Champassak, Laos скачать в хорошем качестве

Champassak, Laos

Video with images of Wat Phou an ancient monument from the fifth century AD in Champassak the southernmost province of Laos. The temple complex of Wat Phou was restored from the eleventh to thirteenth centuries by the Angkor regime. It was situated at the foot of mountain Phou Passak some 6 kilometers from the Mekong river. The Angkor considered the mountain sacred because of a giant rock on top of the mountain, the Linga Parvata. The rock in the shape of a lingam was the symbol of the hindu god Shiva. The temple complex had three levels connected by a stairway which lead to a shrine where a lingam was bathed in water from a mountain spring. The site later became a center of Buddhist worship, which it remains today. Not much is known about the history of Wat Phou. Evidence suggests there was a sanctuary in the fifth century AD. Inscriptions make notice of human sacrifices to Bhadresvara a manifestation of the hindu god Shiva. Every year the king came to the mountain to bring a human sacrifice. The largest construction works took place in the twelfth century under the rule of king Suryavarman II who was also the initiator for the construction of Angkor Wat in Cambodia. At the end of the Angkor period Wat Phou was turned into a Buddhist sanctuary. In the nineteenth century a Frenchman Garnier discovered the ruins of the temple overgrown by the surrounding jungle. Heavy monsoon rains have damaged the temple complex. Many walls have collapsed and the moss-grown bricks are corroded. In the past the king sat on a platform in front of an artificial pond to attend the official ceremonies. From the platform a procession lane leads to the pavilions. The rectangular pond near the lane was used for boat races and ritual baths. The lane leads to two opposite pavilions or lodging houses for the pilgrims: the women slept in the building on one side of the lane and the men in the building on the other side of the lane. Only the outer walls of the pavilions still stand vertical. Nevertheless these buildings are part of the best kept remains of Wat Phou. The sculptured windows, pediments and lintels are in the early Angkor Wat style. They show pictures of Vishnu, Shiva and Parvati. Behind the women's pavilion are the remains of the Nandi temple. This little temple was dedicated to the bull Nandi, the riding animal of Shiva. Successive staircases flanked by plumeria or temple trees bearing white flowers lead to the second level of the temple complex. In the past the staircases had balustrades shaped like nagas or mythical dragons, but these have vanished at most places. At the foot of the stairs is a statue of Phaya Kammatha, according to legend the founder of Wat Phou. In the past there were six brick buildings on the second level. Only their fundamentals remain, the rest has been destroyed by treasure-hunters. The purpose of these buildings is not sure, but because of the used brick material - an expensive construction material at the time - the archaeologists think they were probably temples. The main sanctuary of Wat Phou dedicated to Shiva is on the third level of the temple complex. The facade of this temple has sculptures with scenes from Lak Pha Lam, the Laotian version of Ramayana, and pictures of Shiva and his wife Parvati. The lingam in the temple has vanished. In the time of the Angkor empire stone aqueducts transported water from a nearby well to the temple to bathe the lingam. The holy water was used by the pilgrims for ritual cleansing. The sanctuary was reconstructed in the later eleventh century. Its main entrance has three doorways. Their pediments show Krishna defeating the naga Kaliya, Indra riding Airavata, and Vishnu riding Garuda. The wall bears dvarapalas or guardians and devatas or angels. Other features of the area are a library in poor condition south of the sanctuary, and a relief of the Hindu trinity to the northwest. The Trimurti relief was carved in a rock and depicted the hindu gods Vishnu, Shiva and Brahma. There are other carvings further north: a Buddha's footprint on the cliff-face and boulders shaped to resemble elephants and a crocodile. The crocodile stone has acquired some notoriety as being possibly the site of an annual human sacrifice described in a sixth-century Chinese text. The identification is lent some plausibility by the similarity of the crocodile's dimensions to those of a human.