Cambodian Memorial

Angkor Wat: An endangered sacred shell of the Cambodian people

Cambodia is a country that boasts once magnificent architecture born of the Khmer Empire, particularly one temple known as their beloved Angkor Wat. However, the people of Cambodia have long hid behind this architectural masterpiece in an attempt to hide their deep scars and agonizing grief over their country’s darkest past: the killing fields. This now famous landmark of thousands of unburied skulls was created by the genocide during the civil war in the 1970s and serves as the unforgiving blade that forever severs the Cambodians from their proud architectural ancestry. As they try to recover their past glory and pride by restoring their precious Angkor Wat, their attempts remain futile for the temple and the killing fields simply remain as mass tourist attractions. Perhaps the only way that the people of Cambodia can finally heal and rise up as a proud nation once again is by accepting that the restored Angkor Wat merely serves as the body of their country, and it is actually the events that occurred in the killing fields and acknowledging all those that died in them that serves as the heart of the Cambodians. This is perhaps the only way that the people of Cambodia can emotionally and spiritually build a bridge across the deep chasm created by the killing fields from their once proud architectural ancestry to their current restoration of the Angkor Wat. However, it makes one wonder as to what is it that should be restored and preserved. Shouldn’t the true heritage of Cambodia be the Cambodians, and not the Angkot Wat?