Bayon Temple

The Bayon Temple can be located in Cambodia’s Angkor Thom district of Siem Reap.

It is famed for its 173 faces carved into 37 towers. The temple is believed to have been constructed in the late 12th to early 13th century and has survived in it’s earlier periods as a Mahayana Buddhist temple, then later modified under Hindu King Jayavarman VIII, and then eventually adapted to Theravada Buddhism reflecting Cambodia’s shifting spiritual landscape.

The smiling stone faces are believed to represent either:-

The Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara symbol of compassion)

King Jayavarman VII himself as a divine ruler

Brahma (due to the four face designs)

Sadly – the temple is in a poor state of preservation and presents in parts a huge three dimensional jigsaw puzzle for the conservators led by JSA (Japanese Government Team for Safeguarding of Angkor).

We visited the site in April 2013 which coincided with Cambodia’s National Day.