Angkor~~Prasat Ak Yum

Prasat Ak Yum is located in the south of western baray, approximately a kilometer before the western end, Ak Yum is the earliest known temple mountain architectural design, built in the 7th to 9th century. Inscriptions indicate that a temple dedicated to the Hindu. Ak Yum is regarded as the oldest Angkor ruin in the area.

At first glance, the ruins of Prasat Ak Yum appear to be nothing more than a pile of rubbish. For this reason, many travelers and organized tours steer clear of this obscure monument. But for the serious Angkor enthusiast, Prasat Ak Yum is a must-see gateway into the per-Angkorian period of the Khmer people.
Prasat Ak Yum was constructed sometime in the 8th century. It is the earliest known example of the ‘temple-mountain’. In essence, a temple-mountain is a mound or platform that is made of stone and/or other earthen materials. Typically, another structure is erected on top of the mound. In the case of Prasat Ak Yum, a prasat (tower) was erected on the mound. Prasat Ak Yum’s mound is a zigurrat, or step pyramid. A step pyramid is a structure made up of several layers, stacked on top of one another. Each ascending layer is smaller than the one before it.

The temple-mountain architectural formula of Prasat Ak Yum paved the way for the more famous temples of the Angkor period, most notably Angkor Wat.Ancient inscriptions located on some of the temple’s jamb stones reveal that the patron deity of Prasat Ak Yum was Gambhiresvara, the Hindu god of the depths.

During the construction of the West Baray, which is located immediately to the north of it, parts of Ak Yum was built over. It is not certain which Khmer king built this monument. Ak Yum were re-used during the reign of Jayavarman I. Similarly, the ruins as visible today was built over the original structure.
This temple, a little to away of the major monuments of Angkor is not of great interest for a tourist but is archaeologically very important. Inscriptions indicate the first construction to this temple in 609, which makes of him the oldest per-Angkorian vestige found at this date. It was located on the road of first Angkor , and was partially buried during the construction of Phnom Bakheng, then definitively buried at the beginning of the XII° century during the installation of the dams of Baray.

 Since this prasat construction a bit  poor, therefore we by pass it, and took a photo on the van.

Angkor ~~ Barays

In the Angkor region the first great barays were Indratataka at Hariharalaya, built by Indravarman I in the late 9th century, and the East Baray at Angkor, also begun by Indravarman but completed by his son and successor, Yashovarman I. The East Baray is a monumental artificial lake measuring 1.8km by 7.5km, which is 1.1 miles wide and 4.7 miles long. As with all the great barays, it was built by excavating and piling up an enormous earthen retaining wall, about 4m-5m (14') tall, around the perimeter, so that the water was held above ground behind what is, essentially, a giant dyke.
                                                                                                  

Now the east Baray become the bundled rice fields.

The East Baray was fed by the Siem Reap river, and would have held 37.2 million cubic meters of water at a depth of 3m (10'). (A figure of 55 million cubic meters of water is also quoted; the larger figure assumes an average water depth of 4.5m). The amazing scale of such a construction, and the amount of labor (about 10,000 man-years) necessary to dig and pile up the reservoir walls, can hardly be put into adequate words. Most likely the water was used for irrigation (this has been questioned, but recent surveying and satellite imagery seem to confirm it). Waterworks on this scale must also have had stunning religious and political implications.

Every year April to June are dry season, in the west baray able to see a lot of pile yellow  sand.



The major problem with the baray system was siltation - the gradual influx of sand, carried by the river, into the reservoir. The East Baray was completed around 890. During the next century, as it gradually became filled up with sand, it was periodically renovated by raising its banks, and new, smaller, barays were constructed to supplement the water supply (Srah Srang, east of Banteay Kidei, mid-10th century). The enormous West Baray was completed in the mid-11th century, followed later by diversion of the Siem Reap river around the East Baray and into excavated canals. The last great baray at Angkor was the Jayatataka, built by Jayavarman VII (1181-1218). By the mid-13th century, the baray system had exhausted itself, as the process of siltation outpaced the ability of the Khmer to raise the height of the reservoir walls.

Subsequently, stone bridges were used as dams. These could be blocked up to create a reservoir behind the dam, or unblocked to feed water through a system of canals. For example, a dam was built between the south bank of the Jayatataka and the north bank of the East Baray, to back up the flow of the Siem Reap between the two barays. Unfortunately, these dams had a design problem. Their earthen dykes could become weakened due to erosion, and subsequently break. This happened at least twice: in the 13th century at the Jayatataka, causing a major flood to the east part of Angkor, and in the 16th century at Spean Thma (damming the river just west of Ta Keo.) The later flood was so extensive that it re channeled the Siem Reap river into its present course.

 In the west baray southern dike become a popular place for swimming and boat rides by local residents. It has occasionally served as a landing site for seaplanes.

On the side of the shop, have sell the yummy ikan bakar and ayam bakar....

Near the side of baray, a lot of thatched hut to rent a visitor to relax or picnic.