THE TEMPLE OF ANGKOR WAT 
A general view of the moat, entrance, and grounds of a marvellous old temple on the Malay Peninsula built about 
i ioo A.D. and said to be one of the most profusely decorated in the world. When discovered by Europeans in the iqth 
Century it was somewhat dilapidated and overgrown by the jungle though still used by Buddhist priests for worship 
THE LOST GARDENS OF CAMBODIA 
H. H. MANCHESTER 
Author of “A Pictorial History of the Garden,” an interesting series on the early horti¬ 
culture of Egypt, Greece, Assyria, etc, recently published in The Garden Magazine 
A Romance of Fact More Fascinating than any Flight of Fancy—Rediscovering Old Gardens of the Malay 
Peninsula where Orchids and Oleanders, Pomegranates, Peaches, and Figs Grew Seven Centuries Ago 
WAS not until the 19th Century that Europeans 
discovered in Cambodia, in the Malay Peninsula, the 
K'Jr immense ruins of Angkor Thom and Angkor Wat, said 
KllOsi to be the most profusely decorated palaces and temples 
in the world. In Angkor Thom, the city, the buildings are 
mostly in ruins, but still convey a conception of the palaces 
and grounds. Angkor Wat, the temple, while dilapidated 
and overgrown with the jungle, is still a wonderful structure 
in which Buddhist priests worship, and the plan of its luxurious 
gardens may still be discerned. 
These discoveries revealed a hitherto unknown and highly de¬ 
veloped people amidst 
the jungle of the 
past, and since then 
archaeologists have 
been attempting to 
discover something 
about them. Though 
there are hundreds of 
inscriptions among the 
ruins, few of them are 
as yet deciphered, and 
most of the data con¬ 
cerning the mysterious 
land come from Chi¬ 
nese sources. 
There is a legend 
that about 400 A. D. 
a prince of India, who 
had rebelled against 
his father, was de¬ 
feated and exiled with 
all his forces. They 
are said to have made their way to Cambodia where they estab¬ 
lished themselves, the name of the country being taken from 
Kambu, which was that of the founder. It rose to power 
through the next two centuries, but in A. D. 616 began to pay 
tribute to China. At that time the chief city had about 
twenty thousand buildings, and a temple on a mountain near by 
was guarded by live thousand men. 
Angkor Thom was built as a capital about 900 A. D., and the 
temple of Angkor Wat about two centuries later. At that 
time the monarchs were under the influence of the Brahman 
Divakara, though the Buddhists were also strongly represented 
and later added many 
features to the city 
and temple. 
N 1295 the China¬ 
man Chow-Ta- 
Kouan visited Cam¬ 
bodia, perhaps coming 
with the very expedi¬ 
tion in which was 
Marco Polo on his way 
back to Italy. He 
wrote an account of 
Cambodia which gives 
us the best idea of the 
palaces and grounds 
there just before the 
era of its decline. 
The general plan 
of Angkor Thom is 
described by him as 
follows: “The capital 
THE RUINED PALACE OF THE KINGS AT ANGKOR THOM 
Angkor Thom, the capital of Cambodia (Malay Peninsula), dates back to about 900 A.D. 
and ‘‘the wealth of the city is evinced by the fact that many of the statues were covered with 
gold and the tower of the palace where the king passed the night was also covered with gold” 
409 
