“LOST CITY”
INTRODUCTION
Sometimes I ask to myself that how wonderful thing is the human mind. This mind has created wonders in the wonder. Brilliant and intelligent minds are not the legacy of modern generations. Even the ruins of the old civilizations are such marvelous pieces of art and craft that you remain surprised. The city of Angkor is the best example to argue the statement. This historical city is located in the Cambodia. The city of Angkor is the legacy of Khmer Empire which was the most powerful empire in Southeast Asia. Angkor was the capital city of the empire. This ancient city was built between 879 AD and 1191 AD. The city of Angkor give the testimony that how powerful and wealthy the Khmer Empire was. The people of the city, at that time, were the followers of different believes which is shown from the temples and other religious places. The unique about the city of Angkor are the temples in numbers of thousands.
CITY OF ANGKOR
The origin of the word Angkor is Sanskrit which means a city. This historical city is on the list of UNESCO World Heritage sites. Angkor Wat which is a complex of temples is considered to be the largest single religious monument in the world. The city has a developed infrastructure because it was the largest city of the world before industrial revolution. The urban sprawl of the city is spread over 1000 sq.km.
HISTORY
Shortly after the 800 AD the Angkorian period was started. It was the time when Jayavarman who was the king of Khmer declared independence and formed Kambujadesa, currently Cambodia. In 889 Yasovarman took the throne and he proved himself a great king and accomplished builder. The time went pass and between the 300 years time, from 900 to 1200 AD this powerful empire constructed the world’s most significance architectural masterpieces in the area which are standing with great glory till today in the form of Angkor. It would be surprising for the readers that Angkor has no formal boundary so you can not tell the extent of the city. Form the main temples in the area, 1000 sq.km area is considered as the main area of the city which has the great connectivity infrastructure. This historic city was lost in jungle and remained lost for 1000 years. City was rediscovered in 1860 by a French explorer. After the establishment of peace within Cambodia, now this city is easily accessible.
ATTRACTIONS
The main attractions of the Angkor region are temples of Angkor Wat. This is basically a complex of temples and was built between 1113 and 1150 AD by the King Surayavernam. These temples are great masterpieces of stone carving. These carving wonders are centuries old which show the hard efforts of the people of Khmer civilization. This great city has four gateways in the city face wall from east, west, south and north and lead to the geometric centre of the city which is called Bayon. Each gateway tower has giant faces which keep an eye on all four cardinal points. The gateways are decorated with three headed carved stone elephants.
These temples are indeed masterpieces of stone carving and everyone must see that how beautifully the stones have been carved. This is one of the major tourist attractions in Cambodia. Approximately 2 million people visit the place annually. No doubt it’s a huge number of visitors and is expected to reach upto three million but this number has made some threats to the temples. So much visitors exert pressure on the sandstone monuments by walking and climbing. There is a threat of cracks to these beautifully carved temples and monuments.