SEAArch - The Southeast Asian Archaeology Newsblog

18 May 2006 (IOL) - Another piece on the restoration of Baphuon in Cambodia.

Cambodia’s Baphuon emerges piece-by-piece

Visitors can view a 300-meter section of the temple’s eastern face, as well as walk around the perimeter to watch the reconstruction of a 70-meter-long reclining Buddha that was built onto Baphuon’s lowest terrace several hundred years after the 11th-century temple was constructed…

The most pressing problem at the start of Royere’s quest was the missing plans for fitting the temple back together. But working in Royere’s favour was a large archive of photographs of Baphuon dating back to the early 20th century.

Using these visual records and the surviving portions of facade as a template, Royere was able to determine where the stones scattered about the jungle should go. Workers would walk through the vast “stone field” looking for the block with the right shape, size or ornamentation.

Related Books:
Angkor Cities and Temples by C. Jaques
Angkor: A Tour of the Monuments by T. Zephir and L. Invernizzi
Angkor: Cambodia’s Wondrous Khmer Temples, Fifth Edition (Odyssey Illustrated Guide) by D. Rooney
The Treasures of Angkor: Cultural Travel Guide (Rizzoli Art Guide) by M. Albanese

Tags: Angkor, Architecture, Baphuon, Cambodia archaeology, restoration

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.