Banteay Srei

Banteay Srei is considered by many to be the artistic jewel of Angkor Wat. It is a relatively small temple, but it contains some of the finest examples of stone carving anywhere on earth. Almost every surface is covered in elaborate decoration.

There are women with lotus flowers and flowing skirts, stern temple guards, toothy monsters, and complicated and delicate renditions of scenes from the Ramayana.

[NOTE: Banteay Srei means "Citadel of Women", probably owing to the many devatas carved into the red sandstone walls].