royal city with the outside.



One of the must see temples in the Ankor Complex is Ta Prohm. Most would remember this temple monastery because of its association to the 'Lara Croft Movie' by Angelina Jolie, and others because of the lasting impression it makes to the visitors. They say that ta Prohm was one of those very few temples chosen by the French explorers that was left in its 'natural state', as an example of how most of Ankor looked on its discovery in the early 19th century.
Ta Prohm is a great ruin living among ancient trees, and is one temple you cannot miss when visiting the Ankor Complex.



Monks outside of the World's Largest Temple Angkor Wat Siem Reap Cambodia



Apsara - female divinity figure wall reliefs inside the main temple of Angkor Wat at Siem Reap, Cambodia


Angkor, the library of the Preah Khan temple

Huge smiling stone carved faces at the Bayon at the Angkor Wat site in Cambodia