SouthEast Asia - Traveling Thru History https://www.travelingthruhistory.com Learning about the past by traveling in the present. Tue, 14 Jan 2020 03:03:25 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9 https://i0.wp.com/www.travelingthruhistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/cropped-Travelling-Thru-History-Button-512x512.jpg?fit=32%2C32&ssl=1 SouthEast Asia - Traveling Thru History https://www.travelingthruhistory.com 32 32 72711831 Top 10 Ruins of Southeast Asia https://www.travelingthruhistory.com/top-10-ruins-of-southeast-asia/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=top-10-ruins-of-southeast-asia https://www.travelingthruhistory.com/top-10-ruins-of-southeast-asia/#comments Wed, 26 Aug 2015 01:51:31 +0000 http://www.travelingthruhistory.com/?p=2894 One of my most favorite things in the world would be ruins. I just love them. There’s such a sense of mystery to ancient structures that makes them so incredibly fascinating. What did they actually look like when they were first built? What did they look like all decked out for the rituals and ceremonies that were held there? How long did the ancient inhabitants plan the structures before building them? Why did they stop using these structures? What would they say now, if they could see the hundreds of thousands of people who come to gawk at the ruins now? With all of the amazing ruins around Asia, I decided to narrow it down to Southeast Asia, since that is where I spent most of my time, and to pick the best ruin from each country. Some countries have soooooooooo many to choose from and some are limited in their offerings. That doesn’t make the ruin any less intriguing. Andaman and Nicobar Islands Courtesy of Flickr Site: Ross Island Church Location: Ross Island, Port Blair Built: Late 1700s or mid-1800s Restored: No Cambodia Site: Angkor Wat Location: Siem Reap Built: 12th Century Restored: Partially Indonesia Site: Borobudur Location: Yogyakarta, Central Java Built: 750-825 AD Restored: Yes Laos Courtesy of Flickr Site: Buddha Park Location:  15.5 miles (25 km) southeast of Vientiane Built: 1958 Restored: Maintained Malaysia Courtesy of Flickr Site: Bujang Valley Location: Merbok, Kedah State Built: 6th century Restored: Excavation and restoration underway Myanmar Site: Bagan Location: Bagan Archaeological Zone Built: 11th-13th centuries Restored: Some of the temples have been restored while some don’t need to be and others are waiting to be restored Philippines Courtesy of Flickr Site: Paoay Church Location: Marcos Ave, Paoay, Ilocos Norte Built: 1694-1710 Restored: Partially Singapore Courtesy of Flickr Site: Fort Canning Location: Fort Canning Hill Built: 1859 Restored: Partially Thailand Site: Wat Yai Chai Mongkhon Location: Ayutthaya Built: 1357 AD Restored: Partially Vietnam Courtesy of Flickr Site: Mỹ Sơn Sanctuary Location: Duy Phú, Duy Xuyên, Quảng Nam Province Built: 4th-14th centuries Restored: Partially

The post Top 10 Ruins of Southeast Asia first appeared on Traveling Thru History.

]]> https://www.travelingthruhistory.com/top-10-ruins-of-southeast-asia/feed/ 23 2894 The Ruins of Pre Rup https://www.travelingthruhistory.com/the-ruins-of-pre-rup-2/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-ruins-of-pre-rup-2 https://www.travelingthruhistory.com/the-ruins-of-pre-rup-2/#comments Sun, 07 Jun 2015 17:51:36 +0000 http://www.travelingthruhistory.com/?p=1742 Pre Rup is an ancient Khmer temple in Angkor, Cambodia, just outside Siem Reap. It was built about 961 AD and dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva. Not much is known about this temple, but the common belief is that this temple was used for funeral ceremonies. “Pre Rup” translates to “turn the body”, which coincides with ancient Khmer funerary practices of rotating a person’s ashes during the funeral ceremony. When you first arrive at Pre Rup, this is what greets you. From a distance is just looks like a pile of disordered rubble, but as you get closer you can see the detail and precision that went into creating the walls and towers. On all four sides of Pre Rep are series of aligned doorways. These are believed to have once held elaborately carved stone pyramid-style arches. The use of this water cistern is debated by scholars. Some think it was used in funeral ceremonies while others think it was a base for a bronze statue. To the left you can see a typical setup for cloth paintings. Vendors that sell painted cloth are at each of the temples and they come up with some really fascinating pieces. Pre Rup was built using laterite and brick. Laterite is a form of clay that is rich in iron and aluminum and has a rusty red hue because of the iron oxides in the soil. This clay is found primarily in wet tropical areas that have high temperatures, making it an abundant substance in Cambodia. At the top of the central staircase you can see the remnants of two dragon statues. Due to vandalism, most of the dragon statues at the Angkor era temples are missing their faces. This structure is commonly called a ‘library’, but it is not believed that actual manuscripts or any type of written work was housed here. The true purpose is unknown, but it is believed that these types of structures were a form of religious shrine. When we were walking around one of the galleries down there, I didn’t lean down far enough when going through a doorway. Cambodian people are pretty short now, but they must have been a lot shorted several thousand years ago. I smacked my head pretty good on the arch and had to sit down a minute. Troy thought it was the funniest thing in the world and took to miming me every time we went through a doorway for the rest of the day. Each temple in Cambodia still functions as an operating temple. These buddhas and flowers are taken care of and prayed to daily by devout parishioners. As we left Pre Rup, we were treated the a lovely view of one of the man-made lakes that used to feed into the moat that is no longer around Pre Rup.

The post The Ruins of Pre Rup first appeared on Traveling Thru History.

]]> https://www.travelingthruhistory.com/the-ruins-of-pre-rup-2/feed/ 22 1742