Page:Angkor from Siamese pov - Damrong - 1925.pdf/7

 on we find halls of audience of the same materials. Not until the 17th century do we find royal residences of brick.

There were some objects in Angkor that seemed to me rather curious and inexplicable, for example, the Terrace of the Leper King. Near its base are to be found additional constructions enlarging the base by about two metres. The original carving was not removed outside, but was instead covered up and new carving was made on the sides of the enlarged base. This is as yet unaccounted for (Plate VII).

Again there is another remarkable thing at the sanctuary of Bapuon near the palace of Angkorn Thom. Originally there was a stone road leading from a highway to the sanctuary, about 150 metres in length. A stone bridge of about two metres high was subsequently erected above the whole length of the road, to be filled up again with earth and transformed into yet another road above the first Why such a process should have been adopted is still also unaccounted for.

Again, inside the walls of the royal palace, there is a thick layer of earth about metres deep, evidently a later addition. Vestiges of construction, both before and after the addition of earth, still remain.

It is, therefore, possible that all these corroborate the story that in days of yore there was a big flood at Angkor Thom, which necessitated the removal of the whole court therefrom for a period of more than 60 years. This flood might perhaps have been the cause of all these alterations.

Another remarkable feature are the sanctuary steps. Buddhist monuments can be distinguished from Hindu in that, whereas the former whatever their general magnitude may be, are always constructed on an ordinary level, the latter, however, are generally raised in tier after tier of plinth, to be crowned finally with the sanctuary on top. I may cite Lobburi as an example. Here you will find the Mahādhātu monastery on an ordinary level, and not far away the Sāl Sūng, a Hindu sanctuary, raised on tiers of plinth. An explanation has been put forward that the Hindu believes that his god