Hey guys, today I am gonna show you a very strange temple. No, this is not Angkor Wat,
many people think this is part of the Angkor Wat temple, but this is a different temple in
Cambodia known as the Bayon Temple, a very large temple with many intriguing features. I am sure
you have seen pictures of these mysterious stone faces at least once, but here is the shocker:
No documentaries have ever been made about this temple. This is very very odd, because such a
fantastic ancient temple should have plenty of videos and tv programs made about it.
But there is nothing, I could not even find a documentary on YouTube. And I found a shocking
reason why no documentaries can be aired on any TV channel about this temple. So welcome to the first
and the only documentary about Bayon Temple. According to Historians, the Bayon Temple was
built as a Buddhist temple, these mysterious faces represent Buddha and it was built around 800 years
ago. Even before you enter the Bayon temple, when you are driving towards the gate, you see these
giants figures lined up on both sides of the road. Who are they? On one side, there are Gods called
devas and on the other side, there are demons called Asuras and look at what is in their hands,
the body of a giant snake. What are they doing with this serpent? They are churning the sea
of milk. But this event is mentioned in ancient Hindu texts, not Buddhist texts, in fact Buddhism
shuns features like this. So why does a Buddhist temple have a Hindu depiction outside its gate?
When you enter the Bayon temple, you realize it has a very unique visual impact.
It is built completely different from any other temple in the world. There are a total of 54
towers cramped together, and each tower has multiple smiling faces
embedded on them. There are a total of 216 faces on these towers. The faces may look small from the
ground level, but when you go to the top level, it is just breath taking. You will become speechless
for a few seconds because the giant faces with that mysterious smile give off a strange vibe.
Who does this face belong to? Why did ancient builders construct this temple with so many towers
with these strange faces embedded on all sides? Archeologists and Historians say that this face
depicts Buddha, and also the King Jayavarman the 7th, and he wanted to glorify Buddha
and he wanted people to remember himself forever. This is why he built this temple,
to establish the glory of Buddha and Himself, to turn himself into a God King.
But this entire theory is completely WRONG. These faces do not depict Buddha or the king,
these faces depict the Hindu God Brahma. Brahma is the God with 4 heads, not Buddha. This is why
every tower is shown with 4 heads or faces, facing 4 different directions.
Ancient Hindu texts clearly mention that Brahma should be shown with 4 heads
facing 4 different directions, on the other hand Buddha is never shown with 4 faces.
Even more interesting, look at the ornaments, he is wearing a spectacular necklace, He wears
very ornate Ear Drops and he is wearing more jewellery on his head. This is completely against
Buddha, because Buddha never wears Jewellery, he believed in simplicity. Even more important is the
giant crown, it is a large conical helmet like headdress with a crown or a diadem at the top.
There is an ancient sanskrit text called Manasara-Silpasastra which clearly explains how
Brahma should be carved, and the ancient builders have built Brahma exactly as per this text. Again,
Buddha is never shown with a giant headdress and a crown, he is shown with simple hair do.
But there is another fascinating detail: Look how he is shown with a Third Eye. Most people think
only Shiva has a third eye, but Brahma also has a third eye, this is also mentioned in ancient
texts. This means that ancient Cambodian sculptors had thorough knowledge of ancient Hindu texts,
and they followed all the details carefully. This is stunning because even ancient Indians omitted
these details some times, but they have dutifully followed it thousand miles away from India.
But if this is a temple dedicated to God Brahma, why is it called Bayon temple? What is the meaning
of Bayon? When the French occupied Cambodia they called it the Banyan temple, because
it looks like a cluster of towers, and locals mispronounced Banyan as Bayon and the name stuck.
Archeologists confirm that ancient inscriptions call this temple JayaGiri. This is actually
perfect because you know what Jayah means in Sanskrit? It means Brahma, it is one of the names,
an epithet of Lord Brahma, and Giri means mountain, so this was built as the mountain
of Brahma. And now when you look at this temple again, it is a perfect name because it looks
like a mountain, and when you look at the 4 heads everywhere you are immediately reminded of Brahma.
Archeologists also agree that small shrines for Shiva and Vishnu
have been built in the temple, but they have not found a Shrine for Brahma. Why?
Because this entire temple is dedicated to him, that's why.
It is quite surprising that archeologists and historians think that this is a Buddhist temple
dedicated to Buddha while it is clearly a Hindu temple dedicated to Brahma.
What is the reason for this? I attribute this to the French authorities who did not understand much
about Hinduism and Buddhism. Also, when the French colonized Cambodia in 1863 , Buddhism
was the prevalent religion here. So at that time, they must have automatically assumed that this is
a Buddhist temple. And another interesting point is that this temple, just like Angkor Wat
was continuously occupied by Buddhist monks for many centuries. They had also created many
small scale Buddhist carvings, and they sometimes even buried statues of Buddha for good luck
in the temple premises. And this can be quite confusing for a western archeologist
while studying the temple because you are going to see Buddhist carvings and sometimes even
unearth Buddha statues. So you are going to see Buddhist carvings, along side Hindu carvings,
and you are going to see Buddha statues standing next to Hindu statues. And even more interesting,
you see plenty of alterations because when these 2 groups were fighting for supremacy
they would have obviously tried to alter some carvings and also destroyed some.
But the key detail is this: While anyone can make micro carvings to alter your perception, no one
can change the macro carvings. The 4 faces on the top of every tower clearly represent Brahma, not
Buddha. In fact, the same builder built another Brahma temple called 'Ta Prohm' nearby. This is
why this temple is full of beautiful women carved all over the walls, because Hinduism embraced
worldly life, unlike Buddhism. This is why you see the Hindu Gods and Demons churning the sea
of milk at the gate. And this is why you will also notice countless other Hindu Gods in this temple.
So, as much as Cambodian authorities would like to see it as a Buddhist temple, it is not true,
this was originally a Hindu temple. But am I really the first person to
figure out that this is a Hindu temple and these faces represent Brahma?
I don't think so, I suspect that big channels like history tv or discovery channel would have already
examined this temple, and they might have figured this out, but if they come out and say it on TV,
then the authorities here may not give them permission to film future projects in Cambodia.
I think this is why no documentaries exist about this fantastic temple. But I believe
that this video, this documentary, will be a stepping stone for others to move forward.
I hope you liked this video, I am Praveen Mohan, thanks a lot for watching,
don't forget to subscribe and also click on the bell button to get all the updates.
Please give it a thumbs up and do share it with your friends and I will talk to you soon. Bye!