Temples of Cambodia-Angkor Wat – Part 2

Trip to Cambodia was an eye opener for me, because Angkor Wat has been and is, the biggest attraction for Indians because of its history of being the largest temple in the world once upon a time, but the ruins of idols of Hindu gods and goddesses and conversion of temple into Buddhist temple (Wat) raises many questions in mind.

Who did this has an answer but ‘why was this done’ has no answer. Even the local guides are silent on this question.

No religion existing in today’s world preach and believe in violence based on religious differences but the destruction of Hindu temple in Siem Reap and establishment of Buddhism in replacement narrates different story of history.

For me,  it is not important that, idol of which religion is sitting inside the temple or which idol is worshiped, but the real history needs to be placed in front of everyone for better understanding and clarity of history.

I am inclined to know the real history because, whatever was taught in history books in school days was not the complete pictures of whole story, but they were just a glimpse, the real facts are sometimes very different. I strongly believe that, mass tampering has been done with the Indian history, by the rulers of this country in all ages, which includes pre-independence and post independence. As a citizen of the country, it is a right to know about the correct history because, every citizen is a bearer of the legacy of the country’s history and religion, to the next generation.

For Angkor Wat, what I studied in academics is slightly different to what I had witnessed with my eyes and that became the main reason for writing this blog. One thing is very clear that,  the establishment of a new religion takes place only when the existing religion is either vanished or the new religion is forcibly implemented, however the better scenario would have been maintaining the status quo of the existing religion and giving space to the new, but the reality is different.

Angkor Wat which as per history was one of the largest temple in the world, has now only traces of Hindu religion, but those are also sufficient to demonstrate the presence of Hinduism in Cambodia.

Build magnificently, Angkor Wat is indeed the marvelous piece of architecture work, located in between forests and gives good competition to modern architecture in terms of their capabilities to construct durable buildings.

The best time to capture beauty of Angkor Wat is to visit during sunrise, when sun can be seen rising in background of the temple and I could not afford to miss this beautiful opportunity. After reaching Siem Reap,  first thing I did was to arrange tour to Angkor Wat and that too before sunrise. In my attempt to do so, I found Lee as my partner in fulfilling my wish. I met Lee at the airport where he picked me, for dropping to hotel and while we were on the way to hotel, we concluded a deal, which was sufficient to fulfill wishes and expectations of each other.