Michael Pluznick » angkor wat

Back in the Bay Area of Northern California, cold but beautiful!

admin — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 19:02:34 +0000

Hi everyone. I am back from my trip to Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. It was a great trip visitng lot’s of beautiful places, meeting some very friendly people, seeing some new temples, beautiful scenery and great weather, too! I was very lucky.

Angkor Wat Temple City Sacred Temples

I really enjoyed going to all the temples and sacred sites in Asia. Cambodia’s Angkor Wat temple city was truly amazing and I highly recommend it for travelers going to Asia. Breath taking and great visuals and vibe there, too! Through architecture we can truly know history. And the architecture in Asia is amazing, for sure.

old VW in my new 'hood

Happy to be home in the very cold Northern California region of San Rafael again. I am getting ready to start a new music project with some interesting chants and percussion, too. Meanwhile, I am waiting for my new computer to arrive. I am going to take lessons and finally learn Final Cut Studio, a new editing software for me and work on the Mali drum and dance documentary many of you have seen the dance clips from on Youtube I am sure.

Mt Tam in Marin County, Nortern California

I will be filming and taking photos of Golden Gate Bridge area, some sunny windy beaches, Mt Tamalpais (Mt. Tam), the mountians and woods today and the next few days as well. Great location for photos freaks like me~

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to check out my new photos I load in almost everyday!

Bayon Temple in Angkor Wat Temple City,Cambodia

admin — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 04:50:57 +0000

Dating from the 12th century, Bayon Temple is the spectacular central temple of the ancient city of Angkor Thom. The complex is located just to the north of the famous Angkor WatBuilt around 1190 AD by King Jayavarman VII, Bayon is a Buddhist temple but it incorporates elements of Hindu cosmology. Angkor Thom was built as a square, the sides of which run exactly north to south and east to west. Standing in the exact center of the walled city, Bayon Temple represents the intersection of heaven and earth. Bayon is known for its huge stone faces of the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, with one facing outward and keeping watch at each compass point. The curious smiling image, thought by many to be a portrait of Jayavarman himself, has been dubbed by some the “Mona Lisa of Southeast Asia.” There are 51 smaller towers surrounding Bayon, each with four faces of its own.

Angkor Wat (Temple) in Cambodia

admin — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 16:16:33 +0000

Angkor Wat is a temple complex at Angor Cambodia, built for the king Suryavaraman ll in the early 12th century as his state temple and capital city.

A photo of the famous Angkor Wat temple in Cambodia

As the best-preserved temple at the site, it is the only one to have remained a significant religious centre since its foundation—first Hindu, dedicated to the god Vishnu, then Buddhist. The temple is the epitome of the high classical style of Khmer architecture. It has become a symbol of Cambodia appearing on its national flag and it is the country’s prime attraction for visitors.

A photo of the famous Angkor Wat temple in Cambodia

Unlike most Angkorian temples, Angkor Wat is oriented to the west; scholars are divided as to the significance of this. The temple is admired for the grandeur and harmony of the architecture, its extensivebas releifs and for the numerous guardian spirits adorning its walls.

The modern name, Angkor Wat, means “City Temple”; Angkor is a vernacular form of the word nokor which comes from the Urdu word nagara meaning capital.

Angkor Wat temple (wat or vat) in Cambodia