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Beng Malea Temple

摘要: Description  Beng Mealea is a very impressive temple built in the reign of King Suryavarman II, 12th century CE, and modified by Jayavarman VII. It is located in Beng Mealea village, Beng Mealea commu

Description

  Beng Mealea is a very impressive temple built in the reign of King Suryavarman II, 12th century CE, and modified by Jayavarman VII. It is located in Beng Mealea village, Beng Mealea commune, Svay Leu District, Siem Reap province. It is about 77 Km Northwest of Siem Reap town and faces the eastern part of Kulen mountain on one side. Importantly, it is situated along the Royal Road to the east of Angkor, where leads from the eastern part of Bakheng mountain. From Angkor the Royal Road passes   temples such as Bat Chum, Cao Srei Vibol, Banteay Ampil and Beng Mealea to Preah Khan Kampong Svay. This ancient road has well constructed bridges such as Spean Ta Oung, Spean Khvav and Spean Khmeng.   Beng Mealea is flanked by Prasat Don Chan and Prasat Koh Chin on the west, Prasat Kong Pluk and Prasat Jrei on the east.

  Structure

  Beng Mealea was constructed on a large scale. Unfortunately, it is now seriously damaged due primarily to natural degradation and collapse. The main architectural element is sandstone which was taken from nearby quarries. The temple was built on a flat plan in a compound of 14 hectares, and consists of one central sanctuary, surrounded by three galleries and connected by cruciform galleries. It is surrounded by a moat of 1200m in length and 900m in width, a symbol of a cosmos ocean surrounding Mount Meru, the residence of all the Gods. There are four smaller strctures, previously termed "libraries"; two are in the inner enclosure and the other two are in the outer enclosure.

  The sites has three ponds located in the east and they are approximately on either side of the main entrance. Srah Keo and Srah Svaytong are in the north and Srah Thmar Baykream is in the south. Beng Mealea has two large structures on the south side of the third enclosure which have been termed “palaces” or halls for ritual ablutions and dances. This type of structure appears before the entrance of the sanctuaries, basins and other places. Generally, it has two levels, the upper level assumed to have been used for King and his family members and the lower level for the members of the court.  It has a long causeway that leads from the east entrance to the moat, surrounded by   Naga-balustrade and Lion statues. Significantly, there are   three other causeways leading to the three other cardinal directions. These causeways are supported by cylindrical columns and also adorned with Naga-balustrades and Lion statues. A cruciform terrace leads to the Gopura of the outer galleries. Furthermore, two architecture innovations can be seen in this temple complex. They are wide vaulted roof galleries in stone and a vault supported on one side by a row of pillars and on the other side by a wall.

  Decoration

  Beng Mealea was decorated with 180 lintels, depicting the scenes of Churning the Sea of Milk, Mahabharata, Ramayana and some individual Brahmanic deities such as Siva, Brahma and Ganesha. It is unlikely that the walls did not bear decoration – either bas-reliefs or were probably coated with frescoes as there is no remaining trace of carved stone.

  The pediment depicted deity scenes, most of which were presented in multiple levels creating significant style and beauty. Cylindrical columns, divided into 7 sections, are fully decorated with florals and vines can also be seen, and door frames are decorated with flowers, vines and some tiny figures of deities. This type of decoration is also found at Angkor Wat of particular note are: the Dvārapāla (door guardians) figure, which look quite similar to   at Banteay Samre temple, in their clothing and especially the fishtail design for the sampot; secondly, a figure of a divinity, who might be sitting on a cow (Siva) or buffalo (Yama), 61cm high; and thirdly, the torso of a male figure, 61cm in height. A further 34 fragments of divinities were found in the year 2000, most of which are fragments of Dvārapāla, lions and columns. It is rare to find the statues of the deities in the temple. However, there are three statues originating from Beng Mealea presently housed in the Depot of Angkor Conservation. The statue of Avalokitesvara with four arms, 140cm in height was found in the first enclosure between the four central sanctuaries and library. According to the four tier design of the, this statue probably was made in the first half of the 12th century CE.


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