angkor wat

june 9th, 2007

of course, this nytimes writer idiot calls it 'buddhist hell', whereas it is actually 'hindu battlefield' that the bas-reliefs portray. it is scenes from kurukshetra, the death of bali, etc.

it is true thought that mcdermott's photos are vivid and striking. however, i don't think black and white does full justice to angkor wat, or indeed any indic structures. the semitic mind thinks in black and white, hence white guys' tendency to think black-and-white photos are art. the hindu mind thinks in polychromic color, whence the reason for color photos of indic monuments. i have been to many of the places mcdermott has photographed, and so i say this with some authority, although it is of course only one person's opinion.

http://travel.nytimes.com/2007/06/10/travel/10cultured-gt.html?8td&emc=td

here is the world heritage tour panoptic image of angkor. fantastic images. they have similar ones of hampi

http://www.world-heritage-tour.org/asia/kh/angkor/angkorWat_dwn.html