BAYON TEMPLE

This view of the Bayon Temple tower walls at Angkor Thom reveals two carved stone faces in profile. The one in the foreground on the left is covered with lichen, and harder to discern from the surrounding stone walls. Such huge and serenely smiling faces are carved on stone towers throughout the Bayon Temple at Angkor Thom, literally "Great City." Angkor Thom was a fortified city built from the early eleventh to the late twelfth century A.D., during the reigns of Suryavarman I to Jayavarman VII. Because it was built over a long time by successive kings, it has two city centers and differing architectural and sculpture styles. Angkor Thom, located just north of the Angkor Wat site, is the largest building complex in the Angkor area. The Bayon Temple complex was built under the direction of the Mahayana Buddhist ruler Jayavarman VII, who ascended to the Khmer kingdom's throne at Angkor in 1181 A.D. He erected the site for Buddhist worship, although it was later renovated and used as a Hindu temple. Various forms of Hindu and Buddhist worship were practiced side-by-side and successively in the ancient royal courts of Southeast Asia.