KHYMER 03102022 Day 124

When we entered the gate of the palace at Pnom Penh (the capital of Cambodia), I felt as though I had been translated to the days of Haroun-al-Raschid, for the vast courtyard, flanked on all sides by marble buildings with tiled roofs of cobalt blue, of emerald green, of red, of brilliant yellow, was literally crowded with elephants, bullocks, horses, chariots, palaquins, soldiers, priests, and officials all the pomp and panoply of an Asian court. Undeniably gorgeous. Elephants double file. Youths in white uniforms and gold-laced kepis decorated like royal princes – sons of the King. Lovely lady feeding candy to a baby elephant. Throne hall hal. Scarlet carpet. Royal ballet. Young dancers 12-15. Dancing has ever been a great institution in Cambodia, the Dances, which have behind them traditions of two thousand years, being illustrated of incidents in the poem of the Ramayana and adhering faithfully to the classical examples which are depicted on the walls of the great temple at Angkor, such as the dancing of the goddess Apsaras, her gestures, and her dress. The costumes worn by the the dancing girls were the most gorgeous that we saw in Asia: wonderful creations of cloth-of-gold heavily embroidered with jewels. Most of the dancers wore towering pointed head-dresses, similar to the historic crowns of the Cambodian Kings, though a few though a few War mask one representing the head of a fox another a fish a third a lion which could be raised or lowered like the visors of medieval helmets. The faces of all the dancers were so heavily coated with powder and an animal that they would have been cracked by a smile. It was a performance that which would have astonished and delighted the most blase audience on Broadway but they’re in the heart of Cambodia with the terrorists of a throne hall for a stage with palaces temples and pagodas for a setting with a blazing Tropic Sun for a spotlight and with actors and audiences plaid in costumes as curious and colorful as those worn at the high court it provided a spectacle which we were privileged to see it will always be remembered

Powell, 1921