Angkor Wat

Angkor Wat

Angkor Wat is located in Cambodia. Angkor Wat was first a Hindu temple and the largest religious monument in the world.  Its areas 400 square kilometers, including forested area. This temple is one of the most significant archaeological sites in Southeast Asian. This temple was built by the Khmer King Suryavarman II, from the 9th to the 15th century in Yasodharapura.  Angkor Wat  temple was dedicated to Vishnu. Its construction lasted 37 years. His name means in Khmer " the city pagoda ". The main tower of the central temple represents the mountain Meru  or Kailash, the centre of the universe for the Hindus (but also the Buddhists). The temple is supposed to be invulnerable and During the war which began in 1970, the inhabitants of Sieam Reap had taken refuge inside the temple.Although Angkor Wat appears, at first glance, to be a mass of stone with a central causeway it actually consists of a series of elevated towers, covered galleries, chambers, porches and courtyards on different levels connected by stairs. The galleries and its columns set the boundaries for the first and second levels, while the third level supports five towers - one in each corner, pictured, and one in the centre .The guardian monkey statues, pictured, sit at the Banteay Srei temple in Angkor and the whole temple is in the process of being restored.The modern name, Angkor Wat, means Temple City or City of Temples in Khmer. It has been noted that such high frequency of tourism and growing demand for quality accommodations in the area, such as the development of a large highway, has had a direct effect on the underground water table, subsequently straining the structural stability of the temples at Angkor Wat. 

 

History of Angkor wat temple

According to one legend, the construction of Angkor Wat was ordered by Indra to act as a palace for his son Precha Ket Mealea. According to the 13th century Chinese traveler Daguan Zhou, it was believed by some that the temple was constructed in a single night by a divine architect. The initial design and construction of the temple took place in the first half of the 12th century, during the reign of Suryavarman II (ruled 1113 – c. 1150). Dedicated to Vishnu, it was built as the king's state temple and capital city. As neither the foundation stela nor any contemporary inscriptions referring to the temple have been found, its original name is unknown, but it may have been known as "Varah Vishnu-lok" after the presiding deity. Work seems to have ended shortly after the king's death, leaving some of the bas-relief decoration unfinished. In 1177, approximately 27 years after the death of Suryavarman II, Angkor was sacked by the Chams, the traditional enemies of the Khmer. Thereafter the empire was restored by a new king, Jayavarman VII, who established a new capital and state temple (Angkor Thom and the Bayon  respectively) a few kilometers to the north.Nowadays this temple is a powerful symbol of Cambodia, and is a source of great national pride that has factored into Cambodia's diplomatic relations.

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