Bayon Temple Faces | Exploring One Of The Coolest Temple In Siem Reap

One Cannot visit Siem Reap without exploring Bayon Temple face. These Bayon Temple smiling faces are what draws the crowds. Bayon’s most distinctive feature is the multitude of serene and smiling stone faces on the many towers which jut out from the upper terrace and cluster around its central peak.  Almost everywhere you look there are faces, you will start to wonder just how many faces are in Bayon Temple. There are 216 gigantic faces on the Bayon temple’s towers.

It’s best to take your time and see only a few temples a day so that you can fully explore each temple at leisure and then repeat on the ones that you liked. Out of all the temples that we visited Bayon Temple stood out for me. Out of all the temples we passed by, visited, and explored, Bayon Temple came out a clear favorite for me. You can see part two of our visit to Bayon Temple on the blog.

Bayon Temple is distinctive in that it’s richly decorated with a multitude of smiling faces in many of the towers of the Bayon Temple. Bayon Temple was a state of Jayavarman VII, a powerful ruler in the 13th century. It’s sat on what was a center of Angkor Thom, a walled city that served as the capital of the Khmer Empire. Much like all other the temples, there are carvings around the temple telling stories of the empire, of life of those in around cities at the various times throughout past centuries.

 

 

 

The temple has seen modifications having passed through Hindus and Buddhists. This is evident in the combination of beliefs and representation through mythological, historical scenes around the temple as well the notable marks where carvings were later removed as and when different leaders were in power and depending on their beliefs (whether following Hindu or Buddhist) some motifs were removed.

 

 

 

Out of all the temples, Bayon Temple stands out, it’s different from all other temples which seem follow a rather tradition or classical style and perhaps that makes them appear roughly the same. Bayon temple, I guess makes you fall in love with it as it smiles at you from every direction as your explore. So much so that I wouldn’t be surprised if you revisited this temple twice more. We managed to visit and walk around twice as well as passing by it several times during our stay in Cambodia. I will share more pictures from our second visit to Bayon Temple.

 

 

 

The tips and ticket details I shared in the Angkor Wat post in that your should bring with you some water, something to cover and protect your from mosquitoes as well as sunscreen or an umbrella, especially during the crazy summer season.