Temple talk

One of the enigmatic faces of Banteay Chhmar

Quite a bit of temple talk whilst I've been away in Mondulkiri, so here's some catch-up. The main highlight - or lowlight in this case - was some idiotic decision to build a mobile telephone antenna on the foundations of the pre-Angkorean temple at Kompong Preah, in Kompong Chhnang province. The four guys on site, who'd dug holes and erected a series of metal struts just inches from the remaining two 7th century towers, have been arrested but the sheer stupidity is unbelievable. This complete disregard for Cambodia's culture heritage is mind-blowing and shows that there's still a lot of work to be done to persuade and educate some Cambodians that their heritage is worth protecting. Kompong Preah is one of the few key sites that I still haven't visited and during the rainy season, the temple site is on an island surrounded by water. The Kompong Preah architectural style is notable for its distinctive floral lintels and the temple at the center of controversy was built in the reign of King Jayavarman I.
Banteay Chhmar, one of my favourite temple sites, located in the northwest of the country and pretty close to the Thai-Cambodian border made the news recently. A four-year plan to preserve and rebuild the temple has been hatched between the Ministry of Culture and Global Heritage Fund, a US-based NGO, who've contributed $280,000 this year and will continue to provide funding for the next three years. However, officials say it could take up to twenty years to fully restore the vast 12th century temple. The report also said that CMAC are de-mining in and around the temple site, which is a tad worrying, as I've been scrambling around that area on quite a few occasions in the past. Last but not least, Preah Vihear continues to hit the headlines, with various reports linked to the UNESCO World Heritage application which will be decided in the middle of this year. Lots of paper talk that the temple site will be a rival to Angkor Wat and whilst I agree its a fantastic temple in a stunning location, AW will always be number 1 in my book. I will never erase my first sighting of AW back in 1994 - its remains one of the most dramatic moments of my life.