Buddhist Terraces

The city was still to see some minor construction, modest again in scale but remarkable in its testimony to the spread of a new religion, Theravada Buddhism. Of these original wooden Buddhist worship halls, all that remains today are the stone foundations. Many are still active sites of worship, and may date to the period following the abandon of Angkor as the royal capital. Existent Brahmanic temples such as Ta Tuot were sculpted with Buddhist reliefs.

The Western Prasat Top was to undergo a series of modifications, both architectural and artistic, including the sacred delimitation of the temple with Buddhist border stones (seima).

The Tep Pranam-Palilay area, which may well have been associated with Buddhism since early times, took on greater importance. A group of Buddhist worship halls were built around the Bayon. These satellite temples are known today as Preah En Tep, Preah Ang Kok Thlok, Preah Ngok. Few of these Buddhist constructions can be precisely dated. It is however clear that Angkor was largely Theravadin when, around 1432, after a long series of battles, Siamese troops finally drove the Khmer court out of Angkor.

Towards the end of the 16th century, Portuguese and Spanish adventurers travelled to Angkor. They were fascinated by the "walled city," "one of the wonders of the world," making particular note of the Bayon and the Royal Palace. A handfull of Japanese also came to Angkor in the early 17th century. Yet we do not know if these Buddhist pilgrims visited Angkor Thom as they did Angkor Vat.

Around the middle of the 19th century Angkor was "rediscovered" by a British photographer and French explorers and apprehended as an object for study, primarily by the Ecole Français d'Extrême-Orient (EFEO). Angkor Thom was progressively cleared of vegetation. The Bayon began to exercise its magic on visitors and scholars alike, who continue to study its mysteries to the present day. It is interesting to note, finally, that throughout the tribulations of history, traces of the Angkorian past remain in the collective memory: in both the 16th and 19th centuries, it was local inhabitants who showed the emplacement of the ancient Royal Palace to European visitors.