I’m nearly done with this challenge – it was quite short so if I were meeting my step goals every day I would have finished it days ago. But life had been quite busy (starting a business has lots of moving pieces, and apparently a lot of technology hurdles if the last few days are indicative).
But I digress.
The latest postcard describes the Bayon Temple and its carved faces. I scanned through the accompanying text to find out more…
In the centre is the splendid yet tightly packed Bayon Temple. Built as a Buddhist temple it also has elements of Hindu iconography. There are four giant faces embedded on each of the 54 towers rising from the galleried enclosures and upper terrace. It is theorised that the face is meant to depict Buddha but given its arrangement of four faces per tower others argue that it is the face of Brahma, a Hindu God, who according to ancient texts is meant to be shown with four heads. Many scholars also see a striking resemblance to King Jayavarman VII, the builder. With different schools of thought, some concluded that the theories need not be mutually exclusive. Jayavarman was a Buddhist but he followed the God-King traditions set before him by his Hindu predecessors
Ah ok so that’s why the postcard doesn’t show it. The picture is outside, the faces are inside. Gotcha.
Anyway I should be wrapping this up today. After staying on-theme for the Virtual African Loop for so long, I’m liking taking a more eclectic, semi-random approach to my challenges, and I’m thinking I’m do something quite different again.
More to come… have a great day!
aka gringita 