Delight.ONE OF THE JEWELS' OF KHMER CULTURE, THE PHNOM BAKHENG Phnom Bakheng at Angkor, Cambodia, is a Hindu temple in the form of a temple mountain. Dedicated to Shiva, it was built at the end of the 9th century, during the reign of King Yasovarman (889-910 A.D.). TEMPLE COMPLEX AT ANGKOR WAT IS TO BE THE SUBJECT OF A MAJOR CONSERVATION PROGRAMME THAT WILL ENSURE THE MONUMENT'S FUTURE. Seat of the mighty Khmer Empire for over six centuries from AD 800, the city of Angkor is one of the world's cultural and architectural wonders. Among its historic buildings and structures This is a list of famous or notable buildings with articles about them. By Category
v. A past participle of hew. Adj. 1. hewn - cut or shaped with hard blows of a heavy cutting instrument like an ax or chisel; "a house built of hewn logs"; "rough-hewn stone"; "a path hewn through the underbrush" into its side to create a pyramidal incline leading up to the temple at the summit. Here, a quintet of towers, representing the five peaks of Mount Mehru, once stood. Below, on the terraces and around the base of the temple, were over 100 tower shrines. While little remains of Phnom Bakheng's central shrine and principal towers (the sandstone was looted during the sixteenth century to build a large seated Buddha), there are still some very fine existing sculptures, important examples of the deeply carved figures that became known as the Bakheng Style. The hilltop setting also offers panoramic views over the plain to Angkor Wat. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Modern times have brought different kinds of threats--the site was used as gun emplacement during Cambodia's prolonged civil war and the surrounding area extensively landmined. More recently, poorly managed tourism and monsoon rains, exacerbated by deforestation deforestation Process of clearing forests. Rates of deforestation are particularly high in the tropics, where the poor quality of the soil has led to the practice of routine clear-cutting to make new soil available for agricultural use. , have also taken their toll. But there is some hope. The World Monuments Fund The World Monuments Fund (WMF) is a New York-based private, non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of historic architecture and cultural heritage sites worldwide through fieldwork, advocacy, grantmaking, education, and training. (WMF (filename extension) wmf - The filename extension for a Windows Metafile. ) recently secured a substantial $550 000 grant from the US State Department to finance valuable conservation work at Phnom Bakheng. Though the WMF has been working at Angkor for over 15 years, this is the first time that the US has given federal resources to a Cambodian site. It will be used to fund a three to five year programme of environmental and architectural conservation, archaeological research and tourist management, so that what remains of an astonishingly a·ston·ish tr.v. as·ton·ished, as·ton·ish·ing, as·ton·ish·es To fill with sudden wonder or amazement. See Synonyms at surprise. rich cultural heritage can be properly and fittingly preserved. C.S. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] |
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