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PILGRIMAGE TO ASIA, continued The next day, December 14th, I went to visit the temple that had immediately attracted me the most because it was called "The Citadel of the Women": Banteay Srei, built in the tenth century. It was said to be the most exquisitely preserved of all the temples. There are about 41 different temples or complexes of temples in this fertile valley.About 25 miles outside town, Banteay Srei appeared like an exquisite miniature temple. Here was a building of human, not superhuman size! First you face a majestic portico, the classic Khmer entrance. Then you pass through several more porticos and follow a pathway through a moat which surrounds the temple proper with lazy waters on which float exquisite pink lotuses. The decorations and scuptings are exquisitely well preserved and it is hardly believable to think that, only 80 years ago, this temple was practically entirely covered with jungle. The architecture and carvings, made out pink sandstone are extremely delicate, well preserved and feminine in style. They depict the stories of the Ramayana, with a strong Hindu influence. |
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