PHNOM PENH, Feb 11 (NNN-AKP) – The restoration work on the Takav Gate, in the western part of Angkor Thom temple, in the famed Angkor Archaeological Park, in north-west Cambodia’s Siem Reap province, has been 100 percent completed, the Apsara National Authority (ANA) said in a news release.
Starting in Dec, 2019, the project has been undertaken by experts from the ANA’s Department of Conservation of Monuments and Preventive Archaeology, the news release said.
ANA’s deputy director-general, Kim Sothin, said, the work has been completed, and the team is currently clearing the site and completing only a few remaining tasks.
“Our restoration team will continue to restore the wall next to the gate, only five metres long and 1.4 metres high, located on both sides of the gate,” he said.
“The remaining work is to carve some artworks and fill in the gaps on the wall, next to the gate, and it will be completed soon,” he added.
Sothin said, as for repairing the Deva (guardian god) statues of the balustrade, the team will continue to restore them with a full figure, arms, legs and some heads, while the Asura statues are a bit complicated because of the foundation.
Asura is a demigod, titan, or antigod, according to the context. They exist in both the Hindu and the Buddhist religions.
The Takav Gate is one of the five gates of the Angkor Thom, which was built in the late 12th century by King Jayavarman VII. The gate was built by using sandstones and laterites with smiling four-faced tower, up to 23 metres high.
As per the corner of the gate, there is a sculpture of the three-headed elephant, and there are Deva and Asura statues alongside the bridge, just outside the gate.
Angkor Thom is one of the key temples in the 401-square km Angkor Archaeological Park, which was inscribed on the World Heritage List of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) in 1992.– NNN-AKP
