Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum

The Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum is a museum in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia. The site is a former high school which was used as the notorious Security Prison 21 (S-21) by the Khmer Rouge regime from its rise to power in 1975 to its fall in 1979. Tuol Sleng in Khmer; means "Hill of the Poisonous Trees" or "Strychnine Hill".

Formerly the Chao Ponhea Yat High School named after a Royal ancestor of King Norodom Sihanouk, the five buildings of the complex were converted in August 1975, four months after the Khmer Rouge won the civil war, into a prison and interrogation center. The Khmer Rouge renamed the complex "Security Prison 21" (S-21) and construction began to adapt the prison to the inmates: the buildings were enclosed in electrified barbed wire, the classrooms converted into tiny prison and torture chambers, and all windows were covered with iron bars and barbed wire to prevent escapes Formerly the Chao Ponhea Yat High School, named after a Royal ancestor of King Norodom Sihanouk, the five buildings of the complex were converted in August 1975, four months after the Khmer Rouge won the civil war, into a prison and interrogation center. The Khmer Rouge renamed the complex "Security Prison 21" (S-21) and construction began to adapt the prison to the inmates: the buildings were enclosed in electrified barbed wire, the classrooms converted into tiny prison and torture chambers, and all windows were covered with iron bars and barbed wire to prevent escapes.

From 1975 to 1979, an estimated 17,000 people were imprisoned at Tuol Sleng (some estimates suggest a number as high as 20,000, although the real number is unknown). At any one time, the prison held between 1,000-1,500 prisoners. They were repeatedly tortured and coerced into naming family members and close associates, who were in turn arrested, tortured and killed. In the early months of S-21's existence, most of the victims were from the previous Lon Nol regime and included soldiers, government officials, as well as academics, doctors, teachers, students, factory workers, monks, engineers, etc. Later, the party leadership's paranoia turned on its own ranks and purges throughout the country saw thousands of party activists and their families brought to Tuol Sleng and murdered. Those arrested included some of the highest ranking communist politicians such as Khoy Thoun, Vorn Vet and Hu Nim. Although the official reason for their arrest was "espionage," these men may have been viewed by Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot as potential leaders of a coup against him. Prisoners' families were often brought en masse to be interrogated and later murdered at the Choeung Ek extermination center.

In 1979, the prison was uncovered by the invading Vietnamese army. In 1980, the prison was reopened by the government of the People's Republic of Kampuchea as a historical museum memorializing the actions of the Khmer Rouge regime.

The museum is open to the public, and receives an average of 500 visitors every day.



The 114 photographs on this site are from Pol Pot's secret prison, codenamed "S-21" during his genocidal rule (1975-79). Between 1-2 million Cambodians--and many thousands of foreigners--were starved to death, tortured, or killed, during this reign of terror.

When the Vietnamese Army invaded in 1979 the S-21 prison staff fled, leaving thousands of written and photographic records. Altogether more than 6,000 photographs were left; the majority, however, have been lost or destroyed.

Former prison staff say as many as 30,000 prisoners were held at S-21 before the Khmer Rouge leadership was forced to flee, in the first days of 1979. This website contains most of the photographs that were printed for the book Killing Fields (Twin Palms Press) and for a traveling exhibition, which was on display at the Museum of Modern Art (NYC), as well as many other locations.

Currently the Tuol Sleng Museum of Genocide, which is located within the former prison grounds, has the original negatives and a catalog of all 6,000 remaining negatives. Cornell University also has one of the catalogs, and the DCCam Project has also incorporated scanned versions of the images into their database, as well as Yale University.

In 1997 an American photographer/researcher identified and located the prison photographer, Nhem Ein, who had been living in a Khmer Rouge stronghold since 1979. Since meeting Nhem Ein, many other former prison staff have been identified and interviewed, adding to our knowledge of this piece of awful history.

Phnom Penh

The kingdom of Cambodia (also know as Kampuchea) is a Southeast Asian Nation flanked by Vietnam in the east, Laos in the North and the Gulf of Thailand to its Southwest. Cambodia has recently re-established it self on the tourism map and is now known for its idyllic beaches and exotic temples.

History of Cambodia

Any overview of Cambodia is incomplete without a brief explanation of the country's century old history and often troubled past. Cambodia has seen imperial rule and for nearly half a millennium. Since the fall of Angkor in 1431, the powerful Khmer Empire has been looted and plundered by its neighboring countries and faced imperial rule

under France. Even after its independence in 1953, Cambodia was mired in the controversy of civil war in 1970.

However Cambodia achieved a semblance of peace and stability after the Un sponsored elections in 1993.

Cambodia Geography Cambodia has a total area of 181, 040 square kilometers of which 176,520 square kilometers are land and 4250 square kilometers of water. The physical relief of Cambodia comprises mostly flat lowlands and plains and mountains in the southwest and north.

A mixture of Cambodian hospitality, Asian exotica and Indochinese charm await the visitor to Phnom Penh. Situated at the confluence of three great rivers - known as the 'Chaktomuk' (four faces) or 'Quatre Bras' (four arms) of the Mekong, Tonle Sap and Bassac rivers - Phnom Penh is a city of more than 2 million people, the capital of Cambodia and the country's commercial, economic and political hub. It is also comparatively new travel destination. An adventure destination just a decade ago, the city is now a center of diverse economic and urban development and is quickly morphing an air of edgy chic with bistros and boutique hotels lining the riverfront, smart little silk boutiques and galleries dotting the side streets, a budding arts scene and a heady dusk-to-dawn nightlife.

 As the capital city Phnom Penh is fairly young, only rising to the role in 1866, but is still steeped in history and offers several cultural and historical sites. The city was under French colonial control from 1863-1953, flourished in independence in the 1960s, besieged and then evacuated under the Khmer Rouge in the late 70s, repopulated in the 80s, revitalized in the 90s and now undergoing rapid change and development. Much of the central city including the Royal Palace and National Museum (both open to visitors) was built during the French period. You may notice the old French buildings in colonial yellow amongst the Southeast Asian shophouses and classic Khmer pagodas. The National Museum in Phnom Penh is the most significant public repository of Khmer artifacts in the country, displaying many important Angkorian artifacts and rare pieces from later periods. Historical sites from the Khmer Rouge period in Phnom Penh include the Toul Sleng Genocide Museum and the Choeung Ek Memorial. Other historical sites such as the old capital of Oudong and the Angkorian ruins of Phnom Chisor and Phnom Da lie within an easy day-trip of Phnom Penh.
             Phnom Penh is also a gateway to Cambodia...the temples of Angkor near Siem Reap City in the west, the beaches of Sihanoukville and coastal towns on along the southern coast (Kampot, Kep and Koh Kong,) the minority peoples, jungles and wildlife of the northeast provinces and a wide-open, unspoiled countryside of rice paddies, little villages and lost temples across the country.

Sunrise at Angkor Wat

Sunrise Over Angkor
Watching the sunrise over Angkor Wat is a virtual pre-requisite of any visit to Siem Reap and the Angkor temple complex nearby and mine was no different. It was my first full day of exploration on this trip and my guide, Soydy, was waiting for me outside the hotel doors early at 4.30am. Navigating my way around the sleeping front desk clerk and his hammock strung across the stairway, I climbed aboard Soydy's moto and we were off. The streets

were already alive with people despite the early hour and the darkness, although their shapes were a blur and only highlighted by the beam of our motorbike lights. We drove past the recently refurbished Grand d'Angkor hotel and out along the seven kilometre road to the temples. The cool breeze helped to wake me up as we slowed to a halt at the main ticket booth. Soydy had given me my temple pass when he picked me up and by torchlight, my ticket was inspected, stamped and signed. We carried on, speeding past a procession of locals making their way into the temple complex by bicycle.

        At the foot of the steps to the broad causeway of Angkor Wat, Soydy bade me farewell as he remained with his moto. I immediately recognised my error in not bringing a torch as I stumbled along the 250 metre long causeway in complete darkness. Not able to see my own feet, my fingers were crossed that I didn't stray too far and fall into 

the moat surrounding the temple. Angkor Wat took nearly thirty years to build in the first half of the twelfth century

under the kingship of Suryavarman II and is without doubt, an awesome architectural masterpiece and recognized as the largest temple in the world. It covers an area of 500 acres, its moat is 200 metres wide and the perimeter of the enclosure wall surrounding the temple measures a staggering 5.5 kilometres.
Sunrise at Angkor Wat.It wasn't my first visit to Angkor Wat and I had the benefit of recalling the layout in my head, but without the aid of light, I gingerly negotiated the steps to the western entry tower or gopura of the laterite enclosing wall and through the covered gallery. Since leaving Soydy, I had encountered no-one, although I knew from experience that members of the Cambodian army were doubtless resting in their hammocks close by.

Banteay Srei temple

Banteay Srei's style is a mix of the archaic and the innovative. It is built largely of red sandstone, with brick and laterite used only for the enclosure walls and some structural elements. Although Banteay Srei's coloration is unique, sandstone of other shades was later to become the norm.

Pediments are large in comparison to entrances, in a sweeping gabled shape. For the first time whole scenes appear on the pediments, while the lintels with central figures and kalas on looped garlands look backwards. The guardian dvarapalas and the colonettes are also old-fashioned. Decoration covering almost every available surface is deeply sculpted and figures rounded. The style is also seen in parts of Preah Vihear.

Like most Khmer temples, Banteay Srei is orientated towards the east. The fourth eastern gopura is all that remains of Isvarapura's outer wall, approximately 500 m square, which may have been made of wood.

The gopura's eastern pediment shows Indra, who was associated with that direction. A 67 m causeway with the remains of corridors on either side connects the gopura with the third enclosure. North and south of this causeway are galleries orientated north-south (one to the north and three to the south halfway along, with a further one on each side in front of the third gopura).

The third enclosure is 95 by 110 m, with gopuras in the laterite wall to the east and west. Neither pediment of the eastern gopura is in situ: one is on the ground nearby, while the other is in Paris's Guimet Museum. Most of the area within the third enclosure is occupied by a moat (now dry) divided into two parts by causeways to the east and west. The succeeding second enclosure has a laterite wall of 38 by 42 m.

The brick inner enclosure wall, a 24 m square, has collapsed, leaving the first gopura isolated, while the laterite galleries which filled the second enclosure (one each to north and south, two each to east and west) have largely collapsed. The eastern pediment of the east gopura shows Shiva Nataraja. The central part of the west gopura was enclosed to form a sanctuary, with access being to either side.

Between the gopuras are the buildings of the inner enclosure: a library in each of the southeast and northeast corners, and in the centre the sanctuary set on a T-shaped platform 0.9 m high.

Besides being the most extravagantly decorated parts of the temple, these have also been the most successfully restored (helped by the durability of their sandstone and their small scale). As of 2005, the entire first enclosure was off-limits to visitors, as was the southern half of the second enclosure.

The libraries are of brick, laterite and sandstone. The south library's pediments both feature Shiva: to the east Ravana shakes Mount Kailash, with Shiva on the summit; the west pediment has the god of love, Kama, shooting an arrow at him.

On the north library's east pediment, Indra creates rain to put out a forest fire started by Agni to kill a naga living in the woods; Krishna and his brother aid Agni by firing arrows to stop the rain. On the west pediment is Krishna killing his uncle Kamsa.

Glaize wrote that the four library pediments, "representing the first appearance of tympanums with scenes, are works of the highest order. Superior in composition to any which followed, they show true craftsmanship in their modelling in a skilful blend of stylisation and realism."

The sanctuary is entered from the east by a doorway only 1.08 m in height: inside is an entrance chamber (or mandapa) with a corbelled brick roof, then a short corridor leading to three towers to the west: the central tower is the tallest, at 9.8 m. Glaize notes the impression of delicacy given the towers by the antefixes on each of their tiers. The six stairways leading up to the platform were each guarded by two kneeling statues of human figures with animal heads; most of those now in place are replicas, the originals having been stolen or removed to museums.

Ta Keo Temple

TA KEO (Angko site)

Built between 968 and 1001, this temple of more than 50 m of height is the first one of Angkor, built completely for Wills. The decorations were never finished because carving in wills was very hard. This temple is typical Angkor's " temples-mountains ".
This temple the king built not ready was abandon in the forest  long time ago because the middle tower was broken.

Ta Prom Temple

Location:      East of Angkor Thom
King:     Jayavarman VII
Date:     12th-13th century
Religion:     Buddhist
Access:     Enter from the west side.


Ta Prom is definitively what you are looking for if you are into discovering old ruins in the jungle. When the French started clearing away the vegetation on the Angkor ruins some romantics protested that the archeologist were destroying what they called "the natural state" of the temples. The Conservation Society decided that Ta Prohm would remain in its overgrown state. Some work was carried out to prevent further collapses and to make the site safe for visitors. Some parts have signs that forbid entry which doesn't seem to hinder the majoity of the tourists. As Ta Prom is visited by most Angkor tourist more and more vegetation disappears every year. Thus the causeways and stone floors get bare which dries out the giant fig trees. Nevertheless, Ta Prom is a sight not to be missed.
The temple is one of the largest, with an outer wall measuring 600 by 1000 metres, largely collapsed. The sanctuary is a square with sides of 120m. Some parts are inaccessible because the roofs caved in. It is a good idea to bring a flashlight if you want to scout the inner hallways. Be careful where you step, especially in the morning when all the stones are wet with the dew. The old man on the picture below seems to live in or near the temple. He spends his day wiping the pathways and showing the tourists particularly fine pieces of sculpture in exchange for a little money.

You can enter the complex from the west. Most of the time some people will be there trying to sell you musical instruments, little buddha statues and the like. Often people are performing local music and little girls will show you their version of apsara dances.

Ta Phrom Temple, One of the most romantic temples of Angkor's site, where the nature resumed its rights and disrupted the work of the men. A magic place which was built in 1186, this convent Buddhist was the most gigantic of Angkor's site. The Conservation of Angkor saved the main monuments, but didn't clean' it. All the trees and the roots which had invaded and left the rights for the jungle, such as found him by the first discoverers. Roots look like snakes which disrupt and waste statues and walls, and huge trees beat the heads of stuppas. A forest which doesn't want to let escape his gods and which destroys them or protects them.... A place loaded with emotion and poetry for the meditation. A magic temple in the sunset.
12000 persons lived in the surrounding wall of the " Convent of King " 8 centuries previously, and his construction was ended at the beginning of the XIIIth century.

Angkor Wat Temple

Angkor Wat - The pearl of Cambodia
Location:     Six kilometres north of Siem Reap
King:     Suryavarman II
Date:     ±1115-1145 A.D.
Religion:     Hindu
Access:     The main entrance is in the west.

Angkor Wat is a spectacular temple in southwest Cambodia, built by the vanished Khmer empire. It was constructed during the reign of king Suryavarman II, who ruled from 1113 to at least 1145. In those days, it was customary for the Khmer Empire to maintain a state temple at the heart of the city. However, when Suryavarman assumed power, the existing Baphuon state temple was dedicated to Shiva. Suryavarman worshiped Vishnu, and wished to honor him with a new temple south of the existing capital. This new state temple came to be called Angkor Wat, meaning "The city that is a temple."
The land occupied by the temple measures 1300 meters north-south, and 1500 meters east-west. Unlike other Khmer temples, the entrance faces west toward Vishnu. A person entering the temple first approaches an entrance causeway that takes him across the 200 meter wide moat. On the opposite shore is an entrance pavilion measuring 230 meters north-south. Its central bays have three passages that elephants could fit through for royal processions. Past the entrance gate is a long causeway that runs for over 300 meters, decorated with mythical snake-like animals called naga. On either side are isolated buildings called "libraries" though their true function is unknown (image 7). Near the temple are two small pools.
The actual temple sits on a sandstone plinth a meter above the ground. Its perimeter is decorated with naga balustrades (image 18, foreground). The outer wall of the temple is called the "first enclosure," and sits on a plinth 3.3 meters high. A continuous gallery runs along the outside face of the wall (image 16). The inner face is decorated with 700 meters of continuous bas reliefs.

Just to the east of the west gate of the first enclosure is a series of four rooms arranged in a cruciform(images 22-24). Each room is surrounded by a continuous gallery and has a sunken floor where ponds used to be. The southern arm of the cross was once called the "Gallery of a thousand Buddhas" because until very recently, the Khmer faithful left Buddha statues here. Most of these were destroyed during the recent civil war. North and south of the "western cruciform" are two more "libraries."
The second enclosure rests on a base 5.8 meters high. It is linked to the Western Cruciform by a series of stairs. Inside this courtyard are still more "libraries," smaller than the previous ones.

The inner enclosure rests on a two-tiered pyramid 11 meters tall. The stairs are extremely steep (see image 31). The upper terrace has a continuous gallery that encloses an inner cruciform of four rooms. Five towers jut from the upper tier in a quincunx arrangement (like five dots on a pair of dice). The cruciform used to contain a number of separate shrines, but they look like passageways now since the wooden doors are gone. The central tower is 65 meters above ground level.

Bayon Temple

The Bayon views with Angkor Wat the favorite monument of visitors . the two evoke similar aesthetic responses yet are different in purpose, design, architecture and decoration. The dense jungle surround the temple camouflaged its position in relation to other structures at Angkor so it was not known for some time that the Bayon stands in the exact centre of the city of Angkor Thom. Even after this was known, the Bayon was erroneously connected with the city of Yasovarman I and thus dated to the ninth century. A pediment found in 1925 depicting an Avalokitesvara identified the Bayon as a Buddhist temple. This discovery moved the date of the monument ahead some 300 years to the late twelfth century. Even though the date is firmly implanted and supported by archaeological evidence, the Bayon remains one of the most enigmatic temples of the Angkor group. Its symbolism, original form and subsequent changes and constructions have not yet been untangled.
The Bayon was built nearly 100 years after Angkor Wat. The basic structure and earliest part of the temple ate not known. Since it was located at the centre of a royal city it seems possible that the Bayon would have originally been a temple-mountain conforming to the symbolism of a microcosm of Mount Meru. The middle part of the temple was extended during the second phase of building. The Bayon of today belong to the third and last phase of the art style.

The architectural scale and composition of the Bayon exude grandness in every aspects. Its elements juxtapose each other to create balance and harmony. Over 2000 large faces carved on the 54 tower give this temple its majestic character. The faces with slightly curving lips, eyes placed in shadow by the lowered lids utter not a word and yet force you to guess much, wrote P Jennerat de Beerski in the 1920s. It is generally accepted that four faces on each of the tower are images of the bodhisattva Avalokitesvara and that they signify the omnipresence of the king. The characteristics of this faces - a broad forehead, downcast eyes, wild nostrils, thick lips that curl upwards slightly at the ends-combine to reflect the famous 'smile of Angkor'.
 

Layout
A peculiarity of the Bayon is the absence of an enclosing wall. It is, though, protected by the wall surrounding the city of Angkor Thom. The basic plan of the Bayon is a simple one comprising three levels (1-3). The first and second levels are square galleries featuring bas-reliefs. A circular Central Sanctuary (4) dominates the third level. Despite this seemingly simple plan, the arrangement of the Bayon is complex, with a maze of galleries, passages and steps connected in a way that make the levels practically indistinguishable and creates dim lighting, narrow walkways, and low ceilings.
Enter the Bayon from the east (5) at the steps leading to a terrace. The interior of the Bayon, the one a visitor first encounters, is a square gallery on the ground or first level (1). This gallery is interspersed with eight entry towers (7)- one in each corner and one in the middle of each side. All of the eight structures are in the shape of a cross. The gallery was probably originally covered with a root, perhaps of wood.
Tip: For those who have limited time, enter the Bayon at the east, turn left at the first gallery and follow the arrow marked on the plan.
The decoration on the pillars in front of the entry tower at the east is characteristic of the Bayon style and is exceptionally beautiful. It is the recurring theme of the Apsaras but with a different treatment. A typical composition is a group of three Asaras dancing on a bed of lotuses. They are in a triangular formation. The figure in the center is larger than those on either side. A plain background highlights both the dancers and the intricately carved frame comprising a lightly etched pattern of flowers and leaves that look like tapestry. (Although a group of three dancers is typical, similar scenes are made up only one or two dancers.)
Tip: The absence of a roof on these pillars allows sufficient light for the visitor to view and photograph this motif at all times of the day.
The two galleries of bas-reliefs are distinguished by the degree of elevation .The first or outer gallery is all on one level whereas the second or inner gallery is on different level and the passage is some times difficult. The layout of the inner gallery can be misleading but as lone as the relief are in view you are still in the second gallery .

On the interior of the first level there are two libraries (6), one on each side near the corners at the east side of the gallery.
The second gallery of bas-reliefs has a tower in each corner and another one on each side which combines to form an entry tower(8).
On the interior of the second level there is a unit of galleries at each corner that form a cross with indentation. Each corner has a tower and a courtyard. Agigh terrace parallels the profile of the cross-shaped gallery.
The architectural climax is the third level (3) ,with the Central Sanctuary and the faces of Avalokitesvara .The east side of this area is crammed with a series of small rooms and entry towers .The multitude of faces at different levels affords endless fascination. Godliness in the majesty and the size; mystery in the expression wrote de Beer ski when he looked at the faces in the 1920s.
The central mass is circular , a shape that is uncommon in Khmer art. Small porches with pediments provide the bases for the monumental faces while windows with balusters keep the diffusion of light to a minimum. The faces on the four sides of the eight tower marking the cardinal directions are exceptionally dramatic depictions.
The interior of the Central Sanctuary  is  and surrounded by a narrow passage. The  summit of the Central mass is undoubtedly the Golden Tower which Zhou Daguan said marked the center of the Kingdom and was flanked by more than twenty lesser tower and several hundred stone chambers.

The Gallery of Bas-Reliefs
The have homely human things to tell and they tell them without affectation, wrote H Churchill Candee of the bas-reliefs in the galleries of the Bayon.
Tip: View the galleries of bas-reliefs clockwise , always keeping the monument on the right. Do not get so absorbed with the reliefs that you forget to stop at each opening and enhoy the view of the faces on the third level.

       The outer gallery: depictions of historical events and everyday life the outer wall of the outer gallery features a series of bas-reliefs depicting historical events and scenes from the everyday life of the Angkorian Khmer. Though highly detailed and informative in themselves, the bas-reliefs are not accompanied by any sort of epigraphic text, and for that reason considerable uncertainty remains as to which historical events are portrayed and how, if at all, the different reliefs are related. From the east gopura clockwise, the subjects are: