SUNRISE OVER THE ANGKOR...

Up and Ready by 4:30 am I went to witness the Iconic sunrise over the Angkor Wat Temple. It’s the sunrise over this temple that makes it so beautiful and breathtaking. This is indeed one of the best sunrises I have ever seen in my life. I hated to see so many bystanders, but once the skies lit up, I just felt "Man is such a miniature before nature". I shot these images the first day, but the next 2 days I just sat without my camera, I got so involved by the magnanimous beauty of the sun rising from the horizon. Every minute and everyday during the same time the skies play a colorful game which is just unexplainable...

GRANDEUR IN THE RUINS...ANGKOR WAT

Ruins are often romanticized by Painters, Photographers, in Films and in Literature. To me, personally, every rock and every structure tells a story, they all contain fragments of my spirit. I felt possessed by the presence of an Ancient Ghost haunting around that place. The winds that blew amidst the cracks of the walls which are on the verge of collapsing, the roots emerging out from the little gaps on the structures, the opened roof of the libraries which used to be an ocean of knowledge. People relate to it in different ways, to some it is Religious, to some it is Historical and to some it is just an Architectural Splendor. What seems to be just a sight of rocks and debris at the present was a once flourishing empire. Being concluded as the largest pre-industrial city in the world, The ANGKOR WAT connects to a 1000 sq kms from its temple core. It is the world’s largest single religious monument.
Over a period of 300 years (900-1200 A.D), the empire produced some of the worlds most magnificent Architectural masterpieces in Angkor. Jayavarman II, hailed himself as the Godking in 802 A.D and thus started the Khmer Empire. Derived from the Sanskrit word “Nagara”, Angkor was named the capital of his empire. The main temple is dedicated to lord “Vishnu”. Approximately 72 major temples and several hundred additional minor temples are scattered throughout the landscape and beyond the present Thai border. During 1170 A.D, the then king adopted Buddhism and altered the Hindu temples to display images of “Buddha”.
In 1431 A.D, Thai invaders attacked the empire, which resulted in many people fleeing away from the main city. Another major contributing factor was the religious transition from Hinduism to Theravada Buddhism which created differences between its people…ultimately the whole Angkor was abandoned by the 15th century. Lost in time and going through the onslaught of weathering effects through the centuries. Since then, the temples remained hidden until 1907, when a French Archeologist discovered it. Even though there were efforts to restore the temples by the Frenchmen, the sites were robbed and the rich artifacts and sculptures being smuggled into the Thai border. To add misery to the restoration, the Khmer Rouges contributed in the plundering and destruction of the structures which were once the symbol of religious and royal importance. Since 1980’s, after the end of the Khmer Regime the temples have found their rightful place in the world and has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Roots standing the test of time, CAMBODIA.

Walking through the ruins of the ancient temples at the Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom, Banteay sri etc..one cannot miss these magnificient trees and their roots which conveys a sense of vastness, emptiness and the loneliness that is felt around the place.....

LIMESTONE WONDER, KUALA LAMPUR

This is one of the major attractions if anyone travels around Malaysia, irrespective of religion and beliefs these caves make up for a worthwhile visit. The feel inside these caves are magnanimous and the views breathtaking.
"Batu Caves" is a limestone hill, which has a series of caves and cave temples located in Gombak district, Kuala Lampur. It is named after the river Sangai Batu or Batu River which flows past the hill. Batu is also the name of a nearby village. The formation of the caves is believed to be 400 million years old, which stretches for 2 kilometers. It has 3 main caves and many smaller ones. The biggest is usually referred as Cathedral Cave which has a ceiling of over 100 meters high.
Around the 1860’s these caves were used as a resource for ‘Guano’ which was used for fertilizing the vegetable crops by Chinese settlers at that time. It was only in 1891 when an Indian trader K.Thamboosamy Pillai promoted the caves as a place of worship for Hindus. The temple was designed as per Dravidian architecture and is dedicated to lord ‘Muruga’. At the foothills of the temple before ascending the 272 steps to the main cave stands the statue of Lord Muruga which is 140 feet tall, it is painted with 300 liters of gold paint brought in from Thailand and it costs around 24 million. It took 3 years in the making.
Batu Caves is one of the most popular Hindu shrines outside India, particularly to South Indians.

FLOATING MARKET IN THAILAND...

The vibrance, the aroma, the varieties of food, the handicrafts and the boats... Floating markets in Thailand, which is the brand identity of the nation.

TONLE SAP RIVER, CAMBODIA

My journeys have taken me to some remarkable places, this is one of them.

Tonle Sap River, which is the worlds second largest river covering an area of 2,700 sq kms to 16,000 sq kms and also being the Largest Fresh Water Lake in South East Asia. Fish caught from Tonle Sap Lake contributes to almost 60% of Cambodia’s protein intake. Due to its Ecology, It was designated as a UNESCO biosphere in 1997. The Lake expands from 2,500 Square Km to 16,000 square Km during seasons and is up to 9 Meter in depth.

It is the home for thousands of Vietnamese and Cham community people who have been refugees for more than 100 years. Their ancestors decided to live on the Lake due to its vast abundance in sea food. But there are many Social, Cultural and Economical Barriers created between the Vietnamese and Cambodians which has forced the Vietnamese population on the Lake to live as Refugees from the past several decades. The children are ready to please you with their skills in the water, One kid was jumping repeatedly when I told him I like his jump, after several jumps he came up to me asking for a Coke. The little girls carrying Little babies came up to you from their little Boats to sell you many local refreshments, the sight makes you pay something not to buy, but to support the children there.

What to see : I hired a Boat to visit these villages and luckily I was the only passenger on it, which made me more approachable to the Boatman and his little assistant who provided me with all the information I needed about their Life on the Lake. Being a solo traveler opens up many doors to the Local Life. I even had an opportunity to steer the boat all by myself. I visited Crocodile Breeding Water Farms in on of the villages. The natural Bird Sanctuary being home to several species of Birds. If possible experience Fishing with the Locals to experience their livelihood. Wooden Houses which are actually Vulnerable to the waters are the homes for hundreds of refugees. Lack of Food, Facilities, Medications etc have forced these people to build their own Floating Markets, Floating Schools, Floating Churches, Floating Restaurants for Tourists etc.,

What to eat : With food being a scarcity due to the Economical reasons in these villages, People have turned Carnivores and are subjected to consume almost any kind of food. But for the normal tourist I would recommend just Coke and Fried Rice while on these Floating Villages. Get some food packed from Siem Reap Town.

Economic Conditions : Surviving under USD 1 a day, I personally do not know how I would live my life in that place. I was invited to stay over and go hunting in the deep waters, But For all the Problems and Barriers created between the Locals and the Refugees, my presence overnight would just add up to the complications to the already on-going struggle on the Lake. People live, work, fish, shop, go to schools and churches on the Floating village.

How to Reach : Boats can be hired which are reasonable cheap to visit few of the places on this Lake. It is just few kilometers out of the Siem Reap town which can be reached through Taxis, Private motorbike Taxis or Tuk Tuks.

The Nearest Accommodation is only in Siem Reap town, where wide ranges of hotels are available for every budget. The people in Cambodia are exceptionally friendly and will win your hearts once you are there. I have met people who came there just for a few days and ended up staying for months together. The place is Magical, with its Glorifying History of Angkor Wat Temples and the Terrifying recent past of the Khmer Rouges. People are very well recovering from the Traumatic experiences and the new generation willing to do whatever it takes to be in the present World League.

THE KILLING FIELDS...

There are times when I feel am an opportunist coz am trying to capture some horrid truths and gain sympathy for my work and in the process become popular...taking photographs around the killing fields was one such time. I feel guilty putting up these images in my album coz am trying to cover 2 million deaths in 200 shots of my camera, I would get some good comments and be appreciated, but the truth is I feel I am en cashing upon those lost souls. The only reason I made this album is for the people who do not know about the Genocide in Cambodia which swept away generations of people in just 5 years of regime of the Khmer Rouge. This is a tribute to those who were killed mercilessly….

The killing fields are a number of sites in Cambodia where large numbers of people were killed and buried by the Khmer Rouge regime, during the rule of the country from 1975 to 1979. At least 200,000 people were executed by the Khmer Rouge and the approximate estimation of the number of deaths resulting from Khmer Rouge policies, including disease and starvation, range from 1.4 to 2.2 million out of a total population of 7 million. It took 5 years to research 20,000 grave sites which contained the remains of 1,112,829 victims of execution. The Khmer regime headed by Pol Pot targeted anyone and everyone suspected to be in connection with the former government or with foreign government, Professionals, Intellectuals, Ethnic Vietnamese, Ethnic Thai, Ethnic Chinese, Ethnic Chams (Cambodian Muslims), Christians and even Buddhist Monks were not spared. To save ammunition the executions were carried out using hammers, axe handles, spades and sharpened bamboo sticks; some victims were required to dig their own graves. It is often described as “One of the worst human tragedies of the last century”.

“No religious rituals, No religious symbols; No education, No training; No currency, No bartering; No communication, No public transportation; No human rights, No social gathering; No marriage, No divorce; No flirting, No masturbation; No shoes, No sandals; No soaps, No detergents; No mercy, No help; No radio, No TV …” these were a few lines of the poem written during the Khmer Rouge regime, A third of the population didn’t survive. In 1979, Vietnam backed by Soviet Union attacked and ended the Khmer Rouge regime.

ILLEGAL CROCODILE TRADING.....

I had heard of an existing crocodile market where baby crocodiles are sold and bought, but the only issue was the markets are not open to foreigners or unknown people coz they are illegal, I had an opportunity to visit one through my boatman who became a good friend of mine and I gained his trust. This baby crocodile which u see in the picture was sold for US $170.
Cambodia is the only country where crocodiles are very sustainable in number. There are more than 1,000 official hybrid breeding centers for baby crocodiles and almost every farmer wants to breed crocodiles. The Chinese, Thai and the Vietnamese poachers and traders buy these Siamese baby crocodiles for their skin, the flesh is again sold for consumption to locals as well as foreigners as the meat is very tender. Farmers readily accept crocodiles brought in from the wild by fishermen, hunters or someone who happens to find one. It is believed that around 50,000 to 60,000 crocodiles have been exported from Cambodia in the last 2 years. The other fear is of hybrid farmed crocodiles, which are crossed between Siamese and the Wild ones brought in from the wild would loose the genetic purity and identity of the few left...

DARKNESS TO LIGHT...

We all generally walk on the same path as normal tourists do and that doesn't fascinate me. I have always tried to see the Unseen and Know the Unknown, this drive takes me to see places which are generally abandoned and ignored by most of the people. To me, personally I do not like human intervention with respect to the Ancient and timeless entities…One can experience theology only by sacrificing their Ego.

‘Spiritual richness and a sense of a Supreme power governing over you…’ this is what I exactly felt; while walking through the forgotten and deserted corridors-under the ruins of the world’s largest religious
monument at the Angkor Wat and its surrounding temples. This is the place where I actually went into an introspective mode. The Ancient walls I touched, the broken structures which made the passages impenetrable, the smell around the ruins and the incredible architecture which made me go deeper and deeper in search of something I never knew I would find, a Non-Material quest of self discovery. The serpents, insects and animals which I drove away with my foot steps...the large spider webs around the place confirmed that there hadn’t been much of a human activity in the places I walked through… after spending hours in the darkness I paused, I could feel my heartbeat become louder than normal as there was no other sound in the abyss of the ruins. As I got involved with the surroundings, I started analyzing myself, the darker the place got, the worse I felt about the sins I have committed in my life, I went through the same emotion everyday since the time I visited the subversive and hidden areas. The last day I finally felt I had to overcome my own devils and start relating my life to both-the darkness and the light around me…
I could see the trail of these tunnels finally ending with the glowing light-which became the path for my Redemption.

SPIRITUAL SPACES..

What is the first thing that comes to the mind when we hear about a Buddhist Monastery or a Pagoda? It is Peace, Sanctity, Chanting, Meditation, Spirituality and Enlightment. To experience the spiritual side, I took a journey to the remote Monasteries of Thailand and Cambodia.
In Thailand particularly there are small monasteries up in the hills where the monks live in Caves, it feels like time has never changed since the birth of Buddhism. I met many monks of all ages, they come to a monastery as small kids and complete a 7 year study on Buddhism after which they are free to choose the spiritual path or they can choose the material world. As a traveler I was lucky to be allowed to stay in a monastery with the only condition being I should teach English to the monks, which I happily agreed to do. I studied a lot about their discipline, Buddhist traditions, different practices and their way of living. The monks had an urge to acquire knowledge, they inspired me to work hard in teaching them what I know despite the fact they didn’t understand English, they used to make fun of me in their own language and laugh at me as though am from some different planet but they were so innocent in doing that. I have shared many things with them though unspoken but only felt. That is when I realized that it is not just verbal language which is required to convey things but it’s the purity of the heart and the strength of our metaphorical energies which bond people together. I cherish every moment I spent with them.
I haven’t shot many photographs of the pagodas or the monastery with due respect to the privacy of the monks. The life of a monk is better experienced in real than seen in the images….