The Mysterious Smiling Faces of Bayon Temple in Cambodia

13 Dec, 2016 | Travel Blog

From the ultimate guides of each destination, secret beauties, amazing things about food and culture to top suggested resorts and hotels, our travel blog is meant to help you travel Asia at ease and experience the best moments there without any hesitation.

The world-famous temple of Angkor Wat is unquestionably the biggest reason for most of us who want to travel to Cambodia. However, just a few minute walk up north from the world’s largest religious building, the ancient city of Angkor Thom also holds priceless historical and cultural values. In this magnificent square complex, the smiling faces of Bayon Temple are considered the most intriguing feature that captivates the imagination and curiosity of not only millions of traveling already been here but also people from around the world. In fact, apart from Angkor Wat, the pictures of these mystical faces (often monochrome) might well be the first thing that comes to our mind when mentioning about Cambodia.

 

Built-in the late 12th century, at the exact central location of Angkor Thom, Bayon Temple houses 37 stone towers in ruins. This number used to be 54 at one point in the past. On each of these 13-foot tall towers, there is a seemingly countless number of carved smiling faces with eyes closed mysteriously. Most commonly, they are on all four sides of the tower. It is believed that there used to be a total number of 216 gigantic faces in such a small complex upper terrace.

Below is a glimpse of Bayon Temple in 360° viewing:

Views: Temple of Bayon by Google Maps

The meaning of these faces now remains a debate. Some say they embody the image of the great Angkor King, King Jayavarman VII, who built Bayon temple. It is said that he wanted to create these faces to dedicate to Buddha. The number 54 represents 54 days of the lunar calendar as well as the number of provinces ruled by Khmer Empire under his reign. Another belief is these faces belong to the bodhisattva (Buddhist enlightened being) of compassion known as Avalokiteśvara. There’s another theory suggesting that both of the aforementioned hypotheses are partially true as King Jayavarman identified himself with Buddha and bodhisattva. Whatever the truth is, the mysterious smiling faces of Bayon Temple is something extraordinary that will leave you full of regret if you forget to bring a good camera during your trip to Cambodia. Here are some of our copyrighted pictures of Bayon Temple. Enjoy, be inspired, and go!

Share on

Subscribe

Countless travel tips, Asian worth-seeing destinations unveiling are coming to your mailbox every week!

Related post

HUE CUISINE NEEDS MORE ATTENTION!

HUE CUISINE NEEDS MORE ATTENTION!

| 15 Mar, 2024

Hue cuisine is so humble. Maybe that's the way everything in this ancient city is: unhurried, simple but authentic....

Tonle Sap Lake in Cambodia - What makes it so unique?

Tonle Sap Lake in Cambodia - What makes it so unique?

| 11 Mar, 2024

The significance of Tonle Sap Lake is hard to grasp. From the Khmer Empire to modern-day Cambodia, it has always kept ......

Lesser-Known Destinations in Southeast Asia: The Waterlands

Lesser-Known Destinations in Southeast Asia: The Waterlands

| 23 Feb, 2024

Go beyond the most popular tourist spots to explore these lesser-known Southeast Asia destinations in the ......