South Gate - Angkor Thom Review

The south gate of Greater Angkor City is the main passage for tourists to Greater Angkor City. Zhou Daguan once recorded that "there is a big stone Buddha head five above the gate, facing the west. One is in the middle, decorated with gold. Two sides of the gate, the stone is pictogram." It can be seen that the south gate was very magnificent at that time, symbolizing the prosperity of the Khmer State.

Angok Tongwangcheng has five gates. The best preserved is the south gate. The huge four-faced Buddha statue is above. The smile is calm. It is one of the symbols of Angkor's monuments. The king city is surrounded by the moat. There are two rows of stone statues on both sides of the bridge on the river. The left row is the angel and the right row of Asura. The town guards the king's city.

Everyone who travels to Cambodia is directed at the buildings in the Angkor Tongwang City. The temples in the Wangcheng are very attractive, but in fact, the entrance of the Angkor Tongwang City is also full of stories, which is the most well-preserved city gate.

Beautiful gate at the entrance to Angkor Thom. At sunset, the light is awesome....very photogenic. A couple of the temples right next to the gate are well worth exploring too.

每个人进入吴哥城大圈和小圈的必经之路——吴哥王城南门。这里最大的特色是，这里有吴哥窟最大型的“翻搅乳海”。搅拌乳海是印度著名神话之一，说明了阿修罗与天神的纠葛。也展示了神贪婪的一面。除了在南门这里能看到，圣剑寺门口也有一个小型的“翻搅乳海”。阿修罗与天神（修罗） 一起求“不死甘露(The Dew of Life)”， 修罗（好人一族）抱龙尾，和阿修罗（坏人一族）抱龙头，一起搅动乳海，这条龙就是印度神话中的NAGA（九头蛇神）。毗湿奴（叙事诗中地位最高的神，掌维护宇宙之权）化为一只大海龟(Tortoise)，沉入海底承受搅杵的重量。后来，不死甘露出现了，本来是阿修罗与修罗平均分，但是阿修罗（坏人）做小动作没喝成。最后唯一一个偷喝的阿修罗（坏人）叫罗睺，被日神和月神砍下了头和手臂，“不死甘露”已经到了咽喉，头颅却得到了永生。罗睺对日神月神恨之入骨，无休无止地追逐日月，不时吞噬他们。——这就是日蚀月蚀的由来。 我去的时间，刚好南门的“翻搅乳海”在修复中，正在替缺少了头颅的神像们修复脸面，可惜没能合照。吴哥里面，有很多地方也和这些神像一样，有不同颜色的。比较浅色的地方，多数是为了修复而后期新补上去的。

南门（SouthGate）的城门高达23米，城门呈塔形结构，之所以将城门建造的如此之高，据说是为了方便当年战象的通行。南门的塔身上还雕刻有面向东、西、南、北四个方向的四面佛。四面佛像面露安详的微笑，以慈悲的眼神检阅进入城内的每一个人。据称，南门四面佛像的面容与巴戎寺一样，均是按照阇耶跋摩七世（JayavarmanVII）的真实容貌所雕刻。