Part I - Angkor Wat Temple - Kingdom of Cambodia!!

Angkor Wat is the largest temple complex creations in Siem Reap city of Cambodia based on Deity Vishnu in the era 12th Century by the king Suryavarman II !! Gradually it was modified into Buddhist temples at the end of 12th century!

As per Hindu mythology, out of ten avatars of lord Vishnu, Buddha is the 9th avatar, so if you see in either way, Hinduism and Buddhism are having same roots of origins.It has always been said that Buddhism and Hinduism are two different religions. From my perspective, Hinduism is way of living life since origins. Working towards moksh or moksha is the ultimate goal of any human beings who takes birth and thats what Hinduism and Buddhism strives for. Buddhist way of life is created by Buddha ( Siddhartha) son of Hindu king. I always feel Buddhism is the state of mind while Hinduism is way to live life based on Dharma,Artha,Kama and Moksha!!

Indian heritage and culture including Buddhist way of life has always fascinated me as an individual! The more you travel across the country and overseas, the more deeper you come to know about the roots of  Indian culture. Whether its a ruins of Hampi , Bodhgaya or Angkor wat temple in Cambodia, you will find immense similarity in the structures, in the carvings and in the foundation of such temples.

There is an assumption that the temples are made to showcase glory and richness. Actually, temples are predominately are created to make space for divine energies to consecrate and exist at one place. Humans visiting such  divine consecrated temples were mean to reach blissfulness dissolving ones desires of worldly needs and leading towards the thought of Moksha by breaking the chain of birth and death. If you see such structures from the perspective of spirituality, you will come to know why temples are created in such ways!! 

The only purpose to visit Cambodia for me was to observe and feel the Angkor Wat temple! This temple is located in the city called Siem Reap of Cambodia, the entire city runs on the tourism of Angkor wat temple,  tourist from across the globe visit this beautiful structure.

Cambodia as a country has more than 500 plus temples, most of them ruin states due to invasions over the years, the country has gone through lots of trouble and turbulence, country is called kingdom as it has king ruling the state followed by the prime minister.It was a Hindu kingdom many centuries back, Hindu kings in the 5th century ( evidence of Sambor prei kuk temples) created these magnificent temples. 

Angkor Wat Temple is mix of Hindu scriptures and Buddhist carvings. The most important thing which astonished me was the surroundings of Angkor Wat temple , its in dense forest and completely contradicting the city Siem Reap. The temple is surrounded by acres of greenery. At one time, it was said to have tigers, elephants and many more wild animals. The entrance from the east gate is as royal as it can be! The way heading towards the temple area is through bridge constructed over beautiful pond I would say. The first time I felt happy when I saw lotus in the pond all over. You will find in Angkor Wat temple a huge Vishnu statue to welcome you at the entrance.

The magnanimous of the temple is such that you can think of those years when it was at peak. It is said that it took almost 40 years to construct this beautiful structure.I was just observing the surroundings, when I heard our team mate stating whether we want to go to left or right or straight to heaven on the top floor. He stated that we were lucky to visit the top floor as it was suppose to be closed down after few days due to some Buddhist holidays coming in!!

Obviously we opted for the heaven option! We walked through the stair case to reach to the point where it was earth center! Most of us removed the cellphones to check the directions and it was actually the center! Now we have to understand the science behind it. In the middle of the temple taking the center of the earth this temple was created, you know why?

There is always a vedic and spiritual reason behind temple creation. This is more to channelize the energies in certain way for the beneficial of the mankind. Finally we all are energies and we always need a charger to keep us alive! Thats the true essence of creating  such beauties. Do know you why you get solutions to all your problems when you visit in temples? Its because we are tuned to the divine frequency once we enter such structures, finally we all are part of his grace, Are not we?

Past the center point, we came to place where we had steep climbing of the staircase, step towards the heaven! We went up, and trust me that was first time in Cambodia I felt breeze hitting me hard. 

The outside view was just out of the words for me. I went into the world of Angkor and started imagining the purity of the surroundings! Reached state of blissfulness that day!

The carvings across  the temple showcased how Hindu culture has deep penetration in Angkor Wat, whether its carving of Ramayana, Mahabharata or samudra manthan.The temple has scriptures of Mahabharata and Ramayana carved on the walls almost half kilometer walk throughout the premises of  either side of the temple.

We started our descend and gradually started coming out of the temple premises walking through the green zone. Angkor Wat is truly a must visit place for any traveler across the globe! I personally love visiting temples across India and overseas. I think within a span of half day, I had explored only 1/4th of  Angkor Wat, it needs almost two to three days to explore the huge premises of this mystic temple. I am not sure whether I will travel back to Cambodia or not, but Angkor Wat visit would always remain fresh as fragrance of flowers in my heart throughout my lifetime!


Thank you all!!