History of Indian and Eastern Architecture v2.c33.s14: Other Temples.
History of Indian and Eastern Architecture v2.c33.s14
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Other Temples.
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On the east side of Angkor Thom, distant respectively half a mile and a mile from the same, are two temples, Ta Prohm and Bântèai Kedei, which are richly decorated with fine sculpture. The two inner enclosures are surrounded with corridors, of which the outer one consists of a central and side aisle, as at Angkor Vât, the wall being on the inner side. On the gopuras of the four enclosures, the angles of the larger inner enclosure, the sanctuary, and other structures, there are said to have been as many as twenty-eight towers, nine of which were carved with the four faces of Brahmâ. The temple of Bântèai Kedei is said to have been originally dedicated to Buddha, but as the faces of Brahmâ decorate the towers of the east and west gopuras, this is doubtful. The plan of the two structures in the inner enclosure differs from any other examples, the larger one—which from its position should be the sanctuary, consists, according to Aymonier,¹ of a series of four corridors, running north and south and east and west, crossing one another and carrying corbelled domes at their intersection.
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¹ *Op. cit.* tome iii. pp. 19-21.
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In the temple of Phnom Chisor (Prov. Bâti) the corridor of the single enclosure is subdivided by a number of cross walls forming separate compartments, four of which have entrance doors, a flight of steps leading to the park outside, and to the internal court. All the rooms are lighted by baluster windows, those on the east or entrance side looking outwards, the others on to the court. The same disposition of windows is found in the temple of Prah-khan (Prov. Kompong Svay), but here the corridor is not subdivided by cross walls. Parts of that temple, of which two illustrations are given, are well preserved (Plate XLV.), showing the baluster windows and the universal doorway, which is found in all the temples, varying only in the sculptured decoration of the architrave and the tympanum of the gable. The octagonal shafts which flank the entrance doors of all the Cambodian temples are gone in this instance at Prah-khan, but Woodcut No. 471, at Bassak, may be taken as a typical example of the usual doorway.
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The courses of masonry of the temples are always horizontal, and those above the doorway are carried far back into the wall, so that the octagonal shafts on each side are only decorative features. The architecture above the door is always richly carved with varying designs, the gable being enshrined with two serpents with Nâga head terminations, which respond to the antefixæ of Greek temples; outside the serpents' bodies are flames which take the place of crockets, and the tympana are carved with figures. The same illustration (Plate XLV.) shows the rectangular windows with balustrades, the panel decoration between them with female figures representing the Thevadas or goddesses, the richly sculptured cornices with cresting, and the roofs carved in imitation of tile construction, though all built in stone in horizontal courses. Some idea may also be conceived,
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Carved Lintel of the Temple at Bassak.
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as shown in Plate XLV., of the terrible ruin which is overtaking all the Cambodian temples owing to the overgrowth of the trees. The preservation of this building, constructed nearly nine centuries ago, is very remarkable, and this is borne out better in Plate XLIV., where, owing to the magnificent construction, the tower still stands erect, having lost only its two upper storeys and lotus cresting.