Baray
The Khmer word Baray represents an extensive, strictly rectangular water reservoir of the Angkorian, the heart of the so-called hydraulic city, also a symbol of cosmological ideas.
The heart of the hydraulic City
The Khmer Empire existed from the 9th to the 16th century and extended over present-day Cambodia and some adjacent areas; the " Angkor " (City) said the center was near modern-day Siem Reap.
An international group of scientists, in 2007 confirm the theory that Angkor a huge " hydraulic city " was, so a city that functioned on the basis of a complex irrigation and drainage system. Beyond the city walls of Angkor Thom, a conglomerate of agricultural and populated areas have spread over at least 1000 km ², an urban metropolitan area, which was about ten times larger than the largest centers of the ancient world; until the industrial age know more settlements. For comparison: Berlin today covers nearly 900 km ².
In agricultural terms, the study refuted prevailing opinions: It showed that the irrigation system was actually able to intensify rice production significantly. Each water source has been ruthlessly exploited; The Baray served as a reservoir; many of them outbound distribution channels supplied the region. Over the centuries, problems are increasingly encountered: leaching of the soil and erosion, overpopulation, vulnerability to natural disasters and wars. The decline of the Angkorreichs could be associated with these problems.
Icon of cosmological ideas
The largest of the central Baray Angkorgebiets are, in chronological order, the Baray of Lolei, the Eastern, Western and Northern Baray, also called Baray of Preah Khan. The Western Baray (originally 8 to 2.2 km across and up to 5 m deep) today still has a significant water surface.
The real challenge was the geological situation: the inclined only weakly to the Tonle Sap Lake towards lowlands. A Baray was a turned -insulated with massive earthen walls, no excavated reservoirs - in marked contrast to smaller Srah Srang. The water level so was above the natural level. The respective flow was further tapped above, and the inlet channel has received a lower slope than the surrounding terrain; Consequently, the dams of the inlet channel towards Baray were always higher. The water reservoir itself lay across the natural slope, so that the lower dams did not have to be too high.
Although the natural terrain of the central Angkorgebiets falls directly towards the south, but approximately in the direction SSW, the sides of said plants uncompromising look at the main points of the compass. This is a clear indication that a Baray just like a Khmer temple represents cosmological ideas. The Water symbolizes the ocean, a temple island in the middle of the mountain Meru, the residence of the gods. The orientation to the cardinal points evokes harmony with heaven and earth.