- Paperback: 292 pages
- Publisher: Weatherhill (Jan 1 2003)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0834805243
- ISBN-13: 978-0834805248
- Product Dimensions: 25.4 x 18.1 x 2.1 cm
- Shipping Weight: 912 g
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,935,607 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
Product Description
The Khmer empire, which at its height covered the whole of present-day Cambodia and most of Thailand, flourished over 500 years. At its heart was Angkor Wat, the largest religious monument in the world, built during the reign of the Khmer king Suryavarman II, in the first half of the twelfth century. The temple was dedicated to Vishnu, and its magnificent architecture mirrored in microcosm the entire Hindu universe. To enhance its sacred nature, over 600 meters of bas-reliefs were carved on the walls of the third enclosure illustrating battles and processions, Heavens and Hells and the creation myth. Following the great success of Vittorio Roveda's Khmer Mythology , which unraveled the stories and significance of the relief carvings of numerous Khmer, the author returns to Angkor Wat to examine the magnificent carvings of the long galleries, the corner pavilions, pediments, lintels, as well as the lesser-known sculpted tapestry reliefs. The gradual reading of the reliefs as pages of an ancient book unravel the religious and secular symbolism with which Angkor Wat was imbued by the Khmers in the XII century. Aided by the photography of Jaroslav Poncar, Vittorio Roveda reveals the iconographic intricacies of this magnificent temple as never before.
About the Author
Vittorio Roveda has had a multi-faceted career. He gained his first doctorate in geology and stratigraphy in the 1950s, but switched interests in the 1980s to studying Asian art history. He obtained his second doctorate on the carved reliefs of Angkor Wat in 2000. Since then he has written various papers on Khmer art and spent several months every year in Cambodia.
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Carved Reliefs of Angkor Wat,
By
This review is from: Sacred Angkor: Carved Reliefs Of Angkor Wat (Paperback)
The magnificent reliefs of Angkor Wat, wrapping around the temple walls for over 1/3 of a mile, have long fascinated visitors and scholars alike. Among recent books about the carvings, Roveda's (2003) study sets a new standard of excellence:1. By concentrating only on the reliefs, Roveda is able to provide a more detailed and in many ways more satisfying analysis than most. 2. In addition to the major long reliefs of the third enclosure, Roveda's book also includes the comparatively neglected corner pavilion, lintel, and pedimental reliefs from elsewhere in the temple. 3. The book is appropriately illustrated, with over 250 good-quality black and white photographs. 4. The author quotes full translations of inscriptions associated with the reliefs. 5. The author, who has previously written a book on Khmer mythology, provides lengthy summaries of numerous stories from the Puranas, Mahabharata, Ramayana, etc. which pertain to the reliefs. 6. The author, while proposing many new identifications for particular reliefs, also refers generously to other scholars with possibly different interpretations; the reader gets the full range of the best current thinking on the subject. 7. Roveda's writing is very clear and easy to understand. It is rare to find a book which is so valuable for the general reader and the scholar alike; I highly recommend it; and for those who plan to visit Angkor, it is a book that you will surely want to take with you.
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5.0 out of 5 stars (1 customer review) 18 of 18 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Carved Reliefs of Angkor Wat,
By Michael Gunther - Published on Amazon.com
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Sacred Angkor: Carved Reliefs Of Angkor Wat (Paperback)
The magnificent reliefs of Angkor Wat, wrapping around the temple walls for over 1/3 of a mile, have long fascinated visitors and scholars alike. Among recent books about the carvings, Roveda's (2003) study sets a new standard of excellence:1. By concentrating only on the reliefs, Roveda is able to provide a more detailed and in many ways more satisfying analysis than most. 2. In addition to the major long reliefs of the third enclosure, Roveda's book also includes the comparatively neglected corner pavilion, lintel, and pedimental reliefs from elsewhere in the temple. 3. The book is appropriately illustrated, with over 250 good-quality black and white photographs. 4. The author quotes full translations of inscriptions associated with the reliefs. 5. The author, who has previously written a book on Khmer mythology, provides lengthy summaries of numerous stories from the Puranas, Mahabharata, Ramayana, etc. which pertain to the reliefs. 6. The author, while proposing many new identifications for particular reliefs, also refers generously to other scholars with possibly different interpretations; the reader gets the full range of the best current thinking on the subject. 7. Roveda's writing is very clear and easy to understand. It is rare to find a book which is so valuable for the general reader and the scholar alike; I highly recommend it; and for those who plan to visit Angkor, it is a book that you will surely want to take with you. |
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