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World Monuments Fund Project
(WMF) |
World Monuments Fund at Angkor:
Preah Khan; Churning of the Sea of Milk, Angkor Wat; Ta
Som; Phnom Bakheng; and the Center for Khmer Studies.
World Monuments Fund (WMF) began
work in Cambodia in 1989 at the invitation of the Cambodian
government, embarking on what would become its largest investment
in a single site. WMF has helped preserve and present the
Preah Khan monastic complex, the representative south gallery
on the east elevation of Angkor Wat (including the famed
bas-relief the Churning of the Sea of Milk), the
temple of Ta Som, and Phnom Bakheng. WMF also helped found
the Center for Khmer Studies and conducted surveys at the
remote Khmer site of Banteay Chhmar.
WMF’s work at Angkor is informed by the principles
that guide its projects worldwide: engage fully with the
local community, develop technologically and culturally
appropriate conservation solutions; build local capacity
through training and education; use conservation approaches
that embrace environmental, social, and community factors;
encourage economic self-sufficiency; and share information
and learning both within the host culture and internationally.
In association with its Angkor projects, WMF administers
on-site training for graduate and post-graduate level architects
and archaeologists to help replace those lost in years of
civil conflict.
WMF’s Conservation Goals and Approach:
• Analyze traditional Khmer building materials and
methods.
• Establish conservation methodologies appropriate
for use at Khmer monuments.
• Stabilize and partially restore structures.
• Protect and present the historic Khmer structures
and their environs.
• Offer on-site conservation training for Cambodian
students and craftspeople.
• Deter theft and vandalism through video imaging
and computerized inventories.
• Employ above-ground archaeological research to learn
more about the ancient Khmer empire and Angkor’s pre-history.
Preah Khan
Commissioned by Jayavarman VII in 1191, Preah Khan (“Sacred
Sword”) occupies a one-half square kilometer site,
with four concentric enclosure walls that embrace a labyrinth
of shrines, courts, halls, and pavilions. A monument to
religious tolerance, Preah Khan has sections dedicated to
Buddhism, Hinduism, and ancestor veneration. Its most important
elements are the Vishnu Complex, the Two-Story Pavilion,
the Hall of Dancers, the Dharmasala, and the 72 monumental
sandstone Garudas (guardian birdmen) engaged in the site’s
outermost perimeter wall.
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The map of Preah Khan
temple complex
©World Monuments Fund |
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| When WMF began
work in 1991, Preah Khan was little more than a jumble of
fallen stones and structures on the brink of collapse—the
result of years of neglect, jungle vegetation encroachment,
and water damage. |
Conservators chose
to stabilize the site and preserve it as a partial ruin,
eschewing major reconstruction due to the lack of historical
data, the magnitude of the task, and the questionable philosophical
nature of such an approach. Prior to stabilization, stones
were measured, drawn, and number-coded. The team used low-tech
steel scaffolding, chain hoists, and hydraulic jacks to
re-set fallen stones and it reopened the principal East
Entrance, saved the Hall of Dancers from collapse, and stabilized
the Dharmasala and East Gopura. WMF also built a site-interpretation
center and established a comprehensive maintenance program.
All projects are staffed and managed by Cambodia architects,
archaeologists, conservators, and workers trained in site
conservation.
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©World Monuments Fund |
Angkor Wat Intermediate
Gallery
The main gallery of the intermediate level of Angkor Wat
is imperiled due to the shifting and weakening of its support
structures, caused primarily by earth settlement due to
ineffective ground and roof water drainage. This has caused
noticeable deterioration of the reliefs, including the famed
Churning of the Sea of Milk. In 1998, with the approval
of the International Coordination Committee for Angkor,
WMF began to survey structural and material conditions of
the main gallery and its adjacent structures; monitor movement;
conduct archival and bibliographic research, soil studies,
and laboratory investigation of materials; and analyze the
interaction of sandstone and proposed repair materials.
This effort could serve as a prototype for the restoration
of the seven similar galleries at the intermediate level
of Angkor Wat.
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©World Monuments Fund
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Ta Som |
©World Monuments Fund
| Believed to date to the reign of
Jayavarman VII, the temple of Ta Som is a single, unified
ensemble typical of the monuments built during the last phase
of the Bayon period. With three enclosures, Ta Som exhibits
elements typical of Angkor’s larger temples—false
windows with lowered blinds, small devata sculptures, and
floral decoration on a background of foliated scrolls. Only
minimal structural propping had been done at Ta Som in the
1950s.
In 2000, Cambodian members of the WMF team began a course
of documentation, emergency stabilization of fragile structures,
conservation interventions, improvements to visitor circulation
paths, and a presentation and interpretation scheme.
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Phnom Bakheng
Phnom Bakheng was constructed when Khmer King Yasovarman
I (r. 893–900) moved his capital from Roluos to Angkor.
Built atop one of three hills that punctuate the alluvial
plain on which Angkor was founded, it is the first and one
of the foremost examples of the “temple mountain”
style, representing the five peaks of the mythological Mount
Mehru, dwelling place of the principal Hindu gods. It is
known for very fine sculptures—important early examples
of the stylized, deeply carved figures known as the Bakheng
Style. Recent threats to the site include damage from military
activity, poorly managed tourism, and monsoon rains, which
cause erosion and structural instability.
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| In 2004, WMF embarked
upon a three-to-five year program of detailed site assessment,
conservation planning, emergency interventions, and site interpretation.
The team is conducting “risk mapping” and supplementary
archaeological research, assessing environmental and architectural
conservation needs, developing recommendations concerning
the structural stability of the site, and creating a tourism
management plan.
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©World Monuments Fund |
Center for Khmer
Studies
Founded by WMF in 1999, the Center for Khmer Studies provides
a meeting ground for scholars and students of Khmer culture
in Cambodia including a scholars-in-residence program; academic
partnership with leading universities; and a research program
in archaeology, social sciences, and architecture.
Aerial radar surveys
WMF and the Royal Angkor Foundation joined forces with
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in 1994 to generate ground-penetrating
aerial radar imaging of the eco-site of Angkor from the
space shuttle Endeavor. Used to analyze surface and subsurface
archaeological features, the imaging gives information about
the intricate hydrological system of waterways and barays
(reservoirs) that originally supported Angkor's economy
but are now largely filled with sediment and in disuse.
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Links
General
page on the Preah Khan temple
General
page on the Bakheng temple
World Monuments
Fund
Center
for Khmer Studies
Interactive
panoramas
NASA's
Jet Propulsion Laboratory aerial radar surveys of Angkor,
including Preah Khan |
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