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The period of « barays »
Developing towns and the Khmer power was based on the
management of water by building barays : Large artificial
reservoirs supplied by rainfall and diverted rivers. Instead
of digging into the ground, people raised dikes to hold
water.
In addition to building state and ancestor temples, a king
solidified his power by constructing a baray.
The success of all the kings succeeding to the throne of
Angkor was related to their capacity to wisely manage the
hydraulic park and to foresee the construction of a new
baray in due time and well adapted to its location like in
the Occidental Mebon.
The barays were not only reservoirs, they were also given a
clear religious function. The stored water and central
temples symbolised the mythical ocean surrounding the Mont
Meru, the home of the gods. Barays were therefore sacred
sites.
But however clever they were, things were not so simple and
barays were not meant to last. Over time sand filled the
barays and canals silted up. The dikes were raised to
maintain the system and the building of another baray was
required.
The first one was built in the 9th century at the ancient
capital of Harihara-Laya, today Roluos. The next king,
Yasovarman 1st, built a five time larger baray, during the
first years of his reign now known as the Oriental baray
(East of the Siemreap river). Its Mebon, temple dedicated to
Shiva and located to the centre of the reservoir, was used
to be accessible only by boat. But the baray is now rice
fields and the Mebon can still be visited by car.
But the royal cities gradually increased and another vast
reservoir, the Occidental baray (8 km x 2 km), with dykes 10
to 17 meters high was started in the 11th century. At this
stage, more than 100 sq km of rice fields could be irrigated
supporting nearly one million people. Today it is still
filled with water, a living memory of Angkor’s golden age...
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