Tomb Raider

Tomb Raider of ancient Khmer art.

Seen in the half-light, the crumbling towers of Ta Phrom temple are a vision from another world. The massive walls, locked in the muscular embrace of vast tree-root systems, offer a sense of the exhilaration that would have been felt by the French explorer Henri Mouhot when he stumbled upon the Angkor temples more than 140 years ago. Hee didn't hesitate to rate his discovery as "grander than anything of Greece or Rome".

The ancient capital of the Khmer empire is one of the archaeological masterpieces of the world and the spiritual and cultural heart of Cambodia. After rediscovering of the Khmer temple, palaces and monuments by Henri Mouhot, Khmer art quickly fell pray to tomb raiders who came quickly after the discoveries.

It is also the victim of a slow and painstaking rape, an assault of tomb raiders coming with chisels and drills. The impoverished local tomb raiders took apart the temples and monuments and sold them to wealthy collectors by pieces.

Hidden by the bamboo shoots on the approach to the little-used northern gate,

an intricately carved bas-relief of sandstone lotus leaves at Ta Phrom decorates a section of the wall bordering the path. Lying in front of it yesterday were a cluster of motorcycles hastily thrown down by a gang of five men who vaulted the wall and disappeared on hearing the approach of footsteps.

In each of the more than 50 niches at Ta Phrom beautifully carved into the stone, there was nothing left but scarred rock. The tell-Tale signs of chiseling were all that remained where once a cross-legged Buddha would have sat elsewhere, carved panels had tumbled onto the jungle floor, heads had been clumsily hacked off and only amputated legs were visible where the torso of a lost goddess had been hauled away.

What was going on with the tomb raider in the Cambodian jungle was a little bit different as the Lara Croft Tomb Raider Movie has shown. The Lara Croft legend was and is still played in real time. The Lara Croft tomb raider legend is not over yet, maybe Angelina Joli can do a another movie and another Cambodian Child to adopt.

Angkor Wat and the Angkor temple complex are some the most visited tourist attractions in the world. People come from all over the world to see the remains of this ancient Khmer city. Built in the 12th century, there are hundreds of temples and structures here to explore. The most famous is the main temple of Angkor Wat, Bayon and Ta Phrom, the last being featured in the movie Tomb Raider with Lara Croft alias Angelina Joli.

Temple raider.

The Khmer Buddha's are by now on their way to the antique shops of Bangkok, or the auction houses of the West. They are bound ultimately for secret collections of Angkorian art in an illicit and thriving trade that is consigning one of the wonders of the world to a slow death.

"It is tragic, and criminal," said Anabel Ford, a Californian archaeologist on a project to photograph the spring equinox at Angkor. "There is no way to know if it happened 20 years ago or 20 minutes ago, but there is no misTake that beautiful pieces are missing."

The temples of Angkor were built between the 9th and 14th centuries,

 when Khmer civilization was at its height and the empire stretched north to Yunnan in China and from Vietnam westwards to the Bay of Bengal. Unparalleled in south-east Asia, they are a living testament to the extraordinary creativity of the Khmer. The writer and broadcaster Dan Cruikshank became increasingly concerned at the situation in Angkor Wat during the filming of Around the World in 80 Treasures. He said he was immediately struck by the vulnerability of the more than 100 temples stretched over 77 square miles of dense jungle.

Most of the temples and monuments are not guarded or policed, they are open to temple raider.

Even at Angkor Wat itself it is very easy to pick something up. There is a lot still unexcavated and you can just pick it up. It's a gigantic problem. It would be easy if one were determined to knock off the odd head. There's no one around but the occasional tourist."

Cruickshank said that the Western collectors are as much to blame for the looting as the gangs that bring the stone saws to bear on the priceless carvings. The Khmer treasures are, he says, a victim of their own beauty. The quality of the 12th century workmanship is outstanding. There is a tremendous fusion of Hindu and Buddhist art with Indonesian sensibility. There's nothing else like it and it's a loss to mankind at large."

The rape of Angkor is not strictly a modern phenomenon and looting has been underway since the complex was abandoned in the 16th century and the court moved to Phnom Penh.

Most have seen the Lara Croft / Angelina Joli movie Tomb Raider. It was made around this area in Cambodia and had some realistic background.

But the overwhelming sentiment is one of sadness at the irreparable damage by tomb raider,  temple raider and other Cambodians have been driven by poverty and the greed of foreigners to inflict on their own heritage.

King Norodom Sihanouk, who abdicated in favor of his son last year, contrasts the ancient glory with the modern theft of anything that might have a market: "It is very sad the Cambodian people were so masterful and skilful but now they plunder their own history."

Author  Jan McGirk Copyright Independent Newspapers UK Limited
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