Angkor Wat is a massive Buddhist temple complex constructed as a Hindu Temple by the Khmer Empire in the 12th century. It is the largest Buddhist temple in the world, an architectural masterpiece, and a marvel of engineering that was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1992.
Sunrise at Angkor Wat — We are up at 4:30 am to get tickets into Angkor Wat, walk along the access road and through the outer gates of the temple grounds, and get positioned to watch the sunrise come up behind the temple.
Angkor Wat — The temple complex occupies an area 2 kilometers square. At the outside edge of the complex is a huge 200-meter wide rectangular moat. Within that is a 4.5 meter high square outer wall that runs for 10 kilometers around the complex with a gate in the middle each side of the square. Within the outer wall is a rectangular complex surrounded by another wall that is 1 km x 0.8 km. Angkor Wat itself is located within this rectangle. The temple has a central tower that represents Mount Meru, home of the Hindu gods. Around it are arrayed four other lesser towers. In the center there are three terraces leading to the main tower.
The Origins of Angkor — Toward the end of the 8th Century AD, one of the several “mandala” (small kingdoms) that made up Cambodia and other parts of SE Asia began conquering and consolidating neighboring mandala to create the Khmer Empire. At that time, Hinduism or Brahmanism from India had spread through the region. The king took a Sanskrit name, Jayavarman II — “Jaya” for follower of Victory and “varman” for shield. He instituted the cult of the “God-King” and chose an area on the floodplain between the Kulen Hills and the Tonle Sap (Great Lake) for his palace and cult centers. His nephew Indravarman I initiated the construction on the site in 877 that would become a sprawling capital city and temple complex known in modern times as Angkor.
Construction began with the creation of a huge “baray” (reservoir) – 3.8 x 0.8 kms in size – that served a dual purpose of meeting irrigation and drinking water needs and mirroring the glory of the god-king. This was just the beginning of what ultimately became a vast and complex water-supply system created to meet the needs of a population of close to a million people. Indravaraman I also built the largest mausoleum/temple to date (800 x 500 meters) and the first built with stone instead of brick.
The Hindu Temple Angkor Wat – As the Khmer Empire expanded, the magnitude and magnificence of the temples grew apace. In 1119 AD, Suryavarman II started construction of a large pyramid-shaped temple/mausoleum devoted to the Hindu God Vishnu that we know today as Angkor Wat (“Capital Temple”).
Suryavarman II led a series of military campaigns against the Vietnamese and neighboring Cham kingdom. Scenes from these campaigns are featured in bas relief murals around the outside of the 3rd enclosure of Angkor Wat. In a last campaign against the Cham, the king was killed and his body never made it back to the mausoleum his subjects had built for his glory.
Conversion to Buddhism — In the 13th century, Jayavarman VII, who saw himself as the incarnation of the Buddha, and had recently expelled the Cham from Angkor, built his own mausoleum/temple in the tradition of Mahayana Buddhism, in the city he created just north of Angkor Wat. At the same time, Angkor Wat was converted from a Hindu temple dedicated to Vishnu to a Buddhist temple. There are several Buddhist shrines that remain active for worshippers today.
Next Up: Angkor Thom and the Pink Temple