478 STUDIES, SCIENTIFIC AND SOCIAL chap, xxi 



gigantic faces of Brahma which form the unique and 

 characteristic feature of the temple, he sa^^s : — 



" There is upon these faces — which are somewhat strange but yet 

 regular in their characteristics — an air of force and half-smiUng 

 serenity w^liich has a very original air of nobility. Whether near or 

 far off they take their place naturally in the curves of the whole 

 design, and combine in an architectural whole which, notwith- 

 standing the abundance of decorative accessories, still remains 

 true in outline, harmonious in proportion, and grand in general 

 effect." 



From the elevation of the temple drawn to scale these 

 faces appear to be about twelve feet high, and as there are 

 fifty-one towers thus ornamented, the centre one having ten, 

 the others four each, there must be in all 210 of these huge 

 portraits. 



The great temple of Baion is the best designed, the most 

 complex in its forms, and the most original of all the sacred 

 buildings of ancient Cambodia. It at once astonishes and 

 charms, and affords a striking example of the exceptional 

 talent of the bold architects of Khmer. The imposing 

 effect of the whole — as well shown in the view opposite, 

 greatly reduced from an engraving in the atlas to 

 Garnier's work — depends upon the skilful grouping of the 

 fifty-one massive yet highly enriched towers and turrets of 

 a tapering conical outline ; while the profusely decorated 

 galleries and cloisters connecting and surrounding these, 

 now mostly in ruins, contained on the inner surfaces of 

 their walls nearly a mile in length, about eleven thousand 

 figures of men and animals. The temple was also decorated 

 with a great number of statues of gold, silver, copper, 

 stone or wood, the latter usually gilt. 



The great palace in the same city was equally large, 

 perhaps as beautiful, but in a somewhat lighter and less 

 highly decorated style. These are both very ancient. 

 According to old native history the temple was built 

 250 B.C. : not very long after the conquest of the 

 country from India; the palace about three hundred 

 years later. Their marvellous preservation is due partly to 

 their mode of construction, partly to the fact that they 

 were only abandoned about three hundred years ago, so 



