Baphuon Temple — Attraction in Siem Reap

The Baphuon (Khmer: ប្រាសាទបាពួន) is a temple at Angkor, Cambodia. It is located in Angkor Thom, northwest of the Bayon. Also called "golden mountain" (svarnādrī), the Baphuon is built on an artificial hill. The temple was originally dedicated to Shiva and late converted to a Theravada Buddhist temple. The dating of the temple has been fractious; recent work has shown that it was not built during the reign of Udayādityavarman II, as is popularly reported. In 2015 a French team directly dates four iron crampons integrated into the structure using the AMS Carbon-14 method, revealed the construction was much earlier than thought and can now be considered as the major temple associated with Suryavarman I (1010–1050CE), a ruler which had no temple previously associated with his reign. History: Built in the mid-11th century, it is a three-tiered temple mountain[3]: 103  built as the state temple of Suryavarman I dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva. It is the archetype of the Baphuon style with intricate carvings covering every available surface.[4] The temple adjoins the southern enclosure of the royal palace and measures 120 metres east-west by 100 metres north-south at its base and stands 34 meters tall without its tower, which would have made it roughly 50 meters tall. Its appearance apparently impressed Temür Khan's late 13th century envoy Zhou Daguan during his visit from 1296 to 1297, who said it was 'the Tower of Bronze...a truly astonishing spectacle, with more than ten chambers at its base.'

The Baphuon was later converted via Theravada Buddhist modifications that French scientists using AMS Carbon 14 have directly dated as a hundred years prior to the conventional 16th century estimation. This confirms that the adding of the reclining Buddha was related to the Ayutthayan occupation of Angkor circa 1430-1440CE, during a major period of political and religious instability.[2]

A 9-meter tall by 70 meter long statue of a reclining Buddha was built on the west side's second level, which probably required the demolition of the 8-meter tower above to supply stones for the statue, thus explaining its current absence. The temple was built on land filled with sand, and due to its immense size the site was unstable throughout its history. Large portions had probably already collapsed by the time the Buddha was added.

Surrounded by a wall 125 by 425 m the central tower was probably gilded wood, which has not survived.[5]: 376

By the 20th century, much of the temple had largely collapsed, and restoration efforts took on an epic quality. A large-scale project to dismantle the temple so that its core could be re-enforced before the whole is re-constructed again—a process known as anastylosis—was abandoned after civil war broke out in 1970. The workers and archaeologists were forced to leave 300,000 carefully labelled and numbered blocks organized across 10 hectares surrounding the temple. However, the plans identifying the pieces were lost during the decade of conflict and the Khmer Rouge that followed.

A second project to restore the temple was launched in 1996 under the guidance of architect Pascal Royère from the EFEO.[6] It took the team another 16 years to complete what had become known as the "largest 3D jigsaw puzzle in the world".[7] In April 2011, after 51 years of work, the restoration was completed and the temple formally re-opened. King Norodom Sihamoni of Cambodia and Prime Minister François Fillon of France were among those who first toured the renovated temple during the inauguration ceremony on July 3,...

North of the Golden Tower [Bayon], rises the Tower of Branze [Baphuon] higher even than the Golden Tower : a truly astonishing spectacle, with more than ten chambers at its base. The grandeur of Baphuon as described above by Zhou Daguan is unrecognizable today because of the poor condition of the temple. The French were in the process of restoring this temple when they were forced leave Angkor in 1972 because of war. Baphuon is situated inside the royal city of Angkor Thom but dates from the eleventh century and was built before the city was established. An interesting feature of Baphuon are the bas-reliefs which are scenes carved in small squares. Unfortunately few of these are visible because of the poor state of the temple. The narrative themes are realistic depictions of daily life and forest scenes. LAYOUT Baphuon is a single sanctuary temple-mountain situated on a high base. It is a symbolical representation of Mount Meru. A rectangular sandstone wall measuring 425 by 125 metres (1394 by 410 feet) encloses the temple. A long sandstone elevated approach (200 metres, 656 feet) at the east entrance forms a bridge to the main temple. It is supported by three rows of short columns. The temple stands on a rectangular sandstone base with five levels that are approximately the same size, rather than the more common form of successively smaller levels. The first, second and third levels are surrounded by sandstone galleries. Baphuon is the first structure in which stone galleries with a central tower appear. Two libraries (6) in the shape of a cross with four porches stand in the courtyard. They were originally connected by an elevated walkway supported by columns. The gallery of the enclosure collapsed and, at a later date , the stones from it were modeled into the shape of a reclining Buddha that spans the length of the west wall ( the head is on the left, facing the temple) . It is an abstract form and the outline of this Buddha is difficult to distinguish. A stairway leading to the summit begins in the middle of the Buddha. The top level is in poor condition due to several collapses. Originally there was a Central Sanctuary with two wings. Each side of the entrance to the Central Sanctuary is carved with fine animated figures. If you look carefully you can see these from the ground on...

This magnificent temple was built by King Udayadityavarman II in the middle of the 11th century, before the city of Angkor Thom was established. Originally a Hindu temple dedicated to Shiva, it was converted into a Buddhist temple in the late 15th Century, and a huge reclining Buddha (nine meters tall by 70 meters long) was added to the west side of the temple’s second level around this time.

Like the Leaning Tower of Pisa, Baphuon was built on a too-soft foundation of sandy soil which proved to be inadequate for such an immense structure. This shaky foundation caused the temple to be unstable for most of its history, and it is very likely that large portions had already collapsed by the time it was converted to a Buddhist temple. The stones from the collapsed portion of the structure were utilized in the creation of the reclining Buddha, which is one of the largest in Southeast Asia.

By the early 20th century, Baphuon was on the verge of complete collapse. A massive restoration project began in the 1960s, which involved dismantling the temple stone by stone, reinforcing the foundation, and then re-assembling the structure. 300,000 blocks of stone were labelled and numbered, and carefully arranged in the 10 hectares surrounding the temple site, waiting to be put back together. Unfortunately, the project was abandoned when civil war broke out in 1970, and the plans identifying the stones’ intended location were destroyed by the Khmer Rouge.

A second restoration project, which came to be known as the largest three dimensional jigsaw puzzle in the world, was launched in 1996 under the guidance of the architect Pascal Royère. Modern technology greatly aided in the process, but it still took 16 years to complete the puzzle. The lighter colored stones are the restored pieces. We are truly fortunate to be able to visit this remarkable site, and owe a debt of gratitude to the hundreds of workers responsible for reconstructing this...