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Treasures of Angkor (Paperback)
Loot Price: R257
Discovery Miles 2 570
You Save: R62
(19%)
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Treasures of Angkor (Paperback)
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List price R319
Loot Price R257
Discovery Miles 2 570
You Save R62 (19%)
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Few places in the world are as fascinating as Angkor, the heart of
the immense Khmer empire that flourished in Indochina from the 9th
to the 13th century and is today a magnificent archaeological park.
The Khmers, who lived in present-day Cambodia exploited the special
features of the Angkor plain and created an incredible hydraulic
network of basins, canals and rice paddies that not only guaranteed
subsistence for a million persons but also made it possible to
accumulate a surplus used to finance innumerable constructions. The
Khmer kings were skilful and warlike rulers who, drawing
inspiration from the Indian concepts of regality and from the local
cults of spirits and deified ancestors, built monumental pyramid
temples as reproductions and representations of the mythical cosmic
mountain, Meru. What is more, every temple was reflected in a large
pool that served the practical purpose of a reservoir and the
symbolic function of a representation of the primeval ocean. The
result was a liquid checkerboard dotted with temples, wooden
buildings and bamboo huts and swarming with markets, carts, dugout
canoes, animals and people. The only remains of Angkor, the great
capital city consisting of numerous urban areas that rose up over
the centuries, are its temples, invaded by the luxuriant
vegetation. The plant world has regained possession of what were
once human settlements, bursting through the stones in a
suffocating maze of branches and lianas; indeed, the presence of
this greenery that adds to the ineffable artistic beauty of the
Angkor temples a magical atmosphere of distant times and remote
worlds. AUTHOR: Marilia Albanese a graduate in Sanskrit and
Indology, with a diploma in Hindi Language and Indian Culture, is
the director of the Lombardy Section of the Italian Institute for
Africa and the Orient (I.A.O.) at the University of Milan. 250
colour photos
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