Tuesday, November 07, 2006

Face Towers of Banteay Chhmar

The story of my discovery of the satellite temples surrounding the huge fortress complex of Banteay Chhmar, in the northwestern corner of Cambodia, can be read here. It took place in January 2005 and four of the eight temples I found nearby have retained their own massive towers with smiling Bayon-style Avalokitesvara faces surveying the surrounding countryside. Whilst some were difficult to access due to the dense vegetation, all were remarkably close to the main site and make a visit to this important Jayavarman VII-period temple at Banteay Chhmar all the more interesting and challenging.

However, I wasn't the only visitor to these temples in 2005. Architect Olivier Cunin, a researcher with the Centre for Khmer Studies in Siem Reap, and photographer Baku Saito spent weeks at the site documenting each of the satellite temples, alongwith the main complex for their book, The Face Towers of Banteay Chmar. To-date, the book (pictured above) has only been published in Japan by Goto Shoin in Tokyo. However I did see a copy at the EFEO library in Siem Reap and the detail is incredible.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dear Sir,

The following book is still available. Please contact to the publisher;

Text by Olivier Cunin, Photography by BAKU Saito,
"The Face Towers of Banteay Chmar" (July 2005, Goto Shoin Publishing Co., Ltd., Tokyo).
141 p., 27*26cm, contains numerous color photos and illustrations, and all of the faces of stone towers at Banteay Chmar and Preah Khan of Compong Svay, including aerial photographs. The writer, Olivier Cunin, is a remarkable expert on the Khmer architecture, and the photographer is recently awarded the Royal Order of "Sahametrel", one of Cambodia's oldest royal orders given to foreigners who have rendered exceptional service to the country.

Goto Shoin Publishing Co., Ltd.
Kandaizumi-cho 1-6-2-203
Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101-0024
TEL +81-3-5825-3620

Cheers,

Shinichi Nishimoto

Anonymous said...

Sorry, I forgot to write the cost of the publication in the previous mail. The volume is 3,333 Japanese Yen.

Sincerely,

Shinichi Nishimoto