Banteay Kdei (Prasat Banteay Kdei) Is a temple at Angkor, Cambodia.
Built in the late 12th to early 13th centuries CE during the reign of Jayavarman VII, it is a Buddhist temple in the Bayon style, similar in plan to Ta Prohm and Preah Khan, but less complex and smaller. Its structures are contained within two successive enclosure walls, and consist of two concentric galleries from which emerge towers, preceded to the east by a cloister. Banteay Kdei has been occupied by monks at various intervals over the centuries, but the inscription stone has never been discovered so it is unknown to whom the temple is dedicated. There is no record of why it was built-or by whom-because no marker stone with that information has ever been found. Its name means 'The citadel of the monks' cells', but that does not necessarily indicate its function.
What is known is that Banteay Kdei grew by amalgamation from a small site to a large central temple with its own enclosure wall that protected a large city.The citadel of the cells. In the ruin and confusion of Banteay Kdei the carvings take one's interest. They are piquant, exquisite, not too frequent... they seem meant.. to make adorable a human habitation. Banteay Kdei is located south of Ta Prohm. A enter the monument from the west and leave at the west or vice versa, either way, also visit Srah Srang. It was built in middle of the 12th century to the beginning of the 13th century by king Jayavarman II in Mahaya Buddhism with following at least two different art periods Angkor Wat and Bayon are discernible at Banteay Kdei.
BACKGROUND
Banteay Kdei has not been restored and allows the visitor to experience what it may have looked like originally. Changes and additions account for is unbalanced layout. Banteay Kdei was built of soft sandstone and many of the galleries and porches have collapsed. The wall enclosing the temple was built of reused stones.
LAYOUT
The temple is built on the ground level use as a Buddhist monastery. The elements of the original design of Banteay Kdei seem to have been a Central Sanctuary, a surrounding gallery and a passageway connected to another gallery. A moat enclosed the original features of the temple. Another enclosure and two libraries were among the additions in the Bayon period. The outer enclosure (700 by 500 meters 2,297 by 1,640feet) is made of laterite and has four entry towers.
A rectangular courtyard to the east is known as 'the hall of the dancing girls', a name derived from the decoration which includes dancers. The entry tower of the second enclosure (3) is in the shape of a cross with three passages; the two on either end are connected to the literate wall of the enclosure (4) 320 by 200 scrolls of figures and large female divinities in niches. In the interior court there is a frieze of Buddha.
A causeway of a later date, bordered with serpents, leads to the entry tower of the third enclosure. It comprises a laetrile wall includes a gallery with a double row of sandstone pillars that open onto a courtyard. Tip Parts of this area have been walled in and passage is limited. Vestiges of the wooden ceiling can still be seen in the central Sanctuary. The galleries and halls, which join it in a cross to the four entry towers, are probably additions. Two libraries open to the west in the courtyards on the left and right of the causeway.
No comments:
Post a Comment