The Preah Ko Temple 1.

Fülszöveg

The present publication hardly fits into any traditional literary
genre. TWo more volumes will follow soon, together with a
fourth containing artistically excellent drawings. The four-
volume series will form the most detailed documentation yet
produced on Preah Ko, the 'Sacred Cow', the inner sanctum of
the first in a noble succession of capital cities at Angkor,
Hariharalaya.
The Royal Angkor Foundation has been organizing and
implementing an emergency conservation and structural sta-
bilization project in collaboration with experts from Hungary,
Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy and Guatemala - to men-
tion only the principal contributing countries. The entire oper-
ation is sponsored by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the
Federal Republic of Germany.
The results of three years work go far beyond the actual work
itself. Data; information; research; scientific description; as a
distillation of all inputs, methodological guidelines; impas-
sioned reports of... Tovább

Fülszöveg

The present publication hardly fits into any traditional literary
genre. TWo more volumes will follow soon, together with a
fourth containing artistically excellent drawings. The four-
volume series will form the most detailed documentation yet
produced on Preah Ko, the 'Sacred Cow', the inner sanctum of
the first in a noble succession of capital cities at Angkor,
Hariharalaya.
The Royal Angkor Foundation has been organizing and
implementing an emergency conservation and structural sta-
bilization project in collaboration with experts from Hungary,
Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy and Guatemala - to men-
tion only the principal contributing countries. The entire oper-
ation is sponsored by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the
Federal Republic of Germany.
The results of three years work go far beyond the actual work
itself. Data; information; research; scientific description; as a
distillation of all inputs, methodological guidelines; impas-
sioned reports of achievements and constant challenges;
impartial mid-term evaluation - all are included. And so is the
most important objective of all: the ever - widening scope of
on-site and on-job training of local workers not only paid, but
also motivated to take over day-by-day and year-by-year an
increasing share of the tasks, equipment, material, manage-
ment and monitoring. This is the main aim behind the Preah
Ko Project.
The compendium that contains documents referring to dif-
ferent aspects of the same subject is organized in chronological
order. Our hope is that this approach will give an intellectually
stimulating insight to the interested reader.
Before the project was launched, the six brick towers had
reached a degree of decay so bad that it threatened irreversible
loosening of the stucco decoration, and much more besides. As
the project has evolved, a process of instant revelations and
discoveries about the building methods, and the shortcomings
of the builders (although never of the designers), has been
under way. These no longer surprise us: when we look back in
retrospect, most of the early history of the Khmer empire will
need to be reconsidered.
Welcoming openness, we seek further support to build upon
our achievements. This first volume is to prove the relevance of
our work and to disseminate the principal information gath-
ered so far. Now, we are truly convinced, it is time for the com-
prehensive conservation and in-depth presentation of the
Preah Ko site, the earliest, undoubtedly one of the most com-
plex, and in fact the last of its kind in Angkor. Vissza