Page:Angkor from Siamese pov - Damrong - 1925.pdf/8

 is still living, and likes living on mountain tops, whilst the Buddhist monastery regards his temple as a memorial of the Great Teacher who has been long since dead. These Hindu sanctuaries, besides, being raised on tiers of plinth, are not easy of access because their steps are narrow and high and rather dangerous (Plate VIII).

This question of the steps has often been a subject of discussion among visitors to the monuments of Angkor, in-as-much as these sanctuaries, some of them being of the utmost importance, must have been the frequent resort of a great many people from the king and the higher nobles downwards. Why was no thought taken of the danger and risk of mounting the steps? A solution has been put forward that the steps were made steep and narrow to prevent an undue enlargement of their base, which would injure the perpendicular effect of the ensemble; another is that it was the intention of the builders to impress upon frequenters the sanctity of the place by necessitating going upon all fours in ascending and descending. There is so far no agreement as to which is the right solution of the problem.

Of the materials for building, namely brick, laterite and stone, or mixtures of either, one would be inclined at first to believe that brick was the earliest in use, because it was easy to make and easy to handle even with only comparatively few workmen. As their resources and power increased, the Khmer probably began to adopt laterite which was more durable. At the height of their power, when they could obtain workmen by tens of thousands, they graduated into stone which would last and could be carved in as beautiful a manner as they wished. But on examining the inscriptions it will be found not to be the case, since all three materials are mentioned as being employed in one and the same period. So probably the means and inclination, and not the age, were the determining factors. In the case of stone monuments, such as Angkor Wat, plain stones were set up in position first, the carving being done afterwards, whilst the engraving was left to be done last of all.

There is one curious fact that no Khmer religious monuments, whether large or small, were ever completed. I first noticed this in