Angkor Thom
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The Kettles Chronicles part oneAngkor Thom was the last and most enduring capital city of the Khmer empire, established in the late twelfth century by King Jayavarman VII. It is otherwise remembered as the site where Angelina Jolie as Lara Croft and her posse went to retrieve the first piece of the Triangle of Light."You ought to hear my long snake moan.You ought to see me from my throne."The ancient city is done up (by hand, I might add) in the Bayon style of architecture, evident in the face-towers at each of the four entrances to the city (N-S-E-W) and in the naga-(mythical serpent-)carrying giant figures which accompany each of the towers.
"I lost my heart under the bridge.""Angkor Thom remained the capital of a kingdom in decline until it was abandoned some time prior to 1609, when an early western visitor wrote of an uninhabited city, 'as fantastic as the Atlantis of Plato' which some thought to have been built by the Roman emperor Trajan."The south gate has become the main entrance to the city for tourists. The gateways themselves would originally have been closed with wooden doors.
"Let me ride on his grace for a while."The ancient city walls are flanked by a moat (man-made, I was told). "A causeway spans the moat in front of each tower: these have a row of devas (gods) on the left and asuras (demons) on the right, each row holding a naga in the attitude of a tug-of-war."
"Recently, it has been noticed that on one of the ruins, there appears to be a dinosaur carved into the wall. This is most intriging considering the site is centuries old and that the dinosaur carving is surrounded by animals of today, such as elephants, snakes, horses and various other creatures.""My love will stay 'til the river bed run dry.And my love lasts long as the sunshine blue sky."::. lyrics by P J Harvey off the album To Bring You My Love::. quoted and additional information from the Wikipedia entry on Angkor Thom
"I lost my heart under the bridge.""Angkor Thom remained the capital of a kingdom in decline until it was abandoned some time prior to 1609, when an early western visitor wrote of an uninhabited city, 'as fantastic as the Atlantis of Plato' which some thought to have been built by the Roman emperor Trajan."The south gate has become the main entrance to the city for tourists. The gateways themselves would originally have been closed with wooden doors."Let me ride on his grace for a while."The ancient city walls are flanked by a moat (man-made, I was told). "A causeway spans the moat in front of each tower: these have a row of devas (gods) on the left and asuras (demons) on the right, each row holding a naga in the attitude of a tug-of-war.""Recently, it has been noticed that on one of the ruins, there appears to be a dinosaur carved into the wall. This is most intriging considering the site is centuries old and that the dinosaur carving is surrounded by animals of today, such as elephants, snakes, horses and various other creatures.""My love will stay 'til the river bed run dry.And my love lasts long as the sunshine blue sky."::. lyrics by P J Harvey off the album To Bring You My Love::. quoted and additional information from the Wikipedia entry on Angkor Thom
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