The Challis messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1912-current, 1922-07-12

I many others scattered about this wide
plain, including Angkor Tom, only q
mile away; but these are all ruins,
indeed, while the wat" might still be
called building.
Standing In front Of the temple
grounds (the word wat means tenn
ple), you see mOat SOME 80 rods
wide surrounding the premises like q
medieval castle, and crossed by a stone
causeway leading to the main entrance.
This entrance is itself a massive tower,
thanked by two others only little
smaller set in the inclosing wall. The
whole Enclosure is 800 by 1000 me-
tiers, and it's area Is therefore 176
acres. Passing through the entrance,
you see the elevated stone causeway,
flanked by several temples, leading up
to the wat In the distance.
At distance you get the effect Of
lateral magnitude only, for the entire
structure or group of structures Is sit
ting fiat on a level plain. unaspiring
and almost unlnsplrlng. 1t is not a
little surprising to look at the central
tower and hear that 1t Is actually 65
meters (213 feet) from Its summit to
the level of the plain.
1t Is not till one enters the galleries
and begins to measure distances rel
atively therefrom that the grandeur
and impressiveness of the conception
begin to make themselves felt. Those
same rounded towers now spring aloft,
and the inner temple Is raised above
surrounding gallery, which is in turn
terraced above an outer and surround
ing gallery, till the roof Of the latter
Is on a level with the base of the for
mer. These two encompassing CALLER
les and the cruciform temple building
proper within them are the main de-
tails in the groui plan of the wat.
The material III ed throughout In the
construction Is a grayish sandstone
which the French call "gres." 1t much
resembles marble In closeness and
fineness Of grain, md it stands wealth
ering admirably. Where portions Of
the decorative detail had been affec-
tiOnately caressed and stroked by ad.
miring hands, the stone Is as smooth
as polished marble. The effect Of the
color Is certainly as somber as could
be conceived, and to see it in ruins IL
painfully suggestive of the grayness Of
death.
Covered With Carvings.
And all Of these tons upon tons Of
stone were brought from Prom Coulen,
nearly 10 miles away. How, overland?
impossible. II that submerged forest
could tell its own history we should
probably hear Of time when both
Prom Coulen and Angkor were stu
ated upon the margin Of Tonic Sap
and the stone barges went to and fro
between them. But that triumphant
forest, having driven back the sea, has
made malarlal marsh near the ruins
which is simply one of It's weapons
offensive.
pressive. the amount of decorative
work done upon it, to speak only
Quantitatively, Is still more so. Inside
and outside, from top to bottom, 1t 10
mass of carving in stone. A few
blank spaces are to be found about the
building, and these are generally In
the main temple, reserved for the work
of the greater artists who never came.
Both the encircling galleries consist Of
n row of square columns on the outer
side, an arch en- cnrbeille above, and
an inner wall with an entablaturc for
the whole colonnade. And everything
is decorated-the four fiat faces Of the
columns, the walls, the entablature
and the wooden ceiling which formerly
rested upon it. concealing the arch
which is unornamented
Who built these ruins, and when did
they build them?
The Khmers built them but who
they We're. where they came from.
when and why they built, and finally,
why they disappeared, nobody Is yet
able to answer with certainty. Tradi-
ton In the person of an alleged Chi
nese historian says that powerful
ruler once emigrated from India with
all his followers to escape a still more
powerful ruler; that he subjugated
the people he found here and put them
to work erecting these enormous edi-
fees of stone. At present the safest
guess as to the date of building is as
follows:
For Angkor Tom, the Ninth century
A. D., or during the reign of Alfred
the Great in England. For AngkOl
Wat, the Twelfth century. or 1W
years after the Norman conquest