Cambodia - Phnom Penh, a dazzling place

Author: Liu Meifeng
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-10-01
Features: Gazing at Angkor across the barriers of time, I was instantly transported from modern society to the Khmer civilization created by the Angkor Empire. The word "Angkor" originates from the Sanskrit "Nagara," meaning "city of gods." The Angkor ruins left by the Khmer Empire are known as the Four Great Ancient Wonders of the East, alongside China's Great Wall, Egypt's Pyramids, and Indonesia's Borobudur. The Angkor ruins consist of over 600 large and small buildings adorned with exquisite stone carvings, scattered in the tropical forests of the Angkor region, covering an area of 45 square kilometers. The architectural and sculptural art of Angkor is magnificent, dazzling, and perfectly harmonious, leaving one in awe.
Angkor is approximately 320 kilometers from the capital Phnom Penh and is located near Siem Reap City, north of the Tonle Sap Lake. It was the capital of the Khmer Empire from the 9th to the 15th centuries. Construction began in 802 AD and was completed in 1201 AD, spanning 400 years. It was gradually built by successive kings of the Khmer Empire and serves as a vivid representation of the empire's 400-year architectural and sculptural achievements. "Siam" was a former name for Thailand, and "Siem Reap" means "to conquer the Siamese." In 1431, Siamese troops invaded, devastating Angkor and causing severe damage. The empire was forced to abandon Angkor and move its capital to Phnom Penh. Since then, the proud Angkor was isolated from the world, forgotten, and sank into a deep slumber in the Cambodian jungles.
It wasn't until 1858 that the French explorer Henri Mouhot dared to venture into the dense forest, and the Angkor ruins were "rediscovered" from the surrounding natural wilderness, gaining international fame and spreading its legend to this day. The Angkor ruins also brought Henri Mouhot great renown, ensuring his name would be remembered in history.
It was a dawn morning when the night scattered dewdrops behind the young Henri Mouhot, leaving his fatigue behind in the forest, and only the morning light illuminated his bright eyes. He saw the dreamlike scenery recorded in the Description of the Kingdom of Cambodia, suddenly awakening in the embrace of the Cambodian jungle. Five colossal, cloud-touching stone towers, resembling blooming lotus buds, stood before him under the morning glow, basking in the sunlight. The sun painted a red hue on his face, his expression of shock, wonder, joy, and amazement mirrored the beauty of the five lotus-bud-like towers. He thought he was dreaming, his mouth forming a huge "O," his eyes wide open.
Subsequently, the immense stimulation the architecture and sculptures of Angkor brought to his mind and senses made him scream and jump wildly in the powerful, graceful, and ever-changing architectural complex of Angkor, scaring the nearby birds to flutter around the towering towers and. Later, he paused his ecstatic running and shouting, adopting a statue-like pose to gaze at Angkor. The magnificent power of Angkor's architecture and sculptures—full of vitality, rhythm, depth, and meaning—suddenly struck and enriched the already deeply moved heart.
With joy, reverence, and tenderness, he wrote in his diary while examining Angkor: "In the moment I saw these spires, my heart trembled. At this moment, you can only gaze at them silently with admiration. There is no other way to..."