Beautiful Banteay Srei - Angkor Archeological Park, Siem Reap Cambodia

Of all the temples in Angkor, this one is the most beautiful. We make our way to Cambodia's Bunty Shri and stroll through this remarkable site. Siem Reap is the gateway to Angkor Archaeological Park with magnificent monuments of the Khmer Empire from the 9th to the 15th centuries. Bunty Shri is much further out than the other popular temples and therefore less visited. But the 45-minute drive from Siem Reap is highly recommended. Bunty Shri was built in 967 A.D. during the early years of the Khmer Empire and long before other famous temples in the region including Angkor Wat. Its name Bunty Shri means Citadel of Women and it's quite spectacular. It has been called a precious gem and a jewel of Khmer art and is considered the highest achievement of art from that period. Unique to this temple is the use of a hard pink sandstone quartz and its intricate carvings are very decorative and well preserved with more of an Indian style architecture than all the other temples in Angkor. The entire temple is dedicated to Hindu god Brahma with two shrines dedicated to god Shiva and one to Vishnu. Bunty Shri was built by Yajnavaraha, one of the king's counselors, so it's not a royal temple which is why it's smaller than many of the other temples. The counselor was a scholar of astronomy and music, a doctor of ancient Indian medicine and a priest of the Vedic scriptures of Hinduism. A year after this temple was built, the king died and his son Jayavarman V took the throne at the young age of 10. The counselor became guru and teacher to the young king whose rule was largely peaceful with a cultural flowering. At his court were philosophers, scholars, artists including women in high positions. The temple wasn't discovered until 1914 due to its distance from Angkor and heavily overgrown by the jungle. The site was cleared in 1924 and restored by 1936. The statues we see are copies with originals at the National Museum in Phnom Penh. If you enjoy my videos, I encourage you to subscribe to my YouTube channel and click the bell to be notified of new releases. It's free, and sharing with your friends is much appreciated.