Yashodhara no. 4: January - June 2001

Conservation of Angkor Vat

Daily management of Angkor Vat has been progressively reinforced. The water has been pumped from the temple's moat into its southern inner pond. Dried up for years, the pond will now be kept full. A shelter was also built for the 40 guards stationed at Angkor Vat. Maintenance supplies are kept in this locale.

Conservation of Banteay Srei

Emergency measures for the protection of this exquisite temple have been initiated. These aim primarily to save the temple from further damage caused by unregulated tourist flow. (Over the past few years Banteay Srei has in fact undergone considerable and regrettable degradation virtually entirely due to insufficient visitor management). 20 guards and 5 laborers have also been assigned to this small but precious temple.

Conservation of Angkor Thom

The pedestrian path along Angkor Thom's enclosure wall, from South Gate to West Gate, is now finished. Along the 3 km walk, visitors can see the Run Tadev waterwork as well as the Prasat Chrung situated at the wall's corner. The natural beauty of the area is striking.
Though additional guards have been assigned to Angkor Thom, this expansive area requires even more personnel. Guard numbers are therefore to be progressively increased. Mobile guards now cover different areas requiring most protection within Angkor Thom. Signboards and protective banners have been placed at the Bayon to discourage visitors from standing on certain structures or touching the sculpted reliefs.

Conservation of Roluos

Visitors to Angkor typically believe that the Roluos group consists of three important temples: Prasat Preah Ko, Prasat Bakong and Prasat Lolei. In fact this region, which harbored the early capital of Hariharalaya, abounds in ancient constructions, many of which date to the pre-angkorian period. The "Conservation of Roluos" has only recently been inaugurated with the assignment of guards to the area. These gaurds will be increased in number over coming months in view not only of providing adequate protection ot the well known temples, but also of opening access to lesser known sites such as Prasat Trapeang Phong, Prasat Prei Monti, Prasat Totung Thngai... A half-day visit will therefore no longer suffice at Roluos. Even the casual visitor will easily spend a full day appreciating the region's heritage.

Conservation of Kbal Spean

Along with the construction of a guard house and the delimitation of visitable area, the access path to Kbal Spean has been improved. The addition of a bridge and stairs, among other small improvements, facilitate the visit without intruding into the natural environment. Barriers have also been erectd to discourage visitors from walking on the riverbed reliefs.

Jayavarman VII Conservation

This Conservation program has just been inaugurated to manage a group of sites beyond the walls of Angkor Thom which were all built under the reign of King Jayavarman VII: Ta Prohm, Banteay Kdei, Srah Srang, Krol Ko, Prasat Prei, Ta Som. This Conservation represents a formidable challenge. As a first step, we have begun to erect signboards, to improve pedestrian access where most necessary and to assign guards to ensure protection and sanitation as much as possible.

Emergency measures

Examples

1 . Felling of a large Spong tree at the Bayon temple. One branch of this colossal tree has begun to fall onto the temple's outer gallery

2 . Removal of a tree a storm brought down onto the enclosure wall of Banteay Srei

3 . Propping up of an inner doorway and doorframe at Lolei temple to prevent imminent collapse.

Maintenance Team

While additional laborers have been hired, the manual labor workload continues to surpass our capacity in personnel. Responsible for contructing wooden supports for endangered temple structures, barriers and signboards, among other daily tasks, these employees are constantly busy. Pictured here are trashcans made by the Maintenance Team.

Training

This year APSARA organized and sponsored the Ta Nei 2 Training Program, with 25 trainee participants. This year's program received support from a number of international institutions, including the Universities of Bologna (Italy), Cologne (Germany), and Kanazawa (Japan), along with SPAFA (Southeast Asia), the FAC (France), etc. The APSARA Authority provided support to a group of international instructors over the course of the five months training period. At the conlusion of the training, 22 of the 25 trainees joined APSARA's technical staff.

Collaborative Restoration

Preah Ko: at the conclusion of the German government-financedrestoration project at Preah Ko temple, a new phase of Khmero-German collaborative restoration was inaugurated between APSARA and GACP. The Khmer team consists of two archaeologists and skilled laborers.
Ta Som: a project to maintain and restore a Som temple has also recently been inaugurated. This is a collaborative project between APSARA and American-based WMF. The first tasks have been to order the ancient stone blocks scattered around the temple and to initiate limited excavation work.

Research

1 . Research within Angkor Thom (French Government FAC project in collaboration with APSARA) has uncovered a series of previously unrecorded religious foundations and structures. This project concerns the evolution of urban develoment in Angkor Thom, from its beginnings to the enclosure of the city under Jayavarman VII, to the period following the shift of the Khmer capital out of Angkor. Research is to continue for another 3 years. Recent work includes clearing out the forest in a grid pattern to allow for coring earth samples and excavations aimed at understanding infrastructures of the city at different historical periods. In conjunction with this research, visitor access to some lesser known or unknown sites in Angkor Thom are to be opened in view of expanding understandings of the ancient city's history.

2 . Research on the evolution of urban develoment of the Angkor region is another collaborative project carried out between APSARA, the EFEO and the University of Syndney. The first phase has confirmed that Prei Kmeng temple (7th c.) was built on an older site used at least at one point for burial.

3 . Another collaborative project has been established between APSARA and the University of Otago (New Zealand), with the participation of the Thai Fine Arts Department. This project concerns the pregistory of Angkor. The first area selected for excavation was at the foot of Baksei Chamkrong temple which scholars have long thought to have been a prehistoric habitatiob site. The first project consisted in a biref excavation campaign in front of the temple which revealed ancient archaeological layers containing charcoal and the remains of a stove.

Infrastructure in the Angkor Park

The Ministry of Public Works has paved the frequently travelled but notoriously degraded road from Angkor to Banteay Srei. Traffic is even heavier now that Anlong Veng, further north, is of such easy access to the general public. The road which forks off to Phnom Kulen is equally smooth. The Royal Government also plans to develop the small road which leads from Pradak village south to National Route 6. The opening of this road will alleviate traffic through Angkor.

Tradition

Generally speaking, the villagers of Angkor maintain tradition with a peculiar vigor. This is an extraordinary intangible cultural heritage.

1 . Pictured here is a ceremony in which cremated humans remains were buried in front of the central Buddha statue of Vat Preah En Tep in testimony to the continuationof an ancient tradition in the Angkor region.

2 . This is a procesison of "nagas", young men preparing for ordination as novices in the Bouddhist order. The procession here is around Angkor Vat temple. Other spectacular events which assemble excessively large congregations of followers and thereby hinder good management would better be avoided. Uncontrolled masses of visitors into the Park are conducive to accidents, such as the tragedy of this past May.

3 . Prasat Char Village: a topknot-cutting ceremony held this past February.

4 . Srae Changhot village: a funerla held the same month.
Official Visits

Official visits

Official visits are common at Angkor. The 14th of November saw however a rare sight, with Their Majesties King Sihanouk and Queen Monique accompanying the President's of the People's Republic of China and his wife to a visit to the Park.