Source

CAMBODIA, January 25, 2004: An unprecedented effort to reclaim the ancient temples from the Cambodian jungle is racing against a tourist onslaught. There is nothing quite like Angkor in northwest Cambodia. Within the 155-square-mile Angkor district is Angkor Wat, the most awe inspiring and best known of the 44 temples built between the 9th and 14th centuries. The temples are adorned with spectacular giant carved heads and elegant bas-reliefs. Angkor Wat, the world’s largest religious structure, is surrounded by a moat filled with lilies and topped by five pineapple-shaped sandstone towers with walls covered with carved figures. Angkor was a metropolis of a million or so people, the capital of Khmer kingdom, which flourished for 500 years, peaking in the 12th century.



To Westerners accustomed to romantic images of the ancient religious ruins, the gargantuan roots entwined with the sculptures and doorways may have a picturesque quality, but the trees are a nightmare to the conservationists working to preserve and restore the 100 or so structures in and around Angkor. Roots split walls and crush intricate carvings. The World Monuments Fund, a New York City-based conservation group, has been helping to restore Angkor’s temples since 1989. The region was neglected during the genocide of 1975-1978 when the Khmer Rouge, a radical communist military force that gained power in the late 1960s, killed some two million Cambodians — nearly a quarter of the population. But today, after three decades of relative stability, Angkor is the fastest-growing tourist destination in Southeast Asia. The Fund, along with UNESCO and a committee of representatives drawn from 30 nations, are helping the Cambodian government run the restoration project.



Despite the very real dangers to Angkor’s treasures posed by aggressive commercial development and the swelling tide of visitors, it is hard to image the place losing its magic. In fact, this spectacle of human wonder and blind persistence, the struggle between the stately monuments and the hungry trees, only adds to Angkor’s grandeur and enduring fascination.

Post Views: 558