"About a li [ca 500 m] north of the gold tower [Bayon] is a bronze tower. It is even taller than the gold tower, and an exquisite sight." (Zhou Daguan, p. 48)

Layout

History

Baphuon was inaugurated in 1060 by king Udayadityavarman II (1050-1066) and dedicated to Shiva. Probably the construction started by king Suryavarman I (1002-1050), and was finished by king Harshavarman III (1066-1080).

The pyramid

The pyramid has five tiers, the second and third as well as the fourth and fifth make one step each. The first, third and fifth tier are framed by galleries with gate towers in the cardinal directions, and corner towers. Stairways lead to the gates.

"... the perspective effects give the illusion of a larger structure than reality, and create a different structure with a number of false stairways leading nowhere." (Dumarçay)

The pyramid is steep and tall: the third level is 26.45 m above ground level, the floor of the central tower raises another 8.24 m, total height is 34.8 m. Including the missing central tower the pyramid was some 50 m high. The storeys of the pyramid and their filling were not stable enough; later the pyramid has collapsed.

Buddhist take over

In the 15th century
"it was transformed into a Buddhist shrine with the construction, on the west face of the second storey, of a giant sleeping Buddha, more than 60 m long,,. There was no hesitation in using architectural elements for masonry, not only from the first and third levels but also , probably, from the central tower, to form the statue at the base of the second storey." (Dumarçay/Royère)

Baphuon reborn

The site was cleared and superficially conserved from 1908 to 1918.

But the thorough consolidation of the pyramid was only possible by dismantling it and reconstructing it completely, stone by stone, registering every part. The filling was partially replaced by concrete.

This started in 1960-1972.
"Unfortunately this work was disrupted when the Khmer Rouge came in to power and all notes about how to re-assemble the stones were lost. Of course, this has severely hampered the second restoration attempt which began in 1995 and was still ongoing when we visited - you could see the dismantled stones lying in rows in front of the temple and can only imagine the complex jigsaw puzzle it must be to put it back together again!" (Travelfish)
It was finished in July 2011.

Two months later the pyramid was re-opened to the public. Wooden stairways lead to the upper tiers. The restoration process is well displayed at the east and west gate pavilions of the first level.

Reliefs

"Baphuon is the first temple with abundant narrative reliefs... " (Roveda)

They are arranged in superposed framed panels, mostly measuring 40 cm by 70, reading generally from bottom to top. We find these panels at the proceeding pavilion, east face, at the south gate pavilion of the third enclosure, at the gate pavilions of the second level, and at the west face of the outer west gate.

Selection of reliefs at the second tier

South gate pavilion, south face: Scenes of daily life, of the life of hermits, and of the childhood of Krishna.
North face: Scenes of the life of hermits, and of the Ramayana.

East gate pavilion, east face: Scenes of the Ramayana, Arjuna and Shiva struggling over a boar. Scenes of the Mahabharata.

North gate pavilion: Scenes from the Ramayana.

Visit

A visit of the Baphuon temple takes one hour at least. Or you just have a look to the pyramid as some tour guides suggest to their guests.
Visiting the Baphuon with a guided tour you will not see any reliefs. You can easily visit the temple on your own, just follow the arrows – and don't miss the reliefs! Best time is in the early morning, later it may be hot.
The pyramid is open from 7.40 am to 5.00 pm.

Top

• Dumarçay 1998, p. 33-34.
• Dumarçay 2003, p. 76-77
• Dumarçay/Royère, p. 73-78.
• Glaize, p. 117.121.
• Roveda 2005, p. 363-365.
• Stierlin, p. 143-144.

Web links

• Travelfish.org
• .Wikipedia
• Tapei Times
• AFP