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Chua Say Tevoda: A History of Angkor Temples
Whenever someone mentions anything ‘Angkor’, the first image that comes to most people’s minds is the impressive and daunting image of Angkor Wat. Angkor Wat is a magnificent temple complex that spans roughly 200 acres and includes the main temple, dozens of gopuras (carved towers over doorways), statues, galleries, libraries, towers, shrines, ponds, long promenades and smaller structures. Chua Say Tevoda is a group of small temples that sit roughly a mile away from the Angkor Wat complex and are classified as Angkor temples. Most of the Angkor temples in Cambodia were built during the mid 1100’s and composed of standstone blocks and laterite. Sandstone was used on the exterior and visible interior parts…
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Leshan Giant Buddha
In 693 AD one of the most colossal undertakings in pre-modern history began taking place. A Buddhist monk named Haitong decided he wanted to build a Buddha statue in the Sichuan Province of China. But it wasn’t going to be just any Buddha statue. This Buddha statue was going to be carved into the side of a mountain next to a river in hopes that the Buddha would be able to control to tempestuous river spirits and allow safe passage to the numerous travelers of that river. After saving alms for 20 years, Haitong saved up enough copper coins to begin building this monumental statue. He enlisted help from other monks, masons and his…
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Maha Vihara Buddhist Temple
When we lived in Kuala Lumpur, I really enjoyed walking around the neighborhood and taking in the sites. We lived by Little India, which was filled with all sorts of Hindu shops and temples, and also by a little Buddhist section of town, so there were always really interesting things to see. One day I decided to just wander and see where my feet took me and I ended up at this cute little Buddhist temple from 1895 that I’d never known was there before. The main gate is known as the Sanchi Main Gate, after the village of Sanchi in India, which is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.…
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Candi Mendut
Candi Mendut is a 9th century Buddhist temple located in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. It is one of three temples along a straight line that are of religious importance to the Javanese people, but the exact relationship between the three has been lost. All that is known now is that Candi Mendut, Borobudur and Pawon were all used for a combined religious ritual. Candi Mendut, more commonly known as Mendut, was built in the early 9th century, sometime before or around 824 AD. Dutch archaeologist JG de Casparis believes the temple mentioned in a Karangtengah inscription dated 824 AD is Mendut temple and has presented enough evidence to back up his claim that the archaeological community…
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She Myet Hna
She Myet Hna is one of the 2,200 Buddhist temples, stupas, payas and pagodas that still remain of the 10,000+ that were built in Bagan, Myanmar. While most have are in ruins or disrepair, this one has been preserved and restored. We actually found this temple by accident. One of the modes of transportation in Bagan is the bicycle. We rented our bikes from our hotel, Thante Nyaung U, and rode off in search of some of the temples. As you can see, our hotel wasn’t too far from Old Bagan. Old Bagan is the section inside the blue lines on the left side of the picture. It took us…
