Prasat Bayon, the 12th/13th century state temple of King Jayavarman VII, is often described as the “temple of 200 faces”. While Bayon is comprised by numerous levels and galleries, it’s the top level, with multitude of serene and smiling stone faces on 37 towers that’s its most-famous attraction.
Each tower supports two, three or usually four gigantic smiling faces. In addition to the mass of the central tower, smaller towers are located along the inner gallery at the corners and entrances, and on chapels on the upper terrace. “Wherever one wanders,” wrote French architecht and archeologist Maurice Glaize, “the faces of Lokesvara follow and dominate with their multiple presence”.
