The Banteay Kdei - Cambodian
The Banteay Kdei - Cambodian is an ancient Angkor ruin located on the western shore of the man-made reservoir, Srah Srang. It was built as a Buddhist monastic complex by Jayavarman VII, the prolific ruler who constructed much of Angkor\'s temples.
By the time Banteay Kdei was built, much of the good quality stones have been exhausted. Hence it was built mostly using low quality sandstone. Due to the poor quality of the material used, much of Banteay Kdei is today crumbling. And to make matters worse, the craftsmanship was also poor. I have to say that Jayavarman VII was big on quantity but not on quality.
Banteay Kdei is similar in style to Ta Prohm just a stone's throw away down the road. It is slightly smaller, less ornate (at least, judging from what remains to be seen) and less overtaken by nature. (Here, I have to mention that Ta Prohm appears overtaken by nature because the restorers deliberately kept it that way.) Typically visitors begin their tour of Banteay Kdei at the East Gopura near Srah Srang, and walk from east to west, across the compound, through the ruins, and out again, through to the gopura on the other side. That was how I did as well, on my visits to Banteay Kdei.
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