Customer Reviews

Khmer Mythology: Secrets Of Angkor Wat

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The great temples of Angkor are decorated with beautiful relief carvings that illustrate (mostly) Hindu mythology, with a few Buddhist and historical scenes. The sheer number and variety of reliefs is overwhelming; their length would total at least a mile or two, if laid end-to-end. It is hardly possible to see them all in one (or many) visits, let alone to know all the variety of subjects that they depict. And yet, Vittoria Roveda has done just that. It's quite an achievement.

The book is organized into two parts. The first part retells some of the myths that are most frequently illustrated at Angkor - stories of Rama, Krishna, Shiva, the Sea of Milk, etc. In part two, the author discusses the reliefs of each temple in turn. (An awkward consequence of this organization is that illustrations of the reliefs discussed in part two will often be found earlier in the book, in part one, and vice-versa, requiring much page-turning on the part of the reader.) In terms of coverage, while even Roveda could not include every possible scene in this book, I would be surprised if any but the most obscure have been left out; this is an amazingly complete effort, and the book is quite well illustrated.

This book will by enjoyed by readers who are interested in Khmer art and Hindu mythology; and those fortunate enough to visit Angkor will find this book to be enormously helpful in understanding and appreciating the reliefs that they will see there.

This book describes a wide range of myths and belief behide the Ankor's architecture and art. The book shows that the auther have to sacrify his heart to study and conclude all discipline about Khmer Empire in to one... This is a must book for those who would like to study Khmer's Art in depth, not only the physical architecture or artifacts the you have seen.