ANGKOR and I

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101 have been built in a shorter period of time than we imagine, and possibly several temples were erected concurrently. The restoration of the Angkor Wat Western Causeway (the first phase of the construction) was commenced in 1996 by the survey team, and at that time the stone processing workplace was shifted from the woods to the site of the Angkor Wat Western Causeway. On doing so however, the family members and village buddies of the masons came to the site daily, called out to them and expressed their approval of them. When I enquired of a mason’s son as to why he came thus every day, the reply I got was, “Because my dad is doing a great job.” At that moment it struck me that just as it is presented in the relief illustrations on the outer corridors of the Bayon temple, the masons of that period who dealt with stone materials received exceptional treatment and enjoyed a high social ranking, like the craftsmen who deal with Shinto rituals. Vast Reservoirs (Barays) Sustaining the Prosperity of the Capital City In the Angkor area there exist the massive archaeological sites of Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom. Besides those two however there lies a large archaeological site that is ten times the size of Angkor Wat, namely the artificial reservoir “West Baray” (having dimensions of 2 kms by 8 kms and which was dug about the year 1020), and which even today brims over with rain water. Visitors seeing it express great surprise, and wonder whether it is a lake. This West Baray still supplies water to certain paddy fields below. Its location is right next to the Siem Reap International Airport, and as the plane descends one acquires an overall view of the setting from the sky. In the Angkor region, the first artificial reservoir or Baray (Indratataka) was constructed (of dimensions 0.8 kms by 3.8 kms) in the 9th century (in the year 880). The water storage amounted to around 140,000 cubic meters. This water irrigated paddy fields below via waterways, and irrigation nets were stretched around for the