The jungles of Cambodia have resonated to the fury of war for centuries but no conflict was more ravaging than the dreaded killing fields of recent times which took the lives of millions one in seven of the population perished mingling the spirits of cambodia's present with spirits from its past yet the people endure their faith reinforced by the reminder of a once proud history these are the remains of Angkor Cambodia's ancient capital for the past 20 years they were isolated from the outside world and circled my land mines and booby traps as ensuing regimes claim the site as their own now as a frail peace returns .
they are accessible once more angle one of the great archaeological treasures of the world 75 square miles and shrines stone palaces towers and temples covering an area twice the size of Manhattan upon the discovery nearly 150 years ago archaeologists gaze upon them an amazing calling them grander than anything left my resource Rome who created these abandoned temples and how did the inhabitants once lived in this place of splendid isolation now as Buddhist monks come to commune with the law spirits of cambodia's past journey back in time to mingle with ghosts warriors and kings as we unlocked the ancient mysteries of anger walk yeah today in northwestern Cambodia at the restored temple call anger watch contemporary dancers evoke the spirits of the past the ritual dance recalls the legends of a time when this was the capital of the powerful Khmer Empire thousand years ago.
It is a celebration of early Khmer kings who built spired temples here to please the gods and to glorify themselves the most renowned of the many religious buildings and angle was built by a king known as CEO varmint the second he came to power in the year $YEAR 11 13 expanding the realm of the Khmer Empire throughout Southeast Asia anger what was his crowning accomplishment his funerary temple serving a similar purpose to the pyramid tombs of the Pharaohs of ancient agent workers are believed to have labored on the building for almost 40 years anger watch is the most famous of anglers more than 200 existing separate structures were built in the 12th century it was mysteriously abandoned in the 15th it is considered an architectural wonder one of the world's largest stone monuments the highest of its five towers looms almost 700 feet into the sky it is also the largest religious building in the world dwarfing most of the great cathedrals of Europe but why was this incredible cities creation and it's later abandonment unknown for so long to the outside world the West didn't hear anything about this magnificent kingdom that was built in the heartland of jungle on a floodplain with fabulous monuments.
The West knew nothing about this until the middle of the 19th century so we have nearly 400 years where nothing was known about this superb civilization I think this is where the mystery of anchor comes in the minds of the Westerners the mystery of anger was introduced to the west my french naturalist named on the low in 1860 while exploring northwestern cambodia he was led here by an old rice farmer who told him of a fabulous City set deep in the jungle with the angry gods had hidden it from man after a long difficult journey cutting through miles of untamed jungle there they were you always spell bound by his discovery for 400 years concealed by the unrelenting forest here Lee the deserted ruins of great stone temples to obtain any idea of the splendor of these roads one must imagine the most beautiful creations of architecture transported into the depths of the forest in one of the most remote parts of the world when must ask what has become of this battle for race so civilized invited to create these gigantic works or sad fragility of human things I mean the world 1868 yeah for three weeks day and night yoooo explore the ruins he kept a diary which was published accompanied by engravings of his drawings the temple is arrival to that of Solomon's it was created by some pension Michelangelo.
I have really these notes by the lack of Dodge my desire is not to impose my opinions on anyway but simply to disclose the existence of these monuments which are certainly more gigantic into my mind display more perfect taste than any left to us by Egypt Greece or Rome anymore getting 68 before he was able to return to Europe hello died of a fever he was 35 years old no many others would explore anger scholars credit you owe more than any other for lifting the veil on this once secluded and forgotten world in the Southeast Asian jungle there were several missionaries and traders who visited anchor and recorded in the 15th and 16th century the French the Dutch the spanish portuguese we have records of all of them but moho his what he was able to do that none of the others were is that he was able to bring anchor to the attention of the West Europe and specifically England and to generate an interest in this fabulous site this magnificent kingdom that was created in the middle of the jungle .
It was left to archaeologists like American Russell shihan to solve the mystery of who built anglers magnificent temples we know very little about the way the ancient Khmer lived you know very little about the material culture that they had we know nothing about their scientific instruments we know nothing about their their tools are basic implements we know very little about their the way they educated the people or the way they they dealt with their society and and of course many of these answers the material culture answers can be solved through excavations and almost no below-ground excavation has been done at this site eventually anger would yield some of its secrets about those who once lived here two miles to the northwest of anger want is the ancient capital of the Khmer Empire .
It is known as anger Tom second largest of the many religious sites here and yeah add an elaborate temple called the by own silent stones speak loudly of the life that once course through this vast complex of shrines palaces and places of worship a million people made their homes here by the 13th century there live reflect a surprising array of very familiar and very human activities triumph in battle and war often against invaders from neighboring thailand and vietnam the grand procession of the King on his return to the capital on the outer galleries of the x on a visual litany of daily life 700 years ago.
