DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.27192#0448
Chap. II.
OTHER TEMPLES.
397
fine sculpture. The two inner enclosures are surrounded with
corridors, of which the outer one consists of a central and
side aisle, as at Angkor Vat, the wall being on the inner
side. On the gopuras of the four enclosures, the angles of
the larger inner enclosure, the sanctuary, and other structures,
there are said to have been as many as twenty-eight towers,
nine of which were carved with the four faces of Brahma. The
temple of Banteai Kedei is said to have been originally dedi-
cated to Buddha, but as the faces of Brahma decorate the
towers of the east and west gopuras, this is doubtful. The plan
of the two structures in the inner enclosure differs from any
other examples, the larger one—which from its position should
be the sanctuary, consists, according to Aymonier,1 of a series
of four corridors, running north and south and east and west,
crossing one another and carrying corbelled domes at their
intersection.
In the temple of Phnom Chisor (Prov. Bati) the corridor of
the single enclosure is subdivided by a number of cross walls
forming separate compartments, four of which have entrance
doors, a flight of steps leading to the park outside, and to the
internal court. All the rooms are lighted by baluster windows,
those on the east or entrance side looking outwards, the others
on to the court. The same disposition of windows is found in
the temple of Prah-khan (Prov. Kompong Svay), but here the
corridor is not subdivided by cross walls. Parts of that temple,
of which two illustrations are given, are well preserved (Plate
XLV.), showing the baluster windows and the universal door-
way, which is found in all the temples, varying only in the
sculptured decoration of the architrave and the tympanum of
the gable. The octagonal shafts which flank the entrance
doors of all the Cambodian temples are gone in this instance
at Prah-khan, but Woodcut No. 471, at Bassak, may be taken
as a typical example of the usual doorway.
The courses of masonry of the temples are always horizontal,
and those above the doorway are carried far back into the wall,
so that the octagonal shafts on each side are only decorative
features. The architecture above the door is always richly
carved with varying designs, the gable being enshrined with
two serpents with Naga head terminations, which respond to
the antefix® of Greek temples ; outside the serpents’ bodies are
flames which take the place of crockets, and the tympana are
carved with figures. The same illustration (Plate XLV.) shows
the rectangular windows with balustrades, the panel decoration
between them with female figures representing the Thevadas or
1 Op> cit. tome iii. pp, 19-21.
OTHER TEMPLES.
397
fine sculpture. The two inner enclosures are surrounded with
corridors, of which the outer one consists of a central and
side aisle, as at Angkor Vat, the wall being on the inner
side. On the gopuras of the four enclosures, the angles of
the larger inner enclosure, the sanctuary, and other structures,
there are said to have been as many as twenty-eight towers,
nine of which were carved with the four faces of Brahma. The
temple of Banteai Kedei is said to have been originally dedi-
cated to Buddha, but as the faces of Brahma decorate the
towers of the east and west gopuras, this is doubtful. The plan
of the two structures in the inner enclosure differs from any
other examples, the larger one—which from its position should
be the sanctuary, consists, according to Aymonier,1 of a series
of four corridors, running north and south and east and west,
crossing one another and carrying corbelled domes at their
intersection.
In the temple of Phnom Chisor (Prov. Bati) the corridor of
the single enclosure is subdivided by a number of cross walls
forming separate compartments, four of which have entrance
doors, a flight of steps leading to the park outside, and to the
internal court. All the rooms are lighted by baluster windows,
those on the east or entrance side looking outwards, the others
on to the court. The same disposition of windows is found in
the temple of Prah-khan (Prov. Kompong Svay), but here the
corridor is not subdivided by cross walls. Parts of that temple,
of which two illustrations are given, are well preserved (Plate
XLV.), showing the baluster windows and the universal door-
way, which is found in all the temples, varying only in the
sculptured decoration of the architrave and the tympanum of
the gable. The octagonal shafts which flank the entrance
doors of all the Cambodian temples are gone in this instance
at Prah-khan, but Woodcut No. 471, at Bassak, may be taken
as a typical example of the usual doorway.
The courses of masonry of the temples are always horizontal,
and those above the doorway are carried far back into the wall,
so that the octagonal shafts on each side are only decorative
features. The architecture above the door is always richly
carved with varying designs, the gable being enshrined with
two serpents with Naga head terminations, which respond to
the antefix® of Greek temples ; outside the serpents’ bodies are
flames which take the place of crockets, and the tympana are
carved with figures. The same illustration (Plate XLV.) shows
the rectangular windows with balustrades, the panel decoration
between them with female figures representing the Thevadas or
1 Op> cit. tome iii. pp, 19-21.