ANGKOR and I
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95 aroma of spices infused the area. In 1296, Zhou Daguan, a Chinese visiting the fabulous and stunning Angkor capital, described the milieu by saying that normal markets were open in the villages, and although there were no stores, articles were sold by displaying them on woven rush mats. People were on the alert for Chinese-made mosquito nets, woven rush mats, and so on. (The Customs of Cambodia). Approaching the Stateliness of Angkor Wat What was the situation of Angkor Wat at that time? If we were to examine in detail the temples, shrines, bridges, rammed-earth embankments and so on that are left of the Angkor monuments, we will notice that traces of the technological innovations of those times, or contrariwise the structural defects, are reflected within them, and by a careful scrutiny of these we are able to restore the blueprints. Later we see traces of technological breakthroughs. For instance, with regard to the technology of large stone bridges up to the 12th century, we see that new sturdy piers that could withstand floods in the rainy season were created. Striking examples of these are stone bridges such as the Spean Praptos and so on. First of all, let us observe the grandeur of Angkor Wat from the exterior. Angkor architecture is basically possessed of left-right symmetry, and it has an orthogonal axis penetrating the center of the temple. Secondary axes intersecting this orthogonal axis overlap in layers, forming a complex geometric plane. These geometrical configurations are obtained by use of illustrations, such as straight lines, squares, and circles, square roots (√) and so on. Yet sad to say in the case of Angkor architecture, the “standard unit of length” (the unit of length used in erecting edifices, like the shaku and ken of Japanese architecture), is unclear. However Dr. Eleanor Monica, an American, by estimating the “standard length unit” on the basis of earlier

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