View allAll Photos Tagged SHAPESHIFTING
When Angkor was rediscovered in the early 20th century by French archaeologists, all of the temples had become overgrown–but none so spectacularly as Ta Prohm, built in the Bayon style largely in the late 12th and early 13th centuries and originally called Rajavihara. Nevertheless, as they excavated and restored the other temples, the archaeologists had to make sure that the giant tree roots enveloping Ta Prohm would not further deteriorate the structure or make it dangerous to visit. Though Ta Prohm may look like nature unfettered, the appearance of neglect is in fact fastidiously maintained.
The carved groove in the stone is part of the water supply system that still works today to bring fresh water from a nearby spring to Machu Picchu. Planned before the city could be built, the hydrology system sloped at a consistent 3° from the water source.
Located in the center of Machu Picchu’s Urban Sector, the Temple of the Sun is one of the most iconic buildings within the ancient citadel. Constructed on top of a naturally formed rock (angled in the picture) and above the cave of the Royal Tomb, the structure is one of only a few buildings in the entire Inca Empire to feature a curved outer wall. And yes, there were a few mummies in the Tomb. The structure at the top left is called House of the Guardians.
On the outskirt of Yuncaypata, a small rural community in the Peruvian highlands above Cusco at around altitude 12,475 ft.
Pre Rup is a Khmer Hindu temple at Angkor, Cambodia, built as the state temple of Khmer king Rajendravarman and dedicated in 962. It is a temple mountain of combined brick, laterite and sandstone construction. Siem Reap Province, Cambodia.
Fushimi Inari is the most important of several thousands of shrines dedicated to Inari, the Shinto god of rice.
Foxes are thought to be Inari's messengers, resulting in many fox statues across the shrine grounds. This one guards the grand entrance gates. Fushimi Inari Shrine predates the capital's move to Kyoto in 794.
A trapezoidal door looks out to the lower residental cluster of Machu Picchu city and the peak of Huayna Picchu.
This entrance at the Angkor temple Ta Som is almost completely swallowed by the Cambodia Ficus. Angkor, Siem Reap, Cambodia
Man made structures and nature collided to fantastical results at the Prasat Preah Khan Temple Complex in
Angkor, Cambodia.
Columns and beams at the Hall of Dancers in the Prasat Preah Khan Temple Complex, Angkor, Cambodia. Around the year 1000, the Preah Khan institution combined the roles of city, temple and Buddhist university: there were 97,840 attendants and servants, including 1000 dancers and 1000 teachers.
Saint-Germain-des-Prés is one of the four administrative quarters of the 6th arrondissement of Paris, France, located around the church of the former Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, where this picture was taken from.
The vast public works projects of Napoleon III and his Prefect of the Seine, Urban Planner Georges-Eugene Haussmann in the 1860s dramatically changed the map of the quarter. To reduce the congestion of the narrow maze of streets on the Left Bank, Haussmann had intended to turn the rue des Ecoles into a major boulevard, but the slope was too steep, so he decided instead to construct boulevard Saint‑Germain through the heart of the neighborhood. It was not completed until 1889. Haussmann also began a wide south to north axis from the Montparnasse railroad station to the Seine. which became the rue de Rennes, between the apartment buildings in this picture. The rue de Rennes was only completed as far as this intersection in front of the Church of Saint‑Germain‑des‑Prés by the end of the Second Empire in 1871, and stopped there, sparing the maze of narrow streets between boulevard Saint‑Germain and the river.
Bada Bagh is a set of royal cenotaphs, or chhatris, of Marahajas who ruled over Jaisalmer state (Rajasthan) just prior to India Independence.
The approach to Bada Bagh is from the bottom of the hill. The first row has a few cenotaphs. Many more are accessible by climbing the hills. The cenotaphs are of different sizes and carved of sandstone. There are cenotaphs for rulers, queens, princes and other royal family members. Each ruler’s cenotaphs has a marble slab, with inscriptions about the ruler and an image of a man on a horse.
At Chong Kneas the floating village near Siem Reap, Cambodia.
This picture reminded me of the movie Life is Beautiful where a father goes through extraordinary efforts to shield his young son from finding out what is really going on in the Nazi concentration camp where they were imprisoned.
Over 1444 marble pillars, carved in intricate detail, support this renowned Jain temple in Ranakpur, Rajasthan, India. Each pillar was uniquely designed and carved so no two pillars are the same.
Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India. The tall structure in the background is Ghanta Ghar, also known as the clock tower of Rajasthan.
Surrounding the tower is Sadar Market where many locals and tourists sell, buy and hang out to people watch.
Angkor Thom, located in present-day Cambodia, was the last and most enduring capital city of the Khmer empire. It was established in the late twelfth century and was surrounded by a wall in a 9km square. Each side of the 4 walls faces a cardinal direction and is entered by a massive gate, tall and wide enough for an elephant. This is the gate of the North entrance. Siem Reap Province, Cambodia.