These images show to just a small degree the appalling devastation that has been inflicted on the wonderful khmer cultural heritage.The sad Irony is that these magnificent architectural wonders survived more or less intact centuries of neglect,the U.S. bombing of Cambodia , the Khmer Rouge,and the Vietnamese occupation, only to fall prey to greed and ignorance. The last legacy of a society that was brought close to destruction.Thank goodness things are getting better.
At The Prasat Bakan site we were told by locals that those responsible were equipped wth stone cutters, angle grinders and a pair of elephants that dragged the booty off to trucks, presumably bound for the the Thai border. Industrial scale looting.So much ornamental structural stone was removed that the poor temples simply collapsed upon themselves.
Prasat Bakan. (Preah Khan)
Gratuitous ?
Here was an Apsara.
No Comment
Where is it now ?
Pillage
Pillage.
Looting
Enough to make you weep
Pillage, more of the same
Where now grows!
Raw wounds. Never to be healed.
A bit More Pillage.
Senseless
An Ugly Scar
Villagers removed these from a nearby temple that at the time was being looted.
This record of such mindless destruction makes me nearly weep. Thank you for at least making more of us aware............The sad reality is we can do nothing but wring our hands and cry out. We have countless amazing galleries on show in Pbase, but a gallery such as this evokes an immediate emotional response, albeit one of sadness and futility.
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