Bayon as a YANTRA

Dr Uday Dokras

One of the Bayon face towers

A R C H I T E C T U R E
Located in the dense jungles of Angkor in Cambodia, this temple was built between the 12 th and
13th centuries and was Mahayana Buddhist King Jayavarman VII’s state temple. Following
Jayavarman’s death, it was modified by later Hindu and Theravada Buddhist kings in accordance
with their own religious beliefs Now in ruins, the temple has neither walls nor moats encircling
it. The feature that attracts tourists from all over the world to this temple are the 50 pillars that
have around 200 faces, each with a gently smiling visage. Each face is 4m high, facing the
cardinal directions of the compass and are. believed to represent divine peace.
Bayon means ancestor yantr but is it really so? Built as a YANTRA?Because of its
conversion from Mahayana to Thervada, there is a strong hint of Yantric Esoteric
Conversion of this structure.
The original name for the Bayon is Jayagiri (or "Victory Mountain" or “Mountain of
Brahma” ; “Jaya” - another name of Brahma and “giri” to mountain), with Sanskrit roots
similar to Sīnhāgiri ("Lion Rock").The name Bayon was given by Etienne Aymonier in
1880. According to his report, Bayon was the Latin transliteration of what he had seen
written in Khmer as "Bayânt" which he presumed most have been a corrupted form of the
pali Vejayant or Sanskrit Vaijayant, the name of the celestial palace of Indra of which the
Bayon was presumed to be the earthly reflection. The first syllable Ba as a Sanskritic

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prefix was similar to that found in other places such as Ba Phnom and could signify the
presence of a protector or defensor.It also means ancestor- yantra–a yantra is a complex
symmetrical blend of shapes that represents the emanation of energies that the universe
came from, and their differentiation into its different worlds. The Bayon has an outer
enclosure that once housed statues of dozens of elites’ ancestors and gods (the people in
the 2 photos above are meandering through its ruins).

And in the above shot, a reconstructed Buddha sculpture presides within it. So the Bayon
didn’t just house the Buddha and the king. It blended Jayavarman’s Buddhism with
traditional Khmer ancestor veneration. The Bayon is a who’s who in the Khmer universe
while Europeans were building their Gothic cathedrals–they constructed Chartres at
exactly the same time.

But we’re only in the Bayon’s outer area. A journey towards its center takes you through
a multi-leveled world that’s so rich that it left me speechless. The next enclosure is
covered with sculptures of gods, people and battles, as an enclosure in Angkor Wat is.
But the Bayon’s friezes approach a revolution in perspective, which we’ll explore in the
next post about this the Bayon.

The Central Sanctuary of the Bayon

Some Buddhist monks visiting the Bayon temple.Central Sanctuary

100 years after Angkor-
Built in its present form about 100 years after Angkor Wat, the Buddhist Bayon temple is
strikingly different than just about any other temple around Angkor. Its mountain-like structure is
topped by 54 towers, each sporting four faces like the city's entrance gates. Although it might
sound repetitive, each of the faces is slightly different.Zhou Daguan, a Chinese emissary,
describes the central tower of the Bayon as being gilt. The temple was reached on the eastern

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side by a golden bridge guarded by lions of gold. Eight golden Buddhas were housed in
chambers around the central tower. Zhou Daguan was not actually allowed to enter the royal
city, so his accounts are not always to be believed.
The purpose of the Bayon remains something of a mystery to this day. It is known that the
temple was built on the remains of an older structure, and that it underwent many changes in the
years after it was built. The temple was built by the great builder king Jayavarman VII when he
made the Bayon his state temple at the center of his royal city, Angkor Thom. In fact, some
people think that Jayavarman VII is the 'model' on whose features the many faces of the Bayon
are based.
Satellite Image of the Bayon Temple

Image ©Google Earth and others

The Bayon is built on three levels. As at Angkor Wat, the gallery enclosing the first level is lined
with bas-relief carvings, which are quite beautiful and more instructive that the ones at the great
temple. The reliefs at the Bayon picture scenes from everyday life, such as markets, games and
even childbirth.
The third level is where you can get up close and personal with the faces. Everywhere you look
you will have at least two or three in your line of sight. The central tower is huge, but somewhat
hard to understand, since it is quite ruined. It's hard to imagine Zhou Daguan's golden spire.
Yantra is a geometrical diagram, mainly from the Tantric traditions of the Indian
religions. Yantras are used for the worship of deities in temples or at home; as an aid in

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meditation; used for the benefits given by their supposed occult powers based on Hindu
astrology and tantric texts.

Excerpts from my book How to build a Sri Yantra Temple

Gopuram of the Hindu Virupaksha Temple has a fractal-like structure where the parts resemble the whole.
Vaastu Shastra, the ancient Indian canons of architecture and town planning, employs
symmetrical drawings called mandalas. Complex calculations are used to arrive at the
dimensions of a building and its components. The designs are intended to integrate architecture
with nature, the relative functions of various parts of the structure, and ancient beliefs utilizing
geometric patterns (yantra), symmetry and directional alignments. However, early builders may
have come upon mathematical proportions by accident. The mathematician Georges Ifrah notes
that simple "tricks" with string and stakes can be used to lay out geometric shapes, such as
ellipses and right angles.

Plan of Meenakshi Amman Temple, Madurai, from 7th century onwards. The four
gateways (numbered I-IV) are tall gopurams.RIGHT PIC Hindu Mandala

The mathematics of fractals has been used to show that the reason why
existing buildings have universal appeal and are visually satisfying is because

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they provide the viewer with a sense of scale at different viewing distances. For
example, in the tall gopuram gatehouses of Hindu temples such as
the Virupaksha Temple at Hampi built in the seventh century, and others such
as the Kandariya Mahadev Temple at Khajuraho, the parts and the whole have
the same character, with fractal dimension in the range 1.7 to 1.8. The cluster
of smaller towers (shikhara, lit. 'mountain') about the tallest, central, tower
which represents the holy Mount Kailash, abode of Lord Shiva, depicts the
endless repetition of universes in Hindu cosmology. The religious studies
scholar William J. Jackson observed of the pattern of towers grouped among
smaller towers, themselves grouped among still smaller towers, that:
The ideal form gracefully artificed suggests the infinite rising levels of existence
and consciousness, expanding sizes rising toward transcendence above, and at
the same time housing the sacred deep within.

The Meenakshi Amman Temple is a large complex with multiple shrines, with
the streets of Madurai laid out concentrically around it according to the
shastras. The four gateways are tall towers (gopurams) with fractal-like
repetitive structure as at Hampi. The enclosures around each shrine are
rectangular and surrounded by high stone walls.
Sacred geometry ascribes symbolic and sacred meanings to certain geometric
shapes and certain geometric proportions. It is associated with the belief that a
god is the geometer of the world. The geometry used in the design and
construction of religious structures such as churches, temples, mosques,
religious monuments, altars, and tabernacles has sometimes been considered
sacred. The concept applies also to sacred spaces such as temenoi, sacred
groves, village greens, pagodas and holy wells, Mandala Gardens and the
creation of religious and spiritual art.
In Hinduism

A Hindu Maṇḍala

The Agamas are a collection of Sanskrit, Tamil, and Grantha[7] scriptures

chiefly constituting the methods of temple construction and creation of idols,
worship means of deities, philosophical doctrines, meditative practices,
attainment of sixfold desires, and four kinds of yoga.

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Elaborate rules are laid out in the Agamas for Shilpa (the art of sculpture)
describing the quality requirements of such matters as the places where
temples are to be built, the kinds of image to be installed, the materials from
which they are to be made, their dimensions, proportions, air circulation, and
lighting in the temple complex. The Manasara and Silpasara are works that
deal with these rules. The rituals of daily worship at the temple also follow
rules laid out in the Agamas.
Hindu temples, the symbolic representation of cosmic model is then projected
onto Hindu temples using the Vastu Shastra principle of Sukha
Darshan, which states that smaller parts of the temple should be self-similar
and a replica of the whole. The repetition of these replication parts symbolizes
the natural phenomena of fractal patterns found in nature. These patterns
make up the exterior of Hindu temples. Each element and detail are
proportional to each other, this occurrence is also known as the sacred
geometry.
The Shri Yantra, Sri Yantra, or Shri Chakra is a form of mystical diagram
(yantra) used in the Shri Vidya school of Hinduism. It consists of nine
interlocking triangles of which 4 are for Shiva and 5 for Raj rajeshwari(parvati )
that surround a central point known as a bindu. These triangles represent the
cosmos and the human body. Because of its nine triangles, Shri Yantra is also
known as the Navayoni Chakra.[1] When the two-dimensional Shri Yantra is
represented in three dimensions, it is called a Mahameru. Mount Meru derives
its name from this shape. In addition to Mount Meru, all other yantras derive
from the Shri Yantra. In the 2009 issue of Brahmavidya (the journal of
the Adyar Library), Subhash Kak argues that the description of Shri Yantra is
identical to the yantra described in the Śrī Sūkta in veda.

The Shri Yantra's 9 constituent triangles vary in size and shape and intersect
to form 43 smaller triangles, organized in 5 concentric levels. Together they
represent the totality of the cosmos and express Advaita or non-duality. In the
middle, the power point (bindu) represents the cosmic center. The triangles are
circumscribed by two concentric circles composed of 8 and 16 petals,
representing the lotus of creation and reproductive vital force. The entire
configuration is framed by the broken lines of an earth square, representing a
temple with four doors open onto the regions of the universe.
Shri Yantra in various forms

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 Shri Yantra engraved in metal/// The Shri Yantra shown in the three-dimensional
projection called Mahāmeru/ The Lalita Sahasranama in diagrammatic form, showing
how its nine interlocking triangles form a total of 43 smaller triangles.

S Y M B O L I S M
The worship of the Shri Yantra is central to the Shri Vidya system of Hindu
worship. It represents the Goddess in the form of Devi Tripura Sundari, the
natural beauty of the three worlds: Bhu Loka (Physical Plane, Consciousness of
the Physical Plane), Bhuvar Loka (Antariksha or Intermediate Space, Sub-
Consciousness of the Prana) and Swar Loka (Svarga or Heaven or Super-
Consciousness of the Divine Mind). The Shri Yantra is the symbol of Hinduism,
which is based on the Hindu philosophy of the vedas. The Shri Yantra is the
object of devotion in Shri Vidya.
The Shri Yantra represents the evolution of the multiverse as a result of the
natural Divine Will of the Godhead Aadi Paraa Shakti. The four upward-
pointing isosceles triangles represent the Goddess's masculine
embodiment Brahm, while the five downward-pointing triangles symbolize the
female embodiment Jagat jannani.[5] The 12 and 15 sides of the four upward
and five downward triangles also correspondingly symbolise, on the physical
plane, the 12 sidereal zodiac signs of the Sun and 15 'nityas' phase-signs of the
Moon.
The Shri Yantra is also known as the nav chakra because it can be seen to
consist of nine concentric layers that radiate outward from the bindu. ("Nau" or
"nava" means "nine" in Sanskrit.) Each level corresponds to a mudra,
a yogini and a specific form of the deity Tripura Sundari along with
her mantra. The various deities residing in the nine levels of the Shri Yantra
are described in the Devi Khadgamala Mantra. These levels, listed from
outermost to innermost, are:

1. Trailokya Mohana, the outermost square, traced in three lines and

interrupted by four recessed portals;
2. Sarvasaa Paripuraka, the outer lotus, consisting of 16 petals;
3. Sarva Samkshobahana, the inner lotus, consisting of 8 petals;

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 4. Sarva Saubhagyadayaka, the outermost ring of small triangles (14 in
total);
5. Sarvarthasadhaka, the next ring of triangles (10 in total);
6. Sarva Rakshakara, a smaller ring of 10 triangles;
7. Sarva Rogahara, a ring of 8 small triangles;
8. Sarva Siddhiprada, one small triangle containing the bindu at its center;
9. Sarva Anandamaya, the bindu.
The sound of the shankha symbolises the sacred Om sound. Vishnu holding
the conch represents him as the god of sound. Brahma Vaivarta
Purana declares that shankha is the residence of both Lakshmi and Vishnu,
bathing by the waters led through a shankha is considered like bathing with all
holy waters at once. Sankha Sadma Purana declares that bathing an image of
Vishnu with cow milk is as virtuous as performing a million yajnas (fire
sacrifices), and bathing Vishnu with Ganges river water frees one from the
cycle of births. It further says "while the mere sight of the conch (shankha)
dispels all sins as the Sun dispels the fog, why talk of its worship?” Padma
Purana asserts the same effect of bathing Vishnu by Ganges water and milk
and further adds doing so avoids evil, pouring water from a shankha on one's
own head before a Vishnu image is equivalent to bathing in the pious Ganges
river.

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idea of a famed female musician and spiritual teacher going by the name of Shri
Anandi Ma, Nikora ashram is a unique place of tranquility as well as spirituality.
With a picturesque tree - lined pathway leading to the temple’s main gate, Nikora is
like a magical mirage situated deep in the recesses of the nearby forest by offering
devotees and tourists alike a magnificent view towards the shores of Narmada Nadi.
Geographically situated in the heart of the sleepy Indian village named “Nikora”,
Nikora ashram may not be an age - old shrine but nonetheless, it’s not one to be
ignored for it serves as a refuge for the needy and it houses a small medical center for
diagnose and treatment of rare diseases and a number of eye problems.
With time, the modern - looking temple gained popularity as a site where everyone, no
matter of their religion or social standing, could seek spiritual advice and immerse
themselves in the world of meditation.

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Ceiling of the Nikora Yantra temple establishing the YNTRA diagram

Enigmatic BAYON

There are many reasons why the Bayon Temple is an enigma. The first is the
name of the temple, or rather our lack of knowledge of how people referred to
the temple during its time of use. Although stone inscriptions, often found at
temple sites, dating from the time of Jayavarman VII exist, and provide specific
details such as the name and inhabitants of other temples (such as Ta Prohm
just outside of the royal city of Angkor Thom), there is no extant
documentation for Bayon—the royal city’s most important state temple. The
name “Bayon” is a 19th-century French transcription of what early European
explorers (such as Charles-Emile Bouillevaux, a Catholic missionary, and
Henri Mouhot, a naturalist), heard from their local informants. [Bayon likely
refers to the Sanskrit term paryanka, which translates to “a pedestal for sacred
statues.” According to historian Michael Vickery, the only contemporary
inscription that may refer to the temple appears to call it madhyadri or
“central mount,” which is a generic term for temples.

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Left: Tower Faces, Bayon Temple, Angkor Thom, Cambodia; right: detail of the tower face in the red
square

The mystery over the temple’s name contributes to the enigmatic face-towers
that define the temple’s architecture. Since the Bayon’s rediscovery by French
scholars and explorers in the 19th century, the identity of the smiling figures
that greet visitors to the temple and to the city of Angkor Thom has been
debated. Do they depict Buddhist or Hindu deities, or do they depict King
Jayavarman VII smiling over his empire? Inscriptions from the temple along
with its name could aid in our understanding of the identity of the four-faced
figures; however, it has been presumed by scholars that such inscriptions were
destroyed by successive rulers who took over Angkor Thom after the death of
Jayavarman VII.

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Plan of Angkor Thom, aerial (underlying map © Google)

Bayon Temple, which was constructed during Jayavarman VII’s reign, is unique as it is
the only Buddhist state temple and the last to be built in the Angkor Empire (also
sometimes called the Khmer Empire). While temples continued to be constructed during the
Angkor period (9th–15th century), none were on the scale or harnessed the wealth and resources
of the Bayon after the death of Jayavarman VII.

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Bayon, the most notable temple at Angkor Thom (photo: Dmitry A. Mottl, CC BY-SA 4.0)

The temple is located at the center of the royal city of Angkor Thom. Unlike other planned cities
in Angkor, Jayavarman VII’s royal city was designed as a mandala or cosmic diagram. At the
heart of a mandala (utilized by Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist practitioners) is the palace of an
important deity or Mt. Meru, which is the center of the universe. Constructed in the heart of
Angkor Thom, the Bayon Temple was intended to represent Mt. Meru on earth.

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The complex itself is built on three levels that are intended to create a mountain-like structure,
symbolically and visually linking the Bayon to Mt. Meru. To this end, the complex includes two
enclosures (levels one and two) that consist of covered galleries and shrines. At the center of the
complex (level three) is the raised cruciform platform that serves as the foundation for the main
temple structure, which originally housed the main icon.

The Bayon, as it stands today, does not reflect the original design of Jayavarman VII and his
architects. This is because the temple has been added to over the centuries. Angkor Thom was so
well fortified that later kings continued to use it as their royal city. While it was common for
kings to build a new state temple to reflect their own religious affiliations, Jayavarman VII’s
successors found it simpler to remodel the Bayon rather than remove it and build a new temple.
This accounts for the appearance of both Buddhist and Hindu imagery at the temple, depending
on the religious affiliation of the new king. These later changes further contribute to our lack of
understanding of the temple as it is not entirely clear when and by whom such additions
were made.

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The Buddha seated on the serpent Muchalinda, shown here soon after it was excavated in the early 1930s. The central
tower served as the sanctuary of the Bayon Temple and originally housed a monumental sandstone sculpture of the
Buddha seated on the serpent Muchalinda.

RIGHT PIC South gate, Angkor Thom, showing the Churning of the Milk balustrade on the left and right

Jayavarman VII was a Buddhist in the Mahayana tradition; however, it is unclear what the
particulars of his practice and beliefs were. This is owing to the appearance of Hindu imagery in
the city of Angkor Thom, such as the Churning of the Ocean of Milk balustrade leading up to the
royal city as well as cult imagery associating himself with the Buddha, and his mother with the
Buddhist deity Prajnaparamita (bodhisattva of wisdom and the mother of all Buddhas) and his
father with Avalokiteshvara (bodhisattva of compassion).The mystery of the face-towers and the
practice of Buddhism during the time of articulated by the face-towers that represent the peaks of
the mythical mountain as well as the central location of the Bayon in the royal city of Angkor
Thom. During the 13th century, the central tower of Bayon would have been gilded, appearing as
a golden mountain at the heart of the city. Although visitors can no longer experience the

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original splendor of the Bayon, extant architecture and detailed bas-relief sculptures serve as a
document of the beliefs and lives of the Khmer people in the 13th century.

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Constructed in a quite simplistic albeit breathtakingly beautiful futuristic architectural style on

CENTER PIECE of Bayon

When the walled city of Angkor Thom was the capital of the Khmer Empire,
this temple sat at the centre, with its enclosure walls being replaced by the
walls of the city. The distance of the walls from the temple makes for a special
visual effect where the temple seems to suddenly rise from the ground like a
man-made mountain, which actually symbolises Mount Meru. The layout of the
temple is based on a ‘yantra’, a symbol that is used to represent the universe by Tantric
Buddhists. Bayon Temple.

The Bayon temple features a sea of over 200 massive stone faces looking in all
direction. The curious smiling faces, thought by many to be a portrait of king
Jayavarman VII himself or a combination of him and Buddha, are an instantly
recognizable image of Angkor. Built in the 12th century by King Jayavarman
VII as part of a massive expansion of his capital Angkor Thom, the Bayon is
built at the exact center of the royal city. The Bayon is the only state temple at
Angkor built primarily as a Mahayana Buddhist shrine dedicated to the
Buddha. Following Jayavarman’s death, it was modified by later Hindu and
Theravada Buddhist kings in accordance with their own religious beliefs.The
Bayon temple rises through three levels to a height of around 43 meters (140
feet). The outer gallery on the first level depicts scenes from everyday life and
historical events, while the inner gallery on the next higher level depicts
mythical figures and stories.

Some of the figures depicted are Siva, Vishnu, and Brahma. The third level is
where you will encounter many of the famous faces (and tourists). The Bayon
was the state temple of King Jayavarman VII, built at the end of the 12 th century. It is
a mountain temple built to represent Mount Meru, the center of the universe in Hindu
and Buddhist cosmology. Given his Buddhist leanings, it is thought that the huge
faces portray him in semi-divine form as a "boddhisattva," an enlightened being
conceived in Mahayana Buddhism who postpones entering Nirvana in order to remain
on earth helping others towards salvation.

Around 25 excavations were carried out at the Bayon between 1919 and the 1960s.
Most of these excavations were in the northeast quadrant of the temple, especially in
the outer courtyards. Three were along the axis of the temple on the upper elevation,
the rest were scattered in different sectors. Very little excavation was done in the
western half of the Bayon, and none in the southwest.

What are the faces of Bayon Temple?Well, Bayon is a Buddhist shrine. 216 smiling,
serene faces were carved onto gigantic towers. The faces were carved to look like
Jayavarman VII. Since the construction of the temple, several of these towers have

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toppled. Unlike Angkor Wat which was originally built for Hinduism, the Bayon is a
Buddhist site but Hindu elements can still be seen in its architecture. Like Angkor
Wat, it also houses exquisite galleries of bas relief scenes depicting important events in
historyIn fact,the 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. Are Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom the same?
Buddhist temple with separate shrines for Vishnu and Shiva
The Bayon was built as a Buddhist temple. A statue of the main idol, a seated
Buddha image sheltered under the hoods of the snake Mucalinda, was
discovered in a pit under the main shrine. A few decades after the death of
King Jayavarman VII, the temple was turned into a Hindu temple when King
Jayavarman VIII reverted the official Khmer religion back to Hinduism; images
of the Buddha were destroyed or turned into Hindu images.
Although the Bayon was a Buddhist temple, other Gods were also worshipped.
Separate shrines were dedicated to Vishnu and Shiva, while countless other
deities were worshipped.

The Bayon is best known for the mysterious faces on its many towers. Due to
its many alterations over time, the structure is of a very complicated design
and has a cluttered feel, with the many towers and other structures cramping
the monument. The Bayon has three enclosures. The galleried 3 rd and
2nd enclosure, and the inner enclosure, which contains the 3 rd floor platform
with the central sanctuary.

Two concentric galleries are sculpted with bas reliefs. The inner galleries
contain mainly religious and mythological scenes, while the outer galleries
mainly show historical events, battles and scenes from daily life.
At some point the temple was deserted and became overgrown by thick jungle.
Clearing of the monument was done in the 1910’s. The face towers and the
central sanctuary were restored by the EFEO in the 1940’s using the
anastylosis method. Since the end of the 20 th century, the Japanese
Government Team for Safeguarding Angkor (JSA) maintains the monument.

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The Bayon’s face towers
The Bayon is best known for its large number of serene faces sculpted on its
towers. Originally there were 49 towers, decorated with large carved faces
looking into each of the four cardinal directions. Close to 200 faces, the largest
ones being almost 2½ meters high, decorate the 37 remaining towers of the
first and second enclosure. While most towers contain four faces, some only
have three, and one tower only bears a single face, probably due to a lack of
space.

Initially the faces were believed to represent Brahma, the Hindu God of
creation depicted with four heads. When it was later established that the
Bayon was not a Hindu temple but a Buddhist one, archaeologists believed the
faces to be of Lokeshvara, the Bodhisattva of compassion. The similarity of
statues of Jayavarman VII and the face towers had led some to believe that it is
the King himself whose face is depicted on the towers.

Approach from the East

Approaching the Bayon from the East is a large terrace with guardian lions
and Naga balustrades. To the left and right of the terrace used to be large
pools, the remains of which can still be seen. A cruciform gopura gives
entrance to the third enclosure.

The third enclosure

The third enclosure measures 160 meters long by 140 meters wide. It consists
of galleries with four pavilions at the corners and four gopura entrance gates at
the center of each side. The pillars of the galleries are decorated with a great
number of dancing Apsaras.
The 3rd enclosure outer galleries contain extensive sculpted bas reliefs, mainly
depicting scenes of historical events, battles and scenes from daily life in
Angkor. They provide a good source of information about historical events and

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the way Angkor people lived at the late 12 th to early 13th century. Inside the
third enclosure, on either side of the Eastern entrance gopura is a library
building.
The second enclosure measures 80 meters long by 70 meters wide. They
consist of corner galleries and inner galleries built on different levels. Its corner
towers and intermediate towers are decorated with large faces of Lokeshvara.
The bas reliefs sculpted on the galleries contain mainly Hindu religious and
mythological scenes.
The circular, narrow and rather dark inner galleries were likely built first. The
inner galleries contained a large number of sculptings of the Buddha. Only a
few have survived. Most of them were destroyed or turned into Shavite images
during the Hindu reaction of Jayavarman VIII in the 13 th century. Built around
the inner galleries, the rectangular corner galleries are at a lower level than the
inner galleries. They were probably added later.

The second enclosure

The first enclosure
The first enclosure consists of the 3 rd floor platform holding the central
sanctuary. Like the 2nd enclosure, the images of the Buddha have been
destroyed or turned into Shavite images.
The central sanctuary that has a 5 meter diameter is accessed on the East
through a number of chambers and vestibules. On either side is a structure,
that might have been libraries. Around the circular central sanctuary are eight
sanctuary towers bearing sculpted faces, forming the circular first enclosure.

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Around it are four satellite sanctuaries. The Western sanctuary is dedicated to
Vishnu, the Northern one to Shiva. Next to each of them, on the 2 nd floor is a
structure that might have been a library. The Southern sanctuary is dedicated
to the Buddha.

During excavation works of the central sanctuary, a large broken Buddha

image was discovered in a pit under the sanctuary. The 3.60 meter high image
in the meditation mudra is seated on the coiled body of the snake Mucalinda,
sheltered by its hood. The image has been restored and is now enshrined in a
pavilion at a Buddhist terrace named Vihear Prampil Loveng, along the way
from the Royal Palace East to the Victory gate.

Khmer war scene

Outer bas relief galleries

The outer bas relief galleries found on the third enclosure mostly depict historical events, battles
and events that took place during the reign of King Jayavarman VII. Archaeologists obtained a
wealth of information about Angkor history from the scenes shown here. In several sections of
the outer galleries carvings have been left unfinished. Among the many reliefs are:

 The shop house of a Chinese merchant, the merchant is seen in a business meeting with other
Chinese people
 A Khmer army procession on the way to the battlefield to fight the Cham army. Several
scenes: The King riding a horse, generals on elephants, the ark of the sacred flame,
princesses in palanquins, musicians, soldiers on foot or horseback, soldiers lying dead on the
ground, fighting scenes, Cham foot soldiers and Cham generals on elephants retreating
 War scenes showing various weapons used at the time: elephants armed with large crossbows
operated by two men, a catapult on wheels
 Palace scenes: The King in his Palace with the Queen, princesses, servants, men playing a
game of chess

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 Scenes of daily life: Shops, markets with food stalls, fishermen with nets, hunters aiming
their arrows at animals, women cooking food
 A naval battle on the great lake (Tonle Sap) where the Chams are defeated by the Khmer:
battleships, the men armed with bows and shields, Cham soldiers are thrown overboard and
eaten by crocodiles

Inner bas relief galleries

The inner bas relief galleries on the second enclosure depict mainly religious and mythological
scenes. Among the many reliefs are:
 A Palace scene with a King, the Queen, princesses, musicians and dancers
 Priests in a temple
 A Royal procession with army commanders on elephants, infantry soldiers, the King on an
elephant, musicians, princesses carried in a palanquin
 Several scenes telling the story of the Leper King: The King is crowned in his Palace, the
King fighting a snake attracts leprosy, the King shows his hands with bites, the King giving
orders to servants, the King lying sick in bed surrounded by women
 Ravana shaking mount Kailash
 A Royal procession to a temple. Over 10 scenes: A King in the Palace, the King leaving the
Palace in a chariot, procession to the temple, an elephant carrying the Royal bow and arrows,
the King praying to Shiva, pictures of a temple, offerings to the Gods
 The churning of the Oceans of milk. Several scenes: a meeting of Brahmans, the Asuras and
Devas pulling and pushing the serpent Vasuki, the ocean and the churning rod, a container to
hold the elixir of immortality
 Vishnu and Garuda in a battle scene
 The Hindu Gods Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma
Face on top of south gate tower of Bayon Temple at Angkor Thom

A huge face and other carved head images are visible at the top of the south gate tower of Bayon
Temple. Such serenely smiling faces are carved on stone towers throughout the Bayon Temple at
Angkor Thom, literally meaning the "Great City."

Angkor Thom was a fortified city built from the early eleventh to the late twelfth centuries A.D.
during the reigns from Suryavarman I to Jayavarman VII. Because it was built over a long time
by successive kings, it really has two city centers and differing architectural and sculpture styles.
Angkor Thom, located just north of the Angkor Wat site is the largest building complex in the
Angkor area.

The Bayon Temple complex was built under the direction of the Mahayana Buddhist ruler
Jayavarman VII, who ascended to the Khmer kingdom's throne at Angkor in 1181 A.D. He
erected the site for Buddhist worship, although it later was renovated and used as a Hindu
temple. Various forms of Hindu and Buddhist worship were practiced side-by-side and
successively in the ancient royal courts of Southeast Asia.

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Classical Khmer kings promoted the idea (known as "devaraja") that there was an intersection of
the ruling king and a validating god. Usually the Hindu god chosen for this personal
identification was Siva, but sometimes it was Vishnu, or, for some, a godly image of Buddhist
origins. Khmer temples thus often portray the ruling king incarnated as the god, whose shrines
are within a monument on earth that models the design of the cosmos and heavens.

The faces depicted on the Bayon towers clearly resemble faces on known portrait statues of
Jayavarman VII. Given his Buddhist leanings, it is thought that the huge faces portray him in
semi-divine form as a "boddhisattva," an enlightened being conceived in Mahayana Buddhism
who postpones entering Nirvana in order to remain on earth helping others towards salvation.
Boddhisattvas are somewhat like Mahayana Buddhist saints.

Four faces, looking toward the cardinal directions, are carved on the sides of fifty-four standing
towers at Bayon Temple. The preservation of many of the towers, however, is poor so it is
difficult to know exactly how all the towers were carved. Over 200 giant smiling faces remain,
but there may once have been between one and two hundred towers, each with four faces. These
structures are known as "face towers."

The bas-relief carvings on the outer walls of the Bayon towers depict heroic historical tales as
well as scenes of everyday Khmer life. Jayavarman VII was a capable military commander who
repelled attacks by the Champa kingdom before becoming the Khmer king and undertaking a
massive effort to construct stone temples and other monuments.

Ultimately, it was the Siamese kingdom based in what is now Thailand, that sacked Angkor in
1431 and ended the kingdom's regional power.

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Conjectural history

The Bayon is a large stone structure which rose up like a mountain. In the early morning, we
impatiently waited for sunrise. In the faint light of the creeping dawn we entered the temple and
were guided to the second level. The rising sun slowly revealed the many faces with their
amazing smile. The immense beatific smile under half closed eyelids were vaguely feminine on
gigantic masculine faces, revealed one after another from one tower to another around me.
Dwarfed by smiling faces in all four directions, it was the oddest feeling.

Faces at Bayon

There were four faces on on each tower facing the four cardinal directions.

More Smiling Faces

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Background: Bayon was the state temple of Jayavarman VII, built in the late 13th century. The
temple is situated at the center of Angkor Thom, a walled capital city the Khmer Empire. Four of
the city’s five gates are on the same axis with the temple, and the walls of the city form the
enclosure walls. The temple was intended to evoke the form of Mt. Meru (as was Angkor Wat),
the cosmic mountain at the center of the world in Buddhist cosmology. In keeping with this
cosmic symbolism, the plan of the Bayon temple is based on a ‘yantra’, a symbol used by Tantric
Buddhists to represent the layout of the universe.
Lokeshvara (trans. “He who looks over the world”) is the embodiment of awakened compassion
in Mahayana Buddhism.

Pierre Loti, a french visitor to Bayon in 1901 in his book Pélerin d’Angkor, with the
remarkable perception of a poet: from on high, the four faces on each of these towers face the
four cardinal points, looking out in every direction from beneath lowered eyelids. Each face has
the same ironic expression of pity, the same smile. The multiplication of these faces to the four
cardinal points symbolizes the idea that the Royal power is blessing the four quarters of the
Kingdom. As for the repetition of these faces on every tower. The idols worshipped in the
chapels inside the towers were statues of deified princes or dignitaries or else of local Gods.
Each tower corresponded to a province of the Kingdom or at least to a religious or administrative
centre of the province. Thus if the four faces symbolizes the Royal power spreading over the
land in every direction, placing them over the chapel which was typical of each province
signified that: the king Jayavarman VII’s Royal power was as strong in the province as at
Angkor itself. This accounted for having a four-faced tower to represent each part of the
Kingdom. We now begin to understand this mysterious architecture as the symbol of the Great
Miracle of Jayavarman VII. It represents his administrative and religious power extending to
every corner of Cambodian territory by mean of this unique sign.

The Bayon seems to have started out following the same royal pyramid-temple format seen at Ak
Yom, Pre Rup, or Angkor Wat. Soon into construction, that format was modified and there was a
definite change in direction. Was it to facilitate a YANTRA structure?

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The land which was referenced as Kambhoj country in Mahabharat, is todays Cambodia! Hindus
resided here till 15th century. It is said that Hindu empire by the name Khmer ruled Cambodia
from 802 AD till 1421 AD. In reality, Kambhoj region was Sage Koudinya’s area. Also,
Kambhoj region was also a region of Nagas. As per references available, the King of Kambhoj
had also participated in the war of Mahabharat. Being a region of Nagas, this is also the region of
Deity Shiva and it is said that Shrivishnu’s vehicle Garud resides on the Mahendra mountain.
Therefore this is also a region of Shrivishnu. This article details few highlights of the study tour
conducted by Sadguru Mrs. Anjali Gadgil and 4 student seekers of Maharshi Adhyatma
University, in this Kambhoj country, the region of Harihar.

1. King Jayavarman VII established Jayagiri town behind Angkor Wat, and at its centre
built the Bayon temple

On a visit to Angkor Thom temple area which is situated at the backside of Angkor Wat temple
one can see that although Angkor Thom temple is small in size, its area is 9 times bigger than
that of Angkor Wat temple. King Jayavarman VII initiated the construction of this temple at the
end of 12th century and King Jayavarman VIII completed it in the beginning of 13th century.
King Jayavarman VII married a Buddhist princess. He established a huge township behind the
Hindu temple of Angkor Wat and named it as Jayagiri. In the centre of the township, the King
built a temple symbolizing Buddhist and Hindu religions and named it as Bayon temple.

2. Meaning of ‘Bayon’, and 49 faces of Buddha carved on the temple

Hu
ge stone carvings with faces of Buddha on the upper side of the temple. (one face is shown in
circle)

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‘Bayon’ means ‘Enlightenment’. Buddha is said to have attained enlightenment under the
Banyan tree on the 49th day. Therefore this temple bears 49 faces of Buddha. The guide
accompanying us told us that, earlier there were 3 types of faces in the carvings and the temple
had 5 peaks. The peaks also had faces of Buddha carved on them. Therefore it is said that in total
there were 54 faces of Buddha carved on the temple. During churning of the ocean, 54 Deities
and 54 demons had participated together. It could be possible that the 54 faces of Buddha were
carved on the temple to symbolize this, or it is also said that Buddha (Bodhisattva) had taken 54
incarnations and the carvings could also symbolize this.

3. Circular shape of temple and top of the temple bearing huge stone carvings with face of
Buddha facing towards all the four directions

Currently this temple is in ruins and is in dilapidated form. It is being rebuilt using the existing
stones. Our guide told that inside the temple there was a South library in the Southeast side and
North library in the Northeast side. There are some sculptures carved in the outer courtyard of
the temple. Once inside the temple, you have to climb a few steps to reach the main sanctum
sanctorum. There is a Shiva temple at that place. The temple is circular. It feels as if Buddha’s
faces carved on the huge stones on top of the temple are looking in all the four directions (look at
the picture above). As per few historians, the architecture of Bayon temple might be based on
Shree Yantra. https://www.sanatan.org/en/a/131819.html

The outer gallery was moved outward, the courtyards and top platform were raised upward,
and the top platform was expanded outward. That meant that the main eastern staircase was
eliminated and the "well" chamber (discussed below) became buried inside the top platform,
opening only on the north. Then the 16 connecting structures and two libraries were built
between the outer and inner galleries, adding a capacity for well over 100 additional images at
the temple.

The Bayon's upper elevation is more like the so-called "ancestor temples" constructed on one
low platform, with 3 sanctuaries along a north-south line, and a mandapa in front of the main
tower. There is a conflict between this format, and the general ground plan - a series of enclosed
rectangles, like at Angkor Wat. For that reason, and because of its measurements, it looks like
the original Bayon was meant to be a square pyramid with three terraces but was changed in the
middle of the construction process.

The alterations in the form of the upper level of the Bayon probably happened when the
pyramid-temple format of a central tower, like that of Ak Yom, was changed into the elongated
format of temples like Banteay Srei. This strange mixture of two temple types at the heart of
Angkor Thom has no obvious explanation.

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The top platform of the two early pyramids at Angkor (Ak Yom and Rong Chen) is
approximately 7 m. high, and the floor level of the inner gallery of the Bayon is also 7 m. high.
The length of each side of the base of the two early pyramids is 100 m., and the remains of a
buried wall along the north side of the Bayon would also make a 100 m. perimeter around the
temple. The original height of the intervening levels of the Bayon corresponds to the height of
the terraces at Ak Yom and Rong Chen.

There is a "well" shaft opening into a chamber in the inner gallery that was meant for the
sanctuaries on the upper level. At the start of construction at the Bayon, this shaft was put under
the central area of the temple, right near the eastern axis - the area of the topmost sanctuaries.
Based on its position, the "well" tower was meant to flank the main eastern staircase to the top
platform. At that time, the top platform would have been at the level of the inner gallery. When
that platform was raised up 4.45 m., the "well" chamber was buried in an expanded plinth, and
lost its position at the base of the staircase. The top of the well could no longer be raised up
higher because there is no room for it on the top platform.

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The "well" shaft in the inner gallery extends about 5 m. below ground level. At the bottom of the
shaft are two walls that cross at the center, each 2 m. high. There is a square hole in the middle of
each wall. There is also an opening in the northwest quadrant, west side. These features suggest a
ritual use of the water in the well. It is this well that was said to have been occupied by a large
naga or snake, before the Bayon was constructed. The bas-relief telling the story of the king's
battle with a snake and the king's subsequent illness is only a few meters east of the well - in an
alcove.

Beam: Unlike all other sanctuaries at Angkor, the chamber over this well shaft once had a
relatively large, central wooden beam spanning its floor area north to south, and there were
corner beams just below the central beam. There was no sandstone floor installed here. The shaft
also extends wall-to-wall inside the chamber. The beams may have provided a means of
lowering and raising water from the bottom of the shaft. Once the location of the shaft was
established it could not be changed, no matter how much the temple itself was altered. That is
why it became "buried" in the top platform, and its entrance changed to face outward from that
platform.

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According to ceramic remains in the outer courtyard, the site of the Bayon was occupied from at
least the end of the 10th century and probably much earlier. Buddhist symbolism in the
foundation of the temple by King Jayavarman VII

From the vantage point of the temple's upper terrace, one is struck by "the serenity of the stone faces" occupying many
towers/ According to scholars, King Jayavarman VII bears a strong resemblance to the face towers of the
Bayon.

The Bayon was the last state temple to be built at Angkor (Khmer: ក្ងអង្គរ), and the only
Angkorian state temple to be built primarily to worship Brahma, though a great number of minor
and local deities were also encompassed as representatives of the various districts and cities of
the realm. Originally a Mahayana Buddhist temple, the Bayon was the centrepiece
of Jayavarman VII's massive program of monumental construction and public works, which was
also responsible for the walls and nāga-bridges of Angkor Thom and the temples of Preah
Khan, Ta Prohm .
The temple is mountain of 216 gigantic face sculptures that adorned its original 54 towers. The faces
represent Lokeshvara, Mahayana Buddhism’s compassionate Bodhisattva, and are thought to be copied
from the actual face of Jayavarman VII, and whose smiles was so gentle that it is often referred to as “the
Khmer smile”. Now only 37 towers remain. Bas reliefs on the exterior walls of the lower level and on the
upper level depict an unusual combination of mythological, historical and mundane events. The similarity
of the 216 gigantic faces on the temple's towers to other statues of the king has led many scholars to the
conclusion that the faces are representations of Jayavarman VII, himself . though as mentiones scholars
have theorized that the faces belong to the bodhisattva of compassion called Avalokitesvara or Lokesvara.

Others have argued that the faces, arranged in four, resemble those of Brahma. The two
hypotheses need not be regarded as mutually exclusive. Angkor scholar George Coedès has
theorized that Jayavarman VII stood squarely in the tradition of the Khmer monarchs in thinking
of himself as a "devaraja" (god-king), the salient difference being that while his predecessors
were Hindus and regarded themselves as consubstantial with Shiva and his symbol the lingam,
Jayavarman VII was a Buddhist.

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Etymology of Bayon
The original name for the Bayon is Jayagiri 9Chey Kĭri) (or "Victory Mountain" or “Mountain of
Brahma” ; “Jaya” - referring to Brahma and “giri” to mountain), with Sanskrit roots similar
to Sīnhāgiri ("Lion Rock"). After French occupancy, it was later named Banyan Temple due to
its religious significance and Buddhist imagery.

Alterations following the death of Jayavarman VII

Since the time of Jayavarman VII, the Bayon has undergone numerous Buddhist additions and
alterations at the hands of subsequent monarchs.During the reign of Jayavarman VIII in the mid-
13th century, the Khmer empire reverted to Hinduism and its state temple was altered
accordingly. In later centuries, Theravada Buddhism became the dominant religion, leading to
still further changes, before the temple was eventually abandoned to the jungle. Current features
which were not part of the original plan include the terrace to the east of the temple, the libraries,
the square corners of the inner gallery, and parts of the upper terrace.

Buddhist symbolism in the foundation of the temple by King Jayavarman VII

According to scholars, King Jayavarman VII bears a strong resemblance to the face towers of the Bayon.

The Bayon was the last state temple to be built at Angkor, Studying it brings you into the
Khmer world during its zenith, and it reveals fascinating changes that had happened
since Angkor Wat was finished about 50 years before. Claude Jacques called it one of the
most mysterious and powerful religious buildings in the world.
Many Khmer studies specialists have felt that the 3 great complexes were symbolically
related. Ta Prohm was associated with Jayavarman’s mother and Prajnaparamita (a

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Mahayana Buddhist deity of wisdom). Preah Khan embodied his father and Lokesvara (a
deity of compassion). The Bayon represented the Buddha and Jayavarman. David
Chandler wondered if all 3 temples were thus related–wisdom/mother and
compassion/dad gave birth to the Buddha/Jayavarman VII, who puts the whole universe
in order.

Chandler was only speculating, but these buildings were probably symbolically related in
some way, since they’re so big and close, and the same guy built them. And the Bayon
was seen as Angkor’s center. So Khmers probably conceived of it in relation to the other
great monuments. And what a center–

The word Bayon means ancestor yantra–a yantra is a complex symmetrical blend of
shapes that represents the emanation of energies that the universe came from, and their
differentiation into its different worlds. The Bayon has an outer enclosure that once
housed statues of dozens of elites’ ancestors and gods (the people in the 2 photos above
are meandering through its ruins).

And in the above shot, a reconstructed Buddha sculpture presides within it. So the Bayon
didn’t just house the Buddha and the king. It blended Jayavarman’s Buddhism with
traditional Khmer ancestor veneration. The Bayon is a who’s who in the Khmer universe
while Europeans were building their Gothic cathedrals–they constructed Chartres at
exactly the same time.
But we’re only in the Bayon’s outer area. A journey towards its center takes you through
a multi-leveled world that’s so rich that it left me speechless. The next enclosure is
covered with sculptures of gods, people and battles, as an enclosure in Angkor Wat is.
But the Bayon’s friezes approach a revolution in perspective, which we’ll explore in the
next post about this the Bayon.

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