Indian Architecture (Buddhist and Hindu Periods) c43.58

c43.58

As to the elevational aspect of the Bayon this approximates a pyramid in mass, an effect produced by the whole being raised on two tall platforms supporting the great central structure. One of the ideals of the Cambodian architect was a composition of this nature, a substantial pile of masonry to provide a basis on which he could construct processional galleries one above the other and concentrically disposed, while over all he raised a tower to contain the sacred image. The Bayon, as well as the Angkor Vat, are designed on this principle, which, in a manner, was also followed in Java, as the stupa at Borobudur is a colossal stone mound furnished with concentric corridors and terminating in a finial shrine. Long pillared halls are prominent in the Dravidian temples of Southern India but there is no counterpart to the system of concentric ascending galleries as found in the monuments of Greater India. As at Angkor Vat and also in the Bayon there are several entrances, but in this instance the main approach is by means of a pillared portico on the east, having on each side a small detached shrine within the angles of the first enclosure. But undoubtedly as was intended, the outstanding characteristic of the exterior is the orderly and balanced distribution of the towers over the entire scheme, each one of its fifty sikharas distinguishing externally some conspicuous feature of the interior, those of the inner group being fifty feet in height, while the main central tower is more than double this size As already remarked it is in the surface treatment of these sikharas that the imagination has been allowed to exceed the bounds of accepted architectural procedure, and in straining after originality the designer has purposely ventured into the realms of phantasy. A certain rigidity of surface and stability of outline is a recognized convention in structures having exceptional height, and the observance of this principle has been universally approved. Yet although this convention in the Bayon towers has been disregarded, thus reducing their static quality, the great human masks on each side of these have in a manner compensated for the loss by adding to the entire conception that spectacular effect combined with an atmosphere of profound mystery which was obviously the intention of its creators. The smile on the face of each, exactly reproduced in every example, recalling that on the Sphinx of the Pharoahs, propounds a riddle which may for ever remain unsolved.¹