Angkor Wat, the front side of the main complex

NAME: PRASAT ANGKOR WATCOUNTRY: COMBODIALOCATION: ANGKOR, SIEM REAP PROVINCEPRIMAMRY DEITY: VISHNUARCHITECTURAL STYLES: KHMER, DRAVADIANBUILT IN: 12TH CENTURYCREATOR: SURYAVARMAN 11

SITE AND PLAN

Angkor Wat, located at 13°24′45″N 103°52′0″E, is a unique combination of the temple mountain, the standard design for the empire's state temples, the later plan of concentric galleries, and influences from Orissa and the Chola of Tamil Nadu, India. The temple is a representation of Mount Meru, the home of the gods: the central quincunx of towers symbolises the five peaks of the mountain, and the walls and moat the surrounding mountain ranges and ocean.[14] Access to the upper areas of the temple was progressively more exclusive, with the laity being admitted only to the lowest level.

HISTORYAngkor Wat, or "city temple", lies 6 kilometres from Siem Reap in Cambodia. It was built by King Survayarman II in the late 12th century, at a time when Angkor reached the peak of its influence and power.

Dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu, Angkor Wat is the only temple erected under this monarch's rule and scholars disagree as to whether it was built as his state temple or his funerary tomb.

It has a unique orientation, unlike other Angkor Temples it is west facing instead of east facing- coinciding with the symbolism between the setting sun and death. Works at Angkor Wat seem to have ended soon after the King's death.

In the late 13th century King Sindravarman succeeded the throne and changed the empire's religion from Hinduism to Theravada Buddhism. Thanks to continuous occupation of the temple, it was preserved in very good condition and avoided the destruction that other temples suffered after the mysterious abandonment of Angkor as the empire's capital in the 14th century. 

BUDDHIST PILGRIMAGE TO ANGKOR WAT

While the Europeans were writing at different times about the discovery of the "lost city", Angkor Wat and the other Angkor Temples were already known to the Buddhist monks that cared for them from the 15th to the 19th centuries. It is in part thanks to them that Angkor Wat remains mostly intact. In the 16th century a Khmer court returned briefly to Angkor to restore it as a Buddhist shrine.

Angkor Wat temple in 1866.

General plan of Angkor Wat with central structure in the middle

Detailed plan of the central structure

JUNGLE TEMPLESAfter several invasions from the foreign countries and a weakening of the Khmer empire, the temples of Angkor were run over by the jungle.

Sandstone has eroded and the structures have become weak.

Bat droppings have also significantly damaged the temples.

The Khmer rouge damaged large parts of the temples-decapitating the Hindu gods etc.

A popular temple that earned its popularity in Angkor Wat History just "recently": Ta Prohm temple is famous for being swallowed by giant trees.

ARCHITECTURE Angkor Wat is the prime example of the classical style of Khmer architecture—the 

Angkor Wat style—to which it has given its name. By the 12th century Khmer architects had become skilled and confident in the use of sandstone (rather than brick or laterite) as the main building material. Most of the visible areas are of sandstone blocks, while laterite was used for the outer wall and for hidden structural parts. The binding agent used to join the blocks is yet to be identified, although natural resins or slaked lime have been suggested.

The temple attains a classic perfection by the restrained monumentality of its finely balanced elements and the precise arrangement of its proportions. It is a work of power, unity and style.

Architecturally, the elements characteristic of the style include: the ogival, redented towers shaped like lotus buds; half-galleries to broaden passageways; axial galleries connecting enclosures; and the cruciform terraces which appear along the main axis of the temple.

Upper gallery at Angkor Wat

Old trees on the mysterious relic to empyrean.Defender? Or destroyer……

The most noted is Bayon, one of the most famous Angkorian temples, with its 216 four-faced Buddha statues. Angkor Wat history was forever changed by this move, as Hinduism is now but a minority religion in Cambodia.

Tranquil Khmer smile under the afterglow. ——Bayon

Thick lips, Wide noses, and Long ears,with such an imposing appearance,they are looking at you,eyes slightly downward.

Ubiquitous…

——Angkor Thom

There are series of basso-relievo on the cloister of Angkor Wat.This is the most popular one “Churning of the Ocean of Milk”

——Angkor Wat

In Angkor Wat, Hindu basso-relievo exist everywhere.What we see today has endured years of history. ——Angkor Wat