Stone dancers.

                            
                                 Gracefull Stone dancers
                                                 Apsara


A few years back I went to Angkor Wat, Cambodia where for me I first discovered the stone Apsara dancers. They were carved into the stone walls all over the Wat. I later found they were carved into many of the other Khmer Wats around the area and into Thailand as well, it was part of the Khmer culture, so where the Khmer went so to did the stone Apsara dancers.

After photographing the dancers and closer observance of them I found that they were individuals, In this I mean they were all different to each other, which made me wonder if they were carved in the likeness of real people and not as imaginary images created from an artist mind. I could be wrong in this but it's a nice thought that one could be looking upon an image of what once was a living human in the act of religious dance from long time ago.

                                                              Angkor Wat Cambodia

                       Photo taken from the central temple building facing towards the main gate.

                              Part of the external corridors at the rear of the main temple building.
                    The walls and columns are covered with carvings depicting various religious scenes.

                                              Detailed carving on one of the stone columns.

                                                 Part of one of the inner courtyard areas.

                              Detail of the Apsara dancers High above ones head in the courtyard area.

Beautifully graceful Stone dancers.

 

Some of these carvings are badly damaged but seeing how old they are and what troubled times they have been through we are lucky to be able to see them at all.

The dancer on the left is the only one I found to be depicted showing her teeth while smiling. 

These images were painted in beautiful colour, in some places one can still see some of that colour.

In one of the temple courtyards were these Dancers who posed for the tourists for a fee. One can see some stone dancers in the background. 

This group of dancers are situated on a corner wall where people are able to touch the figures as they pass by, the one on the far left now has a highly polished sheen. 

 This is one of the buildings outside the main complex, on it's walls are more of the stone dancers.

                                      Some different stone dancers from other temples in the area.

 I was very lucky to find these Apsara ladies doing a photo shoot near one of the main gates.

I stopped and asked the photographer if he minded if I took a few pics myself, which he didn't. They are the modern day version of what I had been looking at all day in the Temples. Definitely A place I will be revisiting in the near future, so much to see, cannot get enough of the place in one trip.