Hope all are aware of the tension between Combodia and Thailand over the Preah Vihear temple ownership.
Vijay, can you please throw some light on this temple? Since you have more info on the SE Asian temples, I am asking this. I come to know that its a Shiva temple, built during the Khmer period (it would be great to throw some light on Khmer Empire too).
One reason I can understand why the fight is, because it has been listed as a UNESCO site this year. But why do both the countries feel its sacred to them? I am a bit surprised.
Can someone throw more light on the history of this temple?
The borders areas of thailand and cambodia are full of temples. Actually there is an interesting research paper of a kind of pilgrimage route from thailand to angkor, lined with rest houses, hospitals, and ofcourse hundreds of temples. ( Most of them ruins)
The preah vihar complex is an amazing temple with some fantastic lintels complete with floral designs.I hv covered a few in my site ( you cn use cambodia tag) the ravana anugraha murthy, nataraja ( karaikkal ammai ) panel, bhima duryodhana fight etc
The problem is this particular temple is right on the border ( some say the border passes thro the temple ....kind of door is in thai and structure in cambodia) since intnl borders are not very clearly defined its causing concerns.
Tourism is big money I guess, hope they resolve it quickly