Bayon

“This temple was unique in that it has a collection of 54 gothic towers decorated with 216 smiling enormous faces of Avalokiteshvara that supposedly have a great resemblance of Jayavarman VII.”

The faces point in all directions – and as you walk through the grounds it seems as though at every angle you can always see at least one face looking down in one direction or another. It was supposedly built by Jauavarman VII- and some scholars seem to think the 54 towers with faces on them were symbolic to the 54 provinces at that time – and each of the towers with the faces evidently watch over each province for protection.

Again many bas-reliefs in this structure – all of them depicting the scenes of everyday life, as well as important battles during the 12th century; those listed in the book are: ‘The Chams on the Run’, ‘Linga Worship’ ‘A Naval Battle’, ‘The Chams Vanquished’ ‘A Military Procession’, ‘Civil War’, ‘The All-Seeing King’, ‘Victory Parade’, ‘The Circus comes to town’, ‘A land of Plenty, ‘ The Chams Retreat’, ‘The Chams Sack Angkor’, ‘The Chams Enter Angkor’