C: Chau Say Tevoda Temple

During  1120-1150AD, King Suryavarman II, designer of Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom created a small  beautifully feminine Hindu temple  Chau Say Tevoda.  King Yasovarman II, reigned 1160-1166 and during his six years he added his delights to the temple. In 1181 King Jayavarman VII, took over and incorporated his own artistic female designs, including devatas both inside the temple and out. The temple was then converted from Hinduism to Buddhism.

Chao Say Tevoda temple consisted of one central sanctuary, two libraries and four gate-ways, which stood at each cardinal point. Sadly due to centuries of natural corrosion and decay  Chao  Say Tevoda longer exists.

Ceiba pentandra
Commonly know as the kapok is very fast growing deciduous tree. Reaching well over one hundred fifty feet high. It grows in Preay Kan where its roots grow through doorways entrances and roofs. The flower blooms at night borne in clusters of pink, white or yellow. The leaves are lanceolate and palmately compound leaves (5-9 leaflets). Light weight silky-down seed pods are collected by fruit bats and scattered. Also known as Java cotton these silky-down seed heads are used for stuffing pillows, filling jackets or upholstering chairs and sofas. There is also an oil which is used for cooking and making soap. Seeds, leaves, bark and resin have been used to treat various forms of disease including dysentery and kidney disease. The trunks were dug-out and made into boats. They believed the kapok tree was sacred and the souls of the dead would climb up into the heavens.

B: Bayon Temple Of The Gods!

North of Angkor Wat we have Angkor Thom which is said to be the city of Angkor complex. Angkor Thom was built on a  large almost square site with a high and wide stone wall around it. At one time it had a huge population of people.  Sadly the palace no longer exists.

The Bayon temple was built by King Jayavarman  V11 within the stone walls of Angkor Thom between the late 12th - 13th Century! Bayon has a large centre dome and four smaller towers. Each tower has a sculptured head with a facial expression of sadness.  The heads face north, south, east and west. Each one gazes out over the land of Angkor Thom.

There were fifty-one smaller towers, each individual tower has four small heads. Bayon is surrounded by a large stone wall which formed a defence support around the temple. Five entrances, provide access to the temple, each one with gates heralded by two large, three headed, stone elephants with long thick trunks down to the ground. The roadway up and over the moat to the main gate of Angkor Thom is guarded on one side by a serpent driven by the devil whilst on the other side the gods enter.

Throughout the temple bas-relief murals are accentuated over walls and pillars. Sculptured figurines of the apsaras and deity's decorate the inside of the dome, incorporating the mythical world and the Buddha religions. The historical fighting and domestic scenes are portrayed around the outside walls.
This temple was dedicated to the Buddhists.

A: A City or a Temple!

This first post is my declaration for the A-Z Blog Challenge!

Angkor temple was built by King Suryavarman at the beginning of the twelfth century, He built it to illustrate his importance. When later died he dedicated it to the Hindu God Vishnu

Angkor Wat was considered  the most extraordinary architectural and most beautiful of all the temples in Cambodia. The pyramid was built on three levels consisting of the centre mount with its five separate towers which stand 64 metres high, each beautifully crafted. The first level was known as Mount Meru and was the home of the gods. The second level was the wall one mile long which ran around the outside of the mount, this represented the mountains containing the world. Finally a wide moat made up the third level, which hugged outside of the wall and represented the oceans.. Sculptural carvings could be seen along the walls with mythical creatures telling a story.

As you enter Angkor Wat, Mount Meru tower is on your right. Images made of sandstone guard the cross way of the dark damp passages. Most are headless due to looting. Murals made of light sandstone carvings and base-relief friezes cover most of the walls both inside and out. Inside the temple, carvings of dancing apsaras and devatas cover the pillars and the walls. On the outside walls apsaras together with ethereal beings perform before the gods. Apsaras are beautiful mythical young maidens with long hair and exquisitely formed bodies. Illustrations can be seen everywhere within the temple and their carvings in light sandstone along the wall of Mount Meru.

The Sunrises and sets with its rich red, vibrant orange and yellow majestic hues, lightening up the skies behind the Angkor Wat.

My Theme for A-Z Challenge 2012

I have only recently started blogging and when my good friend mentioned the A-Z April 2012 Challenge, I thought she'd gone stark raving bonkers!

I have always been involved with the outdoors working manually. It has been many years since I have sat down with pen and ink and wrote a letter let alone write a blog post. However in my heart I have always yearned to write but due to my shaky hands I have tended to sway away from anything connected with writing. However having realised that my heart is screaming to be heard and so I have taken the plunge and signed up five days ago. So here I am and this is my theme which is based on the history of Angkor Wat. The words Angkor Wat stand for a City or a Temple

City or a Temple

I choose this theme because my niece went out to Cambodia in 1995 with the intention to work out there with the native children. She loved it so much that when she returned to England and studied at Oxford University the Cambodian language. Then she returned to Cambodia to continue her work. In 2005 I went out to visit her in Phnom Pehn, it was a real culture shock for me and an experience I shall never forget.

I am really looking forward to this A-Z Challenge April 2012 now.

Through The Cellar Door!..

What do you think? Was it just a simple case of sleep walking or could there have been some unforeseen forces at work?  Could something  sinister be lurking in those stone walls of the house or down in the cellar?  I'd be interested to know if you have an explanation on these events?  Or perhaps you have had a similar experience? 


As I reached my early teens but still at school, my one passion at that time was my beautiful   horses. Due to lack of finances to support my expensive hobby I decided to scan the paper for jobs.  Two weeks later I came across an advert in the local paper for weekend help working with hunt horses. The position would involve very early starts and staying overnight at weekends. An interview was arrange for the following day,and my father took me along. The interview went well and it was agreed for me to start the following Saturday but I would need to be there on Friday evening.  I was a little anxious when I first arrived  but the other girls were very encouraging and in no time at all I was in full swing.


The stables and coach house were part of a large country residence situated within it's own grounds to the west side of Newcastle. The flat where the girls stayed was above the coach house and stables. Access to the flat was by a side door from the yard with a dark narrow corridor leading to the bottom of the stairs. The staircase itself was old and every step I took creaked beneath my feet. As I climbed the staircase on that Friday evening I passed a large wooden door with a curved top approximately halfway up on my right. I felt shivers run down her spine as she moved past it.  Later when talking with the girls I  learnt - It led down into the cellar, or so they thought!  As the weeks progressed, I was asked to work from the Thursday through to the Sunday as one of the girls had left and they were short staffed. I  loved my work and being with the horses, so I wholeheartedly agreed.

There were four girls on this particular Thursday evening when I arrived. The head girl who's name was Carol and the other three girls ( Miriam, Sue, Bernice) were full-time grooms and myself in training. We had dinner and everyone  had a glass of wine, except me and I had juice. I was later shown to my sleeping quarters. On this particular evening I slept in the room with the other girls. The flat was one one level and was part of a loft conversion. On leaving  the living room you walked through a doorway into a bedroom, with a large double bed in the centre and a small table with a candle holder placed on top. As you looked straight across the room, there was another door. This led you into a sort of dressing room  with a dark and very solid wooden chaise-lounge which stood against the far wall. To the right of the chaise lounge was a small square sash window which looked out over the courtyard. A small Victorian dressing table with a tall mirror had been placed in front of the window obscuring the view.To the left of the chaise-longue was another door leading into the girls sleeping  quarters.  As the evening progressed the girls told ghost stories and of the Grey Lady who walked the grounds, we all  laughed then disappeared to our beds.. I was shattered and I think we all fell asleep quite quickly..


Now as evening moved slowly into the early hours of the morning, I had no idea what was going to happen next until,  "I noticed that everywhere I looked I saw a grey mist and I had a an unusual cold feeling all around me." I seemed to be in this mist for quite sometime for from a distance I could hear a faint whisper of voice's but couldn't make out what was being said.. Then I heard someone calling my name, "Ann!"  all was silent. Then again "Ann, where are you going?"  then the silences followed by whispering "Ann, can you hear me?" this time the voice seemed much closer and still calling me by name "Ann!"


As though coming out of a trance I turned and standing next to me was Miriam, one of the girls. I was very surprised when I realised  I was not in my bed. Nor was I in the flat at all but on a staircase - on the other side of the cellar door. Looking back towards the ascending staircase and out flat door,  I glanced down to find I was standing in my nightdress but the mist and the cold feeling had gone! 

The girls excuse for my midnight walk (Somnambulism)  was due to me never having been away from home. However, I cannot recall sleep walking before that night nor have I walked in my sleep since!

Four weeks later I was asked to stay over once again from the Saturday to the Monday.  I didn't mind at all as it was half-term so it fitted in well. Bernice was taking time away on holiday, she had stated she didn't want anyone sleeping in her bed. So it was decided that I would sleep on the chaise-longue instead.


It had been a good day both for horses and riders. They returned home tired and extremely dirty. The horses tack was removed and they were allowed to stale and roll in the straw. They were immediately given access to tepid water. Meanwhile  their rider's organised refreshments and change of clothing. We all worked hard checking that the horses legs for cuts and bruises, we cleaned down and removed, sweat marks from their girths, bellies and legs dressing any horses that were injured immediately. Once they were made comfortable they were rugged up  and given a feed of hot bran mash with Epsom salts.They were left to munch their hay whilst we cleaned their tack. Once the tack was clean we all returned to check the horses were content and to make sure non had broken out into a hot sweat again. Once convinced all was well we gave them fresh hay and locked up behind us. It had been a long hard day, we were tired but we all chatted happily about what we'd be having for tea..


It was in the early hours of Sunday morning that I awoke to the sight of the lights flashing off and on and the sound of motor engines with lots of voices and noises. I had the feeling of coldness around me but it was as though I was in limbo. I could hear the sound of furniture moving as though it was being pulled into position. Someone calling my name "Ann"  By the time I was compos-mentis I found myself being helped back through what looked like the bedroom window. I was stunned. I had no recollection of what had happened. Or for that matter - what was I doing out there, I was dumb struck!! 


The dressing table had disappeared to the other side of the dressing room and in it's place was the chaise-longue. I was told later that someone had caught site of me standing on the ledge when they came home earlier that morning with their car lights.. they had phoned the fire brigade. 


The night had turned into a fiasco not to mention sheer panic as Miriam explained later. One of the girls through in the flat had over heard a scraping noise, she said it was like furniture moving and had woken one of the other girls up.. Apparently the chaise-longue was made from solid wood and it had taken four big men to lift it into position against the wall. One of the other head girl's Carol remarked it was there before she first moved in more than eight years prior to the girls working there, that they knew of!!


No explanation was ever found for the happenings that night!  As far as the girls were aware it had never happened before.  I never returned to the country mansion again after my traumatic experience.


This is another true story and the characters names have been changed for their own privacy.  
Please feel free to leave a comment. Thanking you in advance!

Jenni

Twitter & Friends

I moved down to Newcastle with my partner as we had great plans to open a shop and run it together and travel. Due to the recession and lack of work, loss financially, I found myself on my own and homeless. I couldn't get work and my savings took a great hammering.


I decided to run my flower business albeit from a warehouse. I knew I would not be able to rely on passing trade, therefore I set to work reclaiming my website and running it together with the Internet. My idea was to create a form of advertising by the aid of social media, twitter and facebook and google+. This is an area I have never tried myself.

When I first joined twitter I could not make head nor tail of it. It has taken me awhile to feel confident enough to make short comments. Despite feeling inadequate at the same time. To begin with I was afraid of looking foolish but I took the bit between my teeth, closed my eyes and jumped in. Since that jump I seem to be making progress albeit a little slower than I'd like to admit. I have made mistakes but have managed to correct most except one or two and I can neither find help nor anyway to resolve them.

Finally I would like to say "Thank goodness for friends" for without a particular friend who has persistently encouraged me in the areas of the Internet, twitter, facebook. She has helped me find the right people to help with my blog.  I would like to say "Thanks Denise!  "I am truly grateful!



    

Listening!!

Some years ago whilst looking for somewhere to park my car in city of Edinburgh I came across a parking space on Albany Street. It was a miserable wet, cold day as I parked up and switched off the engine.  I felt it was a bit of a walk back to Prince's Street but never mind.


As I stepped out from the car something caught my eye from the other side of the road.  Locking  the car door behind me I felt drawn towards a building which looked like a house with a large red door. Despite the dark clouds and the rain, the building facing me was bright as though it was lit up by something from the sky. The large door was open wide and as I ventured forth I felt I was being beckoned to go in. Once inside I felt so calm and peaceful. It was as though everything that had happened to me up until that point, didn't matter anymore.


I followed the passage until I came to another red door which was slightly ajar and pushing against it, the door opened into a large Georgian drawingroom with row upon row of seats. At the front was a a platform and a lectern with a book placed upon it. There were five seats neatly positioned in a line behind it. The room was well lit, with burgundy red velvet curtains draped across large window and hung from the ceiling to the floor. Everything felt calm, a little like walking into a church but with heating. I seemed to be the only one present, Once again I was urged to go inside and sit down and so I followed my intuition.


A short while later the room began to fill with people and they chatted amongst themselves but I sat quietly at the back nearest the wall hoping no-one was aware I was sitting there. Then four of the people from the audience stepped up and took their seats on the platform. I continued sitting as though motionless and looking on, whilst at the same time wondering to myself - why I was actually there.


Then suddenly as if out of the air I heard a voice saying, "You lady, yes you lady, lady in the corner can I come and talk to you?" I sat praying the floor would just swallow me up. The lady wasted no time. She talked of concerns I had, describing situations that had happened the previous day. "You have an appointment tomorrow," she said "which your a little anxious about." Well, she continued, "I am to tell you not to worry, as all will go well" she announced. I was given a description of someone who only I knew about and she described everything about them and very accurately.  Time seemed to stand still,  and when I eventually came back to earth I was all alone and everyone had gone!


I remember leaving the building and glancing up at a white board which caught my attention. It was then I realised it was a Spiritual Church, I thought it odd that I hadn't noticed the board on my way in.
I arrived home and I remembered coming out of the building but I had no recollection of my actual journey home that evening..


Only the words I had been given, did I remember and have never forgot.


Jenni




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