Angkor Thom South Gate, Angkor (near Siem Reap) - Cambodia :
Angkor Thom (Great City) is quadrangle of defensive walls totaling 12km that once protected Khmer capital of the same name. Built in late 12th and early 13th Centuries CE, by King Jayavarman VII, walls are divided by two axes running north-south and east-west. A gateway lies at the end of each axis, four in total, facing the four cardinal directions. An additional gate, called the 'Gate of Victory', pierces the east wall just north of the 'Gate of the Dead', the east gate along the central axis. Significance of additional gate is that it provided access to a terrace of the royal palace. As for other gates, the two axes intersect at the center of the enclosed area where Bayon temple sits.
South gate of Angkor Thom is the best preserved. It is approached from outside via a causeway that extends about fifty meters across a moat. On each side of causeway are railings fashioned with 54 stone figures engaged in the performance of a famous Hindu story: the myth of the Churning of Ocean. On left side of moat, 54 Devas (guardian gods) pull head of snake 'Shesha' while on right side 54 Asuras (demon gods) pull snake's tail in opposite direction. In this myth, body of the snake is wrapped around central mountain Mt. Meru, perhaps corresponding here to Bayon temple at center of site. In any case, myth relates that as Devas pulled the snake in one direction and gods pushed in other, ocean began to churn and precipitate elements. By alternating back and forth, ocean was 'milked', forming earth and cosmos anew.
Central tower of the stone gate is capped by three face-towers that face the four directions (the central tower faces both out and in). Below them at the base of the gate are two sets of elephant statues that flank the entrance on both sides. Sitting on each elephant is a figure of the god Indra carrying his usual weapon, the vadra (a lightning bolt). The gate itself is shaped like an upside-down 'U' and is corbelled at the top (instead of arches, the builders of Angkor preferred to use corbelling to span distances). It is still possible to see where wooden doors once fitted to the gate through openings in the stone.
There is some debate as to the functionality of Angkor Thom as a whole. If it was a wall intended for defense, it was rather poorly designed, since there is nowhere along the wall for defenders to take refuge from incoming fire or shoot back from a shielded location. This is surprising since Angkor had been sacked in 1177 CE, by Champa invaders, and one can readily imagine that its new King, Jayavarman VII would have been concerned with defense should the invaders return.
If not intended for defense, the walls may simply have been an additional enclosure around the Bayon temple, more for ceremony than for practical use. As in Southern India, Angkor rulers built temples surrounded by walls, but usually not with walls as thick and grand as those of Angkor Thom.
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