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108 magnificent group of massive buildings (the city of Angkor Thom). As there was a thick growth of trees even within the edifice, we had to cut those gigantic trees in order to get inside.” (B. Ph. Groslier, “The Angkor Hydraulic City as seen by the West. The Prosperity and Downfall of Angkor,” Union Publishing). At Angkor Wat which lay around 1.2 kms away from this former city of Angkor Thom, the precincts and environs were covered by dense jungles, and a derelict stone-paved western approach led straight to the main shrine. Villagers from the vicinity came on visits, while Spaniards and Portuguese of that time who visited the site began to pose questions and seek solutions to the issue as to who was really the builder of Angkor Wat. Among the names proposed were for example Alexander the Great and the Roman Emperor Trajan [AD (53~117), one of the five good emperors], and some even thought it was the ancient city of Atlantis. The post-Angkor kings of about the middle of the 16th century, knowing that these archaeological sites were the Angkor capital their ancestors had earlier established, began to get engaged in cutting down trees in certain temples with a view to regaining the affluence of the Angkor dynasty. During the years 1546 and 1564, King Chan Reachea (1529~1567), first of all caused bas-relief illustrations based on folklore to be engraved in the north and east corridors of Angkor Wat (north side), which had been left in an unfinished state. The Khmer sculptors of those times were clearly inspired by Siamese art of the early Ayutthaya dynasty. There, the transition of about 400 years is revealed, for the engraved bas-reliefs of the corridors are of a style distinct from what it was when the temple was erected in the 12th century. Until then, sporadic clashes endured between the early Ayutthaya dynasty and the post-Angkor kings. King Bayinnaung of the Burmese Toungoo dynasty attacked the early Ayutthaya capital, and occupied it for a period of 15 years from 1569 to 1584. For about 20 years until the advent of King Naresuan (1590-1605) of the late