Conservationists are furious about one of the newest viral trends, where people run, leap, and accident around Cambodia’s traditional Angkor Wat and other church ruins in a life recreation of a well-known game game. Some claim that the race for views denigrates the nearly 900-year-old sculptures and risks irreversible damage.
On TikTok, Facebook, YouTube, and other platforms, short videos of visitors navigating narrow stone paths and jumping over passageways have been famous. They are frequently accompanied by sounds from the well-known Temple Run video match. Some movies have received more than 2 million opinions and motivate copycat versions every day.
Simon Warrack, a conservationist who has worked for three years to protect the almost 2,000-year-old remains at Angkor, is concerned about the potential harm as well as the social and religious insensitities being violated.
” You would n’t run through St. Peters in Rome or any western church— so why is it okay to do it in Cambodia”, said Warrack. The “disaster” of the temples includes harm to the religious and historical value of the temples as well as probable damage to the stones caused by people bump into them, fall, or knock things over, which is true.
Warrack claimed he has spoken with Vietnamese counterparts and officials in charge of the intricate who share his concerns. ” Angkor Wat is also deeply revered by the people”, he said. According to legend, “every stone is said to have the grandparents ‘ spirits.”
The show highlights the difficulty that several historical sites are currently facing, especially in a post-Covid globe where retribution is still a thing, with improved tourism, sustainability, and local life. The trend also highlights the celebrities ‘ role in driving tourism thanks to social media.
While other hotspot tourist hotspots like Indonesia and Spain have taken steps to tame unruly visitors ( Indonesia deports the worst offenders ), the authority that oversees the Angkor temple complex has n’t issued any reprimands to discourage the viral trend. Cambodians themselves have reported on social media that the trend is good for increasing much-needed appearance numbers, but foreign tourists have yet to gain to pre-pandemic rates.
According to an American Express changes statement, social advertising is a main source of inspiration for many holiday travelers. Around half of the Millennials and Gen Zs surveyed said they want to display off their trips to potential fans, compared to almost three in four who have already participated in social media tendencies while on holiday.
In the church run problem, several films feature people in their 20s, some running in dresses and shawls. Angelina Dougherty, a Cambodian-American who won the title of Miss Pacific Asian American in a show last season, even jumped on the bandwagon with a picture of her and a companion running and leaping through the church, similar to the movements in video games.
Dougherty argued that movie makers can avert potential harm if they act cautiously. She also advised caution when filming the tape close to any figures of the Buddha in order to be polite.
A professor of Cambodia’s standard party, Dougherty said the popular trend is good for promoting Cambodia and its churches. She said,” Seeing that we are getting acknowledgement, promoting tourism, and making citizens happy really makes me happy,” adding that Cambodia is frequently in the dark.
Hollywood light
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, a film that was filmed at the building’s Angkor Thom church, was a huge success for Hollywood when it became known to much of the world. Next came Temple Run, a video game created by Imangi Studios in 2011, where the player controls a character who travels through temple ruins and may avoid obstacles and dharmonic creatures who fight. Stonework and passages that resemble the ruins at Angkor are found in the background of Temple Run.
One of Southeast Asia’s most significant historical sites is Angkor, which is on the UN’s World Heritage List and contains more than 100 shrines. The country’s predominately remote population is heavily dependent on the ruins for their economic growth. The 400-acre compound saw a record 6.6 million tourists and generated more than$ 80 million in ticket sales before the pandemic hit. So far this year, the wreckage have attracted some 630, 000 customers.
The intricate, which includes the world-famous Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom churches, was built using slabs of rock and has survived war, disasters, and forest disease. International conservators have made a number of contributions to the ongoing restoration efforts over the years.
While the trend has temporarily increased online interest in Angkor, Ginevra Boatto, the country director of Cambodia and the director of the World Monuments Fund, works with local authorities to support their protection, said it is crucial to promote safe access, educational visits, and respect for the local religious, spiritual, and social significance of the sites. New visitor trends should be” carefully managed to prevent any negative impact.”
There are some videos that make it clear that the re-enactments are done in honor of the temples. And the majority of viewers ‘ responses are positive, with many looking forward to being given the challenge to visit the temples. However, Hans Leisen, who has been in charge of the German Apsara Conservation Project to protect sculptures at Angkor Wat for 30 years, made no mince words when describing his reaction to the videos.
” It’s nonsense”, said Leisen, who’s worked to preserve the temples ‘ delicate bas reliefs and carvings that tell religious stories. ” If you’re running through the temple, you wo n’t see the beauty of the carvings. And if you fall or stumble, you’ll touch a wall to stabilize yourself and endanger the fragile carvings”.
Leisen is concerned that the trend might be mirrored elsewhere in Southeast Asia. The Indonesian government established a tourism task force and hotline last year in Bali to help locals report unfavorable behavior by tourists. Authorities recently updated their instructions for the island’s anticipated 14 million visitors this year, calling on them to abide by local customs and laws, including avoiding temples and respecting the sanctity of religious sites.
The Apsara National Authority, the government agency in charge of the Angkor complex, issued a code of conduct for visitors in Cambodia at least eight years ago that forbids touching temple structures and leaning against them. The tourism minister of the kingdom has more recently expressed concern about potential damage to the ruins as a result of the viral trend. Apsara declined to comment, while the tourism ministry did n’t respond to a request for comment.
Still, at least one Cambodian does n’t mind the viral challenge.
The videos, according to Seun Sam, a policy analyst at the Royal Academy of Cambodia, could help spur much-needed tourism to Cambodia, which made 18 % of GDP in 2019; According to the Asian Development Bank, tourism in general is contributing to Cambodia’s expected annual economic growth of 5.8 % this year.
” As long as they do n’t damage the temples and bother other people, it’s okay”, said Seun, who noted that in some videos, visitors are running on paths that serve as sidewalks. ” Tourism is very important for Cambodia’s economy. When foreign visitors come, they buy things, they spend on hotels and transport. We want to encourage that”.
