Page:History of Indian and Eastern Architecture Vol 2.djvu/472

 396 FURTHER INDIA. BOOK VIII. water, forming huge tanks (sras), but they are too small to have served for nautical displays. The conjectural restoration, as shown in the bird's-eye view of Beng Me"ale& in Woodcut No. 470, gives a very good impression of the architectural composi- 470. Conjectural Restoration of the Temple of Bgng Me"alea. By M. L. Delaporte. . (From " Le Cambodge" : tome I. " le Royaume Actuel" par Etienne Aymonier.) tion of the Cambodian temples, which, with their smaller corridors and great halls, seem to be more appropriate as palaces. All the corridors and halls were vaulted in stone, a type of construction which was employed only in religious structures. The walls of the corridors here were not carved as those of Angkor Vat and Bayon, the decoration being con- fined to the entrance portals and the towers. One of the cruciform terraces carried on circular piers, to which reference has been made, is shown in this view, without, however, the serpent balustrades or flights of steps down to the lower level, as found at Angkor Vat. OTHER TEMPLES. On the east side of Angkor Thorn, distant respectively half a mile and a mile from the same, are two temples, Ta Prohm and Bcinteai Kedei, which are richly decorated with