King Norodom Sihamoni and France PM Francois Fillon Re-open Baphuon Shiva Temple

King Norodom Sihamoni of the Kingdom of Cambodia and France Prime Minister Francois Fillon lead the re-opening of the Baphuon Shiva Temple on the 3rd of July, 2011, after at least half a century of renovation and restoration.

Baphuon is a three-tiered temple mountain built in the 11th century as a temple state of Udayadityavarman II, dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva. It laterally measures 120 meters by 100 meters and stands 34 meters tall without its tower. In the late 15th century, it was converted into a Buddhist temple. A 9 meter tall by 70 meter long statue of the Reclining Buddha (representing the Buddha's final passage to nirvana) was built on the west side of the temple's 2nd  level. 

Much of the temple was already in rubbles in the 20th century. It was actually referred to as the world's largest puzzle, with 300,000 unidentical blocks that needed to pieced together. Restoration attempts started in the 1960's but was halted by the Civil War. reassembling records needed to restore the Baphuon temple were reportedly destroyed by the Khmer Rouge during their regime, making reconstruction of the temple a very tedious task. Thus, its reopening this year marks a tremendous success in the efforts of the Cambodian government to bring the temple back into its ancient glory, with the $14 million aid from France. 

Baphuon is a part of the 400 sq. km. Angkor Archeological Park in Siem Reap, Cambodia that holds awe-inspiring remains of over 1000 temples built as far back as the 8th century.

Apsara Tours organizes visits to Baphuon with our knowledgeable guides to lead you and narrate stories of conquests and failures of the great Khmer Empire.

Visit our website for more tour packages including Baphuon or contact us for bookings and inquiries.