Weaving the golden silks of Angkor

Golden and fluffy native Cambodian silkworm cocoons attached to their special rearing baskets.

 

I haven't posted about silk weaving in Cambodia earlier as I thought my pictures weren't good enough for publishing... however, I've bee talking about this with both family and friends many times since our visit there in last October, so I decided to share what I'd seen despite the less than perfect pictures.

So here they are, my snapshots from the silk farm and "factory" of Artisans Angkor, one of the finest silk producers in Siem Reap; a company that not only sells stunningly beautiful silk products, but has also created many job opportunities for young people living in Cambodia's rural areas by reviving production of many traditional handicrafts there. The little factory is just outside the city and geared towards tourists willing to learn how more about the production of traditional Khmer "golden silk", called so because of it's natural, shiny yellow color as it is unraveled from the native Cambodian silk cocoons. 

 

Rows of white mulberries, grown as food for the silkworms - like pandas, they only eat one kind of plant, the white mulberry (that's why it took so long for Europeans to figure out how to grow silkworms; they didn't know what picky eaters they are...).

The worms are fattened before they reach the cocooning stage.

 Worms getting ready to spin their cocoons - poor little doomed creatures (the first picture of this post should actually come after this, with the mature cocoons).

 

Silk has been produced in Cambodia since the days of Angkor, and there are still almost 20 000 active weavers, mainly near Siem Reap and in the southern parts of the country. While silk production declined sharply during the 30 years of war and political unrest, it has been experiencing a revival, with a new generation taking over by learning the complicated process of silk making, from mulberry farming and silkworm rearing to cocoon processing and spinning the thin, lustrous threads into colorful fabrics with intricate patterns so typical for the Khmers of Cambodia.

Soft silk cocoons, before they are sorted by color.

Thousands and thousands of cocoons; the beautifully soft, golden color occurs naturally in the Cambodian silk. 

 

 The cocoons are cooked, and the thin silk threads are separated and spun per hand from the kettles; it takes long time to learn to do this complicated maneuver...  

A poor little naked silk worm after being cooked.

I'm not quite sure about the right terminology here... after the first spinning, the thin threads are processed further to produce glossy skeins of silk in many shades of yellow and gold.

Seeing the actual - rather painstaking, if you ask me - process of silk making from the mulberries and worms to the final, stunningly beautiful fabrics, scarfs and clothes was a real eye opener. The level of sophistication of the Asian cultures, producing and spinning these less that hair-thin strands for hundreds of years ago and planning the complicated colorings for the patterns is just mind-blowing - just looking at the dip-dyed silk garn, ready to be woven in a certain, predetermined order made my brain hurt a little. To have figured the technique out (without any computers...) is so telling - only a society of high level of knowledge, sophistication and resources - for spending time producing, using and appreciating them - could have come up with this kind of beautiful products. But then, the visitors, priests and dancers at the impressive temples of Angkor surely needed something accordingly handsome and beautiful to wear while praying to their gods.

The skeins are colored with plant based, natural dyes... here with young banana leafs.

 

 Pots of colorful dyes...

 

The patterns of many of the fabrics are woven, and the thread needs to be colored in a predetermined order for it to form the pattern on the loom. 

 A display of raw and dyed silks.

When visiting Cambodia, please pay attention and get the real, hand-made silks of the Khmers, and not the cheaper, imported goods flowing in from China to the many outdoor markets and shops - you will not only be supporting a centuries old Khmer handicraft tradition, but also the local communities that educate and employ the young women and men of Cambodia. These beautiful, painstakingly produced silks are more than worth every penny they ask for them.

 The carefully colored skeins (above) are spun on wooden sticks (below) that are then woven in certain order to form the pattern. 

I just couldn't get my head around the fact that the weavers get the single, dyed threads to form such exact patterns in the end... 

Like pure magic, the pattern emerges from the hands of the patient and skilled weavers.

 

 A relief depicting a procession of King Suryavarman II at Angkor Wat sometime at the 12th century... all wearing skillfully weaved robes and clothes, early predecessors of the fabrics woven today near Siem Reap and other places in Cambodia.

 

See also: Notes from Angkor Thom, and The Bayon at Angkor Thom. 

 

 

Small notes from the Baphuon, Angkor Thom

View from the top of the Baphuon Temple in the temple city of Angkor Thom; this central axis and water ponds (actually moats - the Khmer rulers were hugely fond of them) can compete with Versailles itself, don't you think?  

 

The Baphuon Temple lies within the temple city of Angkor Thom, just northwest from the temple in my previous post, the Bayon... and these are just two of the countless (well, at it least felt so) marvellous temples in this area, which in its turn is only one of temple areas of the ancient Khmer empire. Which makes me wonder what else did they could have had time and resources to do than to build temples? The Baphuon is the state temple of King Udayadityavarman II, built in the mid-11th century. It is a three tiered temple mountain dedicated to the Hindu God Shiva (some sources say Lingam, so I'm not quite sure, but I go with the guide book I bought in Siem Reap...). I know I'm overusing the word, but amazing is what I thought, and will always do of the creations of the Khmer civilization.

 

View from the central walkway to the entrance on the east side of the temple - temples in Angkor open to the east, as the Khmer thought is was the direction of life and new beginnings; according to our guide, many people in Cambodia still sleep with their faces to the east. West is considered the direction of closure and death. The moat is almost overgrown, but used to be fully rectangular; sometimes, crocodiles were kept in the moats.

Windows opening from the central, smaller entrance that can be seen in the middle of the first picture.

 

No, you are not alone anywhere at the Angkor archaeological sites anymore - the place is filled with mostly middle-aged, culturally interested tourists properly clad in sunhats and sensible shoes... but who cares, this place is such a wonder to see. (the two young and pink exceptions above are my daughters, the only kids we saw there during our four day visit).

 

 Entrance to the inner temple, through a series of stone corridors.

 

 Opening at the top of the temple...

 

 The north side of the temple forms a reclining Buddha, which was difficult but possible to see at place, but unfortunately impossible to understand in the photo. The jungle keeps trying to reclaim the temple... and occasionally almost succeeds, as seen in the last photo below. The tree roots are like huge, organic trunks that ruthlessly push their way through the stonework.

 

 

Travel notes from The Bayon, Angkor Thom in Cambodia

 The Bayon Temple behind its large moat in the ancient city of Angkor Thom. It was built in the late 12th century as the official state temple of the Khmer King Jayavarman VII, who was a Mahayana Buddhist (many of the earlier rulers in Angkor were Hindus).

 

Just back from a little trip to Siem Reap in Cambodia, the hometown for Angkor Archaeological Park, of which the Angkor Wat temple is the most famous... Really, there was no end to huge, painstakingly carved and decorated temples looming in the hot Cambodian jungles, each impressive in its own way. I can't get over the amount of hard, raw work that was needed to build and carve these enormous buildings, all constructed without any other power machines than elephants, from the 9th century until early 13th century. What does this have to do with gardens, you might think; not much really, but I wanted to share some of the experience anyway.

 

 

Navigating one of the countless galleries of the large temple, with the mysterious stone faces smiling from above.

 

All surfaces are covered with intricate carvings; here, sitting Buddhas (I need to learn more... my knowledge is so irritatingly limited here!), Apsara dancers performing their classic Khmer style dance, and a female Devata, a guardian spirit.

From the 49 towers of Bayon, 200 carved faces of Lokesvara, the "Lord who looks down",  still smile at visitors, just like they did at the inhabitants of Angkor Thom for nearly a millennium ago.

 

Lingam, a reminder of the older, Hindu times at Angkor; it is one representation of the Hindu deity Shiva.

Here, a huge Lokesvara seemed to be engaged in a deep discussion with a lesser one... 

 The outer galleries, where snake gods Naga still kept faithfully guard and greeted us goodbye.