Hey guys, today I wanted to show you the secret behind this ancient temple called Prasat Thom
in Cambodia, at first look you think everything is completely ruined but I am going to show
you something exciting.
Look at these blocks, anything strange about them?
Anything unusual?
Out of all the blocks, only these blocks have some type of markings on them?
Do you see what they are?
Now, let us just follow these blocks with those weird marking or designs.
While the other blocks seem to have a flat top, these blocks seem to have a nice curved
surface on top.
There are a series of these stone blocks, all made of sand stone, each block is about
2 or 3 feet long, and they all look like bread loafs neatly arranged in a line.
This is a pretty long line and at the very end, you see something quite interesting.
A block that is curved and look what we see, a 7 headed snake, a Naga raised up with its
hoods ready to attack.
See the scales on its back, now you know what those markings on the stone blocks were: they
were the scales of the snake's body.
When we go to the front and look at the face of the Naga, half of its head is destroyed,
we only see the left side half, we can still see the 4 heads remaining out of the seven.
This is one of worst ruined temples in this area - The Prasat Thom temple is one of the
worst ruined temples in the Koh Ker complex, this site is 1100 years old, and I know this
looks like a giant pile of rubble to you, but we are going to see what we can learn
from these ruins.
Here, Again another Naga, right next to the pond here, but what about the rest of the
stone blocks?
Look at this structure on the right for example.
it reminds of you of the Stonehenge in England.
This type of construction is called a 'Post and Lintel' System.
The pillars are the posts, supporting the lintel which is the stone block on top.
All of them are Neatly cut, giant rectangular blocks assembled together, like some giant
kid was playing lego blocks.
But something is weird about this, look at this pillar, it is broken, and it is no longer
supporting the lintel on top, but still this lintel did not tip over and fall down, and
everything is still standing in place.
How is this possible?
And look, they are actually slanted at an angle, and another pillar has fallen on one
side but the structure has still not collapsed.
How is this possible?
That is what we are going to find out now.
When we take a closer look at the lintel and the pillars, you don't see anything, it appears
as though the lintel is just standing on the pillar.
On the bottom as well there are several stone blocks.
One block is roughly T shaped and there is even another rectangular block at the very
bottom.
But to understand the secret, we need to look at more blocks.
And Look at what I found, a long rectangular block on the right with square holes and nearby
there are pillars with square protrusions.
This square protrusion in this pillar would fit perfectly into this square hole.
And look this block has another square hole as well, and nearby is another pillar with
square protrusion which can perfectly fit into this hole.
There is no doubt that this is the secret behind this ancient technology.
This is why, this structure is still standing against all odds, because there are projections
fit into holes, keeping everything intact.
The pillars are firmly locked to the lintel above as well as the blocks below.
We think modern human beings invented the Lego blocks about 70 years ago.
Today we call these holes as tubes and these projections as studs, I think.
But the same technology, the Lego block technology was used 1100 years ago in ancient Cambodia.
I have examined pillar after pillar in this site, and I am amazed.
It looks like the ancient builders were also mass manufacturing these identical pillars
with identical square projections to be interlocked with the neighboring blocks.
I mean these are massive stone blocks, weighing many tons, but you can see hundreds if not
thousands of identical pillars with identical square studs or projections.
Remember I showed you instances of mass manufacturing technology in an ancient site called Warangal
in India.
I think the same ancient mass-production technology was followed here too.
Remember I showed you the body of the Naga which stretched for many many feet?
These blocks which make up the body, were also interlocked using the same technology
of holes and bumps.
So, let us call it the Naga Locking system, or Naga interlocking technology, you know
the Nagas are symbols of so many things - intertwined, inseparable bonding is one of them, I think
the Naga Interlocking system is an appropriate name for it.
Of course you may ask, if this interlocking system is so good, why are all these pillars
on the ground?
Why is this in complete ruins?
Shouldn't these pillars be standing instead of being on the ground?
This site was ruined, mostly using human hands.
This was a Hindu site, dedicated to Lord Shiva and it was later hacked to pieces by followers
of a different faith.
Remember, the main advantage of this interlocking technology, is you can also remove the blocks
easily as well, one by one.
While this technology makes sure that this structure will not easily collapse in an earthquake,
or a flood, humans can dismantle these blocks easily, one by one.
And this is exactly what happened here.
In a previous video, I showed you how this giant lingam was taken out, by human force,
this is not a destruction by nature, it was done by human beings, sadly.
I showed you how, many many lingams were destroyed in this area when Cambodians moved away from
Hinduism.
The ancient rock cutting technology in Cambodia is simply baffling, everywhere I look I am
amazed, Look at these stone steps in this temple, look at the very bottom, right?
Multiple, small stone blocks crudely making up one step.
This is child's play, and look at the next step above it . This is how every step should
look, one long rectangular block making up one step.
This is normal.
But see what is going on after that, look how many steps are made of a single block
of stone, 1 - 2 -3 -4 four steps made of one block, and again, on top, 1-2-3-4 4 more steps
made of one block.
I mean, this shows it must have been really easy for the ancient builders to cut the rocks
and assemble them, just like how we cut butter and assemble lego blocks.
And believe it or not, this kind of stone interlocking technology is emerging again,
in recent times.
They are mass manufacturing these stone blocks with these bumps and holes to create the same
naga interlocking technology.
There is nothing new under the sun, guys.
I hope you like this video, I am Praveen Mohan, thanks a lot for watching, don't forget to
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Bye!