History of Angkor

History of Angkor


Siem Reap – Angkor Wat is located 314 km northwest of the capital Phnom Penh. The Angkor Wat temple complex represented the apex of Khmer creativity and splendour of the Khmer Empire. It covers 4000 square kilometres. At the center stands of Angkor Wat, the largest and most famous of all the temples and one of the seven wonder of the world. It symbolises the soul, pride and life of the Khmer people. Angkor Wat was built in the early 12th century by King Suryarman ll who reigned from approximately 1113-1150, took 30 Years to complete and is the place where the Khmer kings worship and pray for the protection of his people and kingdom.

The whole Angkor Wat temple complex is surrounded by a moat 190 meters wide. During the wet season the water in the moat mirrors the splendid beauty of the complex. The Angkor Wat has only two entrances, the east entrance and the west entrance. Both entrances are guarded on both sides by the statue of Vishnu. When you enter Angkor Wat, you will see a huge and an imposing square column. On all four sides of this huge column are relief sculptures – each one telling you a different story.

The first wall depicts on how the Angkor Empire was built and how the king and his generals planned to fight in battlefields. The second depicts Hindu reincarnation – good deeds in this life will ensure a better life hereafter; similarly an evil life will downgrade oneself in the next. The third wall tells how Vishnu protracted the kingdom

and her people. And the last wall shows how the people revered, praised and glorified their god-king. The Bayon Temple is located 3.3 km north of Angkor Wat, within magnificent temple complex Angkor Thom and consists of 54 towers,each with 4 faces. There are a total of 216 smilling faces at the site, all them resembling King Jayavarman VII. Angkor Thom is large Buddhist temple city built at the end 12th century by King Jayavarman VII. Within the Angkor Thom complex include other temples like Baphuon, Elephant tarrace, Phimeanakas, ect. At present, both Angkor and Angkor Thom are situated at an archaeological site called Angkor.

Angkor City was the capital of the Khmer Empire from the 9th to the 15th century. Unfortunatly, in 1431 (recent research put it at 1444) the Siamese captured and sacked Angkor. Temples were destroyed and its inhabitants were driven to the south. From then on Angkor was abandoned and Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom were left to ruin. It was not until 22nd January 1860, that a French explorer (Alexandre Henri Mouhot: 1 2 ) brought Angkor to the World´s attention. He read about Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom in a book titled cial envoy named Chou Ta-Kuan.

At the time of the discovery, there were more than 600 tall temples and other structures at Angkor Wat. Unfortunately, the history of Angkor Wat was sad and sorrowful because it was lost and closed again to the outside world from around 1970 – 80s. At present, the showpiece of Cambodia is once again open. Blessed with peace and a stable government under King Norodom Sihanouk, the people of Cambodia are determined to work hard to regain the glory of their past, symbolized by Angkor Wat.

Visit Angkor Wat

WHAT and WHERE

According to “Angkor Wat,” the name itself, “Angkor,” derives from a Sanskrit word meaning “holy city.” “Wat,” of course, in Khmer means “temple.” There is a single temple complex called “Angkor Wat,” located near Siem Reap in northeast Cambodia, but it has come to represent a whole complex of wonderful temples and stonemasonry and artwork throughout the area. It is the single largest religious structure in the world, and surely one of the world’s wonders of art and architecture. In fact, within an area of 120 sq. miles, the ruins contain some of the most imposing monuments in the world, including about a thousand temples, mainly Hindu and some Buddhist; the ancient city, however, had an extent some three times that size, and was home to perhaps 750,000 people.


HISTORY

Angkor Wat was conceived and constructed under Suryavarman II (r. 1113—50). Angkor Wat and the complex of temples surrounding it, planned as a sepulcher and a monument to the divinity of the monarch and measuring about 1 sq mi (2.6 sq km), it is probably the largest religious structure in the world. It was built at the height of the Khmer Empire, which at the time controlled Cambodia, Laos, much of Vietnam, and a portion of Thailand.

The temple was dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu (the Supreme Being, master of the past, present, and the future), and became the king’s temple and capital. In the 14th or 15th centuries, the temple was transformed into a Buddhist temple, the royalty and residents converted to Theravada Buddhism—but Hindu influence can still be seen throughout the temple complex. What we know of the history of Angkor Wat is derived mostly from a written account given by a Chinese ambassador to the Khmer Empire. The Khmer wrote on rendered palm leaves which do not last as does paper, so we can only examine the structure itself for the Khmer perspective.

Angkor Wat Apsara & Devata

In the 12th Century AD, the Khmer Empire reached its peak, ruling most of what is now Southeast Asia. As Europe struggle in the Dark Ages, King Suryavarman II built this massive edifice at the height of his empire’s glory between 1,116-1,150AD.
But within 200 years, the powerful Khmer civilization mysteriously collapsed. Theories of its downfall abound but nothing is definite. You see, aside from limited temple inscriptions no written records of the great Khmer Empire survived its demise. The “best” written account available is from the Chinese diplomat Zhou Daguan, who recorded his journey to Suvannabhum, the legendary Khmer “Land of Gold”, 150 years after Angkor Wat was completed.

Centuries passed and dense jungle swallowed the magnificent Khmer temples and cities. Western scholars had never learned that the great Khmer race ever existed. But in the 18th Century, French explorers rediscovered the ruins, initiating 150 years of intense scholarship that continues today. Yet we believe that they have missed the most important keys to the puzzle, hidden in plain sight…

People worldwide instantly recognize Angkor Wat.

Few, however, realize that this massive temple has protected the most extraordinary royal portrait collection in the world for nearly 1,000 years: covering its walls there are 1,780 sacred women realistically rendered in stone.

For 150 years, scholars have simply dismissed the women as ornaments who “are there to entertain the king in heaven” or to “decorate the bare limestone walls.”

Our growing body of research indicates that these women served much more profound roles than mere decoration. For the first time, our investigation asks:

Who are the women of Angkor Wat?
Why are their images immortalized in the largest temples the Khmer civilization ever built?
What did these women mean to the Khmer rulers, priests and people?
How does the Cambodian dance tradition relate to the women of Angkor Wat?
Do the women of Angkor Wat embody information important to us in modern times?
Devata.org is seeking answers to these questions in a variety of ways.This website is an information clearinghouse for all who wish to participate in this adventure. Here are some key areas of inquiry:

Book News & Reviews: These articles feature the most promising authors and book reviews relating to this investigation and to Cambodian history.

Cambodian Dance: Since the dawn of recorded history, Cambodian royalty has nurtured a sacred female dance tradition passed down from teacher to teacher. Today’s dancers preserve a modern inheritance of discipline and grace. This category includes articles relating to Cambodian dance; ancient and modern.

Devata & Apsara Photos: Meet the women of Angkor Wat (and other Khmer temples) face to face. Our website features the world’s first online photo galleries with sequential, mapped portraits of the women of Angkor Wat. Our digital archive has thousands of technical photos of women portrayed in the major Khmer temples, all of whom will be available to the public here.

Devata Research: This topic will ultimately dominate this website. Here you’ll find details of our Devata Database Project, our Computer Facial Recognition work with Michigan State University, excepts from the upcoming publication “Daughters of Angkor Wat“, and much more.

Khmer History: Articles and reviews devoted to understanding and illuminating the extraordinary Khmer civilization.

Participate(!): If this information about the importance of women in history resonates with your beliefs we invite you to get involved by helping in these vital areas: translation (French to English, English to Khmer), promoting online visibility of women in history (Wikipedia, blogs, etc.), promoting these stories in conventional media (newspapers, TV, radio) and contributing your own ideas, research and papers (including for potential publication).

Store: Soon we’ll offer beautiful products to promote our philosophy and our discoveries while helping non-profit causes.

In the meantime, please enjoy, question, debate and contribute to the theories and information offered on Devata.org.

Use your eyes, your heart and your mind. Weigh the evidence.

These Khmer women have much to teach us about the past and future glories of the rich land of Cambodia. Join us in celebrating the glory and contributions of the Khmer Civilization: past, present and future.

Angkor Wat : Image of the Day

Recommend this image
Tucked deep in the Cambodian rainforest, the ancient Angkor Wat temple is considered one of the most valuable architectural sites in Asia. Angkor Wat is the pinnacle of the city of Angkor, capital of the once-powerful Khmer Empire of Southeast Asia. The temple was built by Suryavarman II between 1113 and 1150 AD. Dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu, Angkor Wat is a representation of Mount Meru, home of the gods and the center of the Hindu universe. In addition to its unique pyramid temple architecture, Angkor Wat is covered with intricate bas-relief carvings of Hindu epics.
Many of the symbolic architectural features are clearly visible in this Ikonos image, acquired on April 12, 2004. The temple complex is surrounded by a 174-meter- (570-foot-) wide moat, visible in the large image, that represents the oceans at the edge of the universe. A stone causeway leads through the Hindu universe to the temple home of the gods from the west, on the left side of the image. The temple complex itself is a series of buildings on rising terraces like the slopes of a mountain.
At the center of Angkor Wat are five towers that represent the five peaks of Mount Meru. The round towers mark out the corners and the center of the innermost square of the complex. Like the mountain peaks they represent, the towers are pointed on top. The pinnacle of each tower is slightly lighter than the surrounding black stone in this image.

Angkor Wat Central structure

The temple stands on a terrace raised higher than the city. It is made of three rectangular galleries rising to a central tower, each level higher than the last. Mannikka interprets these galleries as being dedicated to the king, Brahma, the moon, and Vishnu.[2] Each gallery has a gopura at each of the points, and the two inner galleries each have towers at their corners, forming a quincunx with the central tower. Because the temple faces west, the features are all set back towards the east, leaving more space to be filled in each enclosure and gallery on the west side; for the same reason the west-facing steps are shallower than those on the other sides.

The outer gallery measures 187 by 215 m, with pavilions rather than towers at the corners. The gallery is open to the outside of the temple, with columned half-galleries extending and buttressing the structure. Connecting the outer gallery to the second enclosure on the west side is a cruciform cloister called Preah Poan (the "Hall of a Thousand Buddhas"). Buddha images were left in the cloister by pilgrims over the centuries, although most have now been removed. This area has many inscriptions relating the good deeds of pilgrims, most written in Khmer but others in Burmese and Japanese. The four small courtyards marked out by the cloister may originally have been filled with water.[29] North and south of the cloister are libraries.

Angkor Temple Guide: Angkor Wat

Angkor Wat is visually, architecturally and artistically breathtaking. It is a massive three-tiered pyramid crowned by five lotus-like towers rising 65 meters from ground level. Angkor Wat is the centerpiece of any visit to the temples of Angkor.

At the apex of Khmer political and military dominance in the region, Suryavarman II constructed Angkor Wat in the form of a massive 'temple-mountain' dedicated to the Hindu god, Vishnu. It served as his state temple, though the temple’s uncommon westward orientation has led some to suggest that it was constructed as Suryavarman II’s funerary temple. Other temples of the same style and period include Thommanon, Banteay Samre, Wat Atwea and Beng Melea, which may have served as a prototype to Angkor Wat.
Angkor Wat is surrounded by a moat and an exterior wall measuring 1300 meters x 1500 meters. The temple itself is 1 km square and consists of three levels surmounted by a central tower. The walls of the temple are covered inside and out with bas-reliefs and carvings. Nearly 2000 distinctively rendered apsara carvings adorn the walls throughout the temple and represent some of the finest examples of apsara carvings in Angkorian era art. But it is the exterior walls of the lower level that display the most extraordinary bas-reliefs, depicting stories and characters from Hindu mythology and the historical wars of Suryavarman II. It is in the viewing of the bas-reliefs that a tour guide can be very helpful.

The northern reflecting pool in front is the most popular sunrise location. For sunrise, arrive very early, well before sunrise begins. The sun will rise behind Angkor Wat providing a silhouette of Angkor’s distinctively shaped towers against a colored sunrise sky. Some of the best colors appear just before the sun breaks over the horizon.

The visual impact of Angkor Wat, particularly on one's first visit, is awesome. As you pass through the outer gate and get your first glimpse, its size and architecture make it appear two dimensional, like a giant postcard photo against the sky. After you cross through the gate and approach the temple along the walkway it slowly gains depth and complexity. To maximize this effect you should make your first visit in optimal lighting conditions, i.e. after 2:00PM. Do not make your first visit to Angkor Wat in the morning when the backlighting obscures the view.

The first level of is the most artistically interesting. Most visitors begin their exploration with the bas-reliefs that cover the exterior wall of the first level, following the bas-reliefs counterclockwise around the temple. Bas-relief highlights include the mythological Battle of Kuru on the west wall; the historical march of the army of Suryavarman II, builder of Angkor Wat, against the Cham, followed by scenes from Heaven and Hell on the south wall; and the classic ‘Churning of the Ocean Milk’ on the east wall.

ANGKOR WAT

Anchor what? This is the most popular question asked by Western people. In fact, we have very little knowledge about one of the most interesting and beautiful places on Earth.

The name Angkor is the Western equivalent of Nakhon, which is itself derived from the Sanskrit word Nagara or in English Saint Cobra. The word Angkor is used as a designation for the period of the Khmer Empire, which lasted from 802 to 1432 AD, however, there are different theories about time localization of Angkor building. In 1432 a Thai army defeated Khmer troops and captured their capital. As a result the City was partially destroyed and by the King's decision the capital was moved 320 km North from Angkor to Phnom Penh. When the Thai soldiers came back two years later, they found Angkor abandoned. This marked the end of the Great Khmer Empire, which ruled South-East Asia for many centuries. Although highly advanced in engineering, building, arts and military activities, today we only have the remains of their magnificent temples and numerous archaeological artifacts.

The second phase in the history of Angkor Wat took place in the 17 century when European missionaries arrived in central area of Cambodia. In their letters are described stories about the ruins of an unknown city lost in the jungle. Nobody believed these stories. It was only after Henry Mouhot, a French naturalist published detailed descriptions of Angkor in 1860, that people all over the world started to come to see this miracle turned to stone. During the period of the French occupation of Indo-China a few temples of Angkor Thom were cleaned from the trees and partially restored. The long-term civil war in Cambodia after the Second World War stopped any further archaeological renovation works. Today UNESCO and NGO sponsoring agencies are conducting new research and are maintaining one of the world’s most valuable areas of historical heritage.

Siem Reap is the capital of the province of the same name. This is a small, French colonial style town, situated approximately 7 kilometers from international airport and 6 kilometers from Angkor Thom.

Jayavarman VII

Following the death of Suryavarman around 1150 A.D., the kingdom fell into a period of internal strife. Its neighbors to the east, the Cham of what is now southern Vietnam, took advantage of the situation in 1177 to launch a seaborne invasion up the Mekong River and across Tonle Sap. The Cham forces were successful in sacking the Khmer capital of Yasodharapura and in killing the reigning king. However, a Khmer prince who was to become King Jayavarman VII rallied his people and defeated the Cham in battles on the lake and on the land. In 1181, Jayavarman assumed the throne. He was to be the greatest of the Angkorian kings.[13] Over the ruins of Yasodharapura, Jayavarman constructed the walled city of Angkor Thom, as well as its geographic and spiritual center, the temple known as the Bayon. Bas-reliefs at the Bayon depict not only the king's battles with the Cham, but also scenes from the life of Khmer villagers and courtiers. In addition, Jayavarman constructed the well-known temples of Ta Prohm and Preah Khan, dedicating them to his parents. This massive program of construction coincided with a transition in the state religion from Hinduism to Mahayana Buddhism, since Jayavarman himself had adopted the latter as his personal faith. During Jayavarman's reign, Hindu temples were altered to display images of the Buddha, and Angkor Wat briefly became a Buddhist shrine. Following his death, a Hindu revival included a large-scale campaign of desecrating Buddhist images, until Theravada Buddhism became established as the land's dominant religion from the 14th century.[14]

Zhou Daguan

The year 1296 marked the arrival at Angkor of the Chinese diplomat Zhou Daguan. Zhou's one-year sojourn in the Khmer capital during the reign of King Indravarman III is historically significant, because he penned a still-surviving account of approximately 40 pages detailing his observations of Khmer society. Some of the topics he addressed in the account were those of religion, justice, kingship, agriculture, slavery, birds, vegetables, bathing, clothing, tools, draft animals, and commerce. In one passage, he described a royal procession consisting of soldiers, numerous servant women and concubines, ministers and princes, and finally, "the sovereign, standing on an elephant, holding his sacred sword in his hand." Together with the inscriptions that have been found on Angkorian stelas, temples and other monuments, and with the bas-reliefs at the Bayon and Angkor Wat, Zhou's journal is the most important source of information about everyday life at Angkor. Filled with vivid anecdotes and sometimes incredulous observations of a civilization that struck Zhou as colorful and exotic, it is an entertaining travel memoir as well.[15]

End of the Angkorian period

The end of the Angkorian period is generally set at 1431 A.D., the year Angkor was sacked and looted by Thai invaders, though the civilization already had been in decline in the 13th and 14th centuries. During the course of the 15th century, nearly all of Angkor was abandoned, except for Angkor Wat, which remained a Buddhist shrine. Several theories have been advanced to account for the decline and abandonment of Angkor:

War with the Thai

It is widely believed that the abandonment of the Khmer capital occurred as a result of Siamese invasions. Ongoing wars with the Siamese were already sapping the strength of Angkor at the time of Zhou Daguan toward the end of the 13th century. In his memoirs, Zhou reported that the country had been completely devastated by such a war, in which the entire population had been obligated to participate.[16] After the collapse of Angkor in 1431, many persons, texts and institutions were taken to the Thai capital of Ayutthaya in the west, while others departed for the new center of Khmer society at Longvek further south, though the official capital later moved, first to Oudong (around 45 km from Phnom Penh, in Ponhea Leu District), and then to the present site of Phnom Penh.

Erosion of the state religion

Some scholars have connected the decline of Angkor with the conversion of Cambodia to Theravada Buddhism following the reign of Jayavarman VII, arguing that this religious transition eroded the Hindu conception of kingship that undergirded the Angkorian civilization.[17] According to Angkor scholar George Coedès, Theravada Buddhism's denial of the ultimate reality of the individual served to sap the vitality of the royal personality cult which had provided the inspiration for the grand monuments of Angkor.[18]

Neglect of public works
According to George Coedès, the weakening of Angkor's royal government by ongoing war and the erosion of the cult of the devaraja undermined the government's ability to engage in important public works, such as the construction and maintenance of the waterways essential for irrigation of the rice fields upon which Angkor's large population depended for its sustenance. As a result, Angkorian civilization suffered from a reduced economic base, and the population was forced to scatter.[19]

Natural disaster
Other scholars attempting to account for the rapid decline and abandonment of Angkor have hypothesized natural disasters such as earthquakes, inundations, or drastic climate changes as the relevant agents of destruction.[19] Recent research by Australian archaeologists suggests that the decline may have been due to a shortage of water caused by the transition from the Medieval Warm Period to the Little Ice Age.[20] LDEO dendrochronological research has established tree-ring chronologies indicating severe periods of drought across mainland Southeast Asia in the early 1400s, raising the possibility that Angkor's canals and reservoirs ran dry and ended expansion of available farmland.[21]

Restoration, preservation, and threats

The great city and temples remained largely cloaked by the forest until the late 19th century, when French archaeologists began a long restoration process. From 1907 to 1970, work was under the direction of the École française d'Extrême-Orient, which cleared away the forest, repaired foundations, and installed drains to protect the buildings from water damage. In addition, scholars associated with the school and including George Coedès, Maurice Glaize, Paul Mus, Philippe Stern and others initiated a program of historical scholarship and interpretation that is fundamental to the current understanding of Angkor.

Work resumed after the end of the Cambodian civil war and, since 1993, has been jointly co-ordinated by the French, Japanese and UNESCO through the International Co-ordinating Committee on the Safeguarding and Development of the Historic Site of Angkor (ICC), while Cambodian work is carried out by the Authority for the Protection and Management of Angkor and the Region of Siem Reap (APSARA), created in 1995. Some temples have been carefully taken apart stone by stone and reassembled on concrete foundations, in accordance with the method of anastylosis. World Monuments Fund has aided Preah Khan, the Churning of the Sea of Milk (a 49-meter-long bas-relief frieze in Angkor Wat), Ta Som, and Phnom Bakheng. International tourism to Angkor has increased significantly in recent years, with visitor numbers reaching 900,000 in 2006; this poses additional conservation problems but has also provided financial assistance to the restoration effort.[22]

Water-table dropping

With the increased growth in tourism at Angkor, new hotels and restaurants are being built to accommodate such growth. Each new construction project drills underground to reach the water table, which has a limited storage capacity. This demand on the water table could undermine the stability of the sandy soils under the monuments at Angkor, leading to cracks, fissures and collapses.[23]

Angkor Wat, Cambodia

Sunrise at Angkor Wat

There are two great complexes of ancient temples in Southeast Asia, one at Bagan in Burma, the other at Angkor in Cambodia. The temples of Angkor, built by the Khmer civilization between 802 and 1220 AD, represent one of humankind's most astonishing and enduring architectural achievements. From Angkor the Khmer kings ruled over a vast domain that reached from Vietnam to China to the Bay of Bengal. The structures one sees at Angkor today, more than 100 stone temples in all, are the surviving remains of a grand religious, social and administrative metropolis whose other buildings - palaces, public buildings, and houses - were built of wood and are long since decayed and gone.

Conventional theories presume the lands where Angkor stands were chosen as a settlement site because of their strategic military position and agricultural potential. Alternative scholars, however, believe the geographical location of the Angkor complex and the arrangement of its temples was based on a planet-spanning sacred geography from archaic times. Using computer simulations it has been shown that the ground plan of the Angkor complex – the terrestrial placement of its principal temples - mirrors the stars in the constellation of Draco at the time of spring equinox in 10,500 BC. While the date of this astronomical alignment is far earlier than any known construction at Angkor, it appears that its purpose was to architecturally mirror the heavens in order to assist in the harmonization of the earth and the stars. Both the layout of the Angkor temples and iconographic nature of much its sculpture, particularly the asuras (‘demons’) and devas (‘deities’) are also intended to indicate the celestial phenomenon of the precession of the equinoxes and the slow transition from one astrological age to another.

At the temple of Phnom Bakheng there are 108 surrounding towers. The number 108, considered sacred in both Hindu and Buddhist cosmologies, is the sum of 72 plus 36 (36 being ½ of 72). The number 72 is a primary number in the sequence of numbers linked to the earth’s axial precession, which causes the apparent alteration in the position of the constellations over the period of 25,920 years, or one degree every 72 years. Another mysterious fact about the Angkor complex is its location 72 degrees of longitude east of the Pyramids of Giza. The temples of Bakong, Prah Ko and Prei Monli at Roluos, south of the main Angkor complex, are situated in relation to each other in such a way that they mirror the three stars in the Corona Borealis as they appeared at dawn on the spring equinox in 10,500 BC. It is interesting to note that the Corona Borealis would not have been visible from these temples during the 10th and 11th centuries when they were constructed.

Angkor Wat, built during the early years of the 12th century by Suryavaram II, honors the Hindu god Vishnu and is a symbolic representation of Hindu cosmology. Consisting of an enormous temple symbolizing the mythic Mt. Meru, its five inter-nested rectangular walls and moats represent chains of mountains and the cosmic ocean. The short dimensions of the vast compound are precisely aligned along a north-south axis, while the east-west axis has been deliberately diverted 0.75 degrees south of east and north of west, seemingly in order to give observers a three day anticipation of the spring equinox.

Unlike other temples at Angkor, Ta Prohm has been left as it was found, preserved as an example of what a tropical forest will do to an architectural monument when the protective hands of humans are withdrawn. Ta Prohm's walls, roofs, chambers and courtyards have been sufficiently repaired to stop further deterioration, and the inner sanctuary has been cleared of bushes and thick undergrowth, but the temple has been left in the stranglehold of trees. Having planted themselves centuries ago, the tree's serpentine roots pry apart the ancient stones and their immense trunks straddle the once bustling Buddhist temple. Built in the later part of the 12th century by Jayavarman VII, Ta Prohm is the terrestrial counterpart of the star Eta Draconis the Draco constellation.

During half-millennia of Khmer occupation, the city of Angkor became a pilgrimage destination of importance throughout Southeastern Asia. Sacked by the Thais in 1431 and abandoned in 1432, Angkor was forgotten for a few centuries. Wandering Buddhist monks, passing through the dense jungles, occasionally came upon the awesome ruins. Recognizing the sacred nature of the temples but ignorant of their origins, they invented fables about the mysterious sanctuaries, saying they had been built by the gods in a far ancient time. Centuries passed, these fables became legends, and pilgrims from the distant reaches of Asia sought out the mystic city of the gods. A few adventurous European travelers knew of the ruins and stories circulated in antiquarian circles of a strange city lost in the jungles. Most people believed the stories to be nothing more than legend however, until the French explorer Henri Mouhot brought Angkor to the world's attention in 1860. The French people were enchanted with the ancient city and beginning in 1908 funded and superbly managed an extensive restoration project. The restoration has continued to the present day, excepting periods in the 70's and 80's when military fighting prevented archaeologists from living near the ruins.

Orthodox archaeologists sometimes interpret the temples of the Angkor complex as tombs of megalomaniacal kings yet in reality those kings designed and constructed the temples as a form of service to both god and their own subjects. The temples were places not for the worship of the kings but rather for the worship of god. Precisely aligned with the stars, constructed as vast three dimensional yantras and adorned with stunningly beautiful religious art, the Angkor temples were instruments for assisting humans in their realization of the divine.

Angkor Wat today

The Archaeological Survey of India carried out restoration work on the temple between 1986 and 1992. [1] Since the 1990s, Angkor Wat has seen continued conservation efforts and a massive increase in tourism. The temple is part of the Angkor World Heritage Site, established in 1992, which has provided some funding and has encouraged the Cambodian government to protect the site.[44] The German Apsara Conservation Project (GACP) is working to protect the devatas and other bas-reliefs which decorate the temple from damage. The organisation's survey found that around 20% of the devatas were in very poor condition, mainly because of natural erosion and deterioration of the stone but in part also due to earlier restoration efforts.[45] Other work involves the repair of collapsed sections of the structure, and prevention of further collapse: the west facade of the upper level, for example, has been buttressed by scaffolding since 2002,[46] while a Japanese team completed restoration of the north library of the outer enclosure in 2005.[47] World Monuments Fund began work on the Churning of the Sea of Milk Gallery in 2008.

Angkor Wat has become a major tourist destination. In 2004 and 2005, government figures suggest that, respectively, 561,000 and 677,000 foreign visitors arrived in Siem Reap province, approximately 50% of all foreign tourists in Cambodia for both years.[48] The influx of tourists has so far caused relatively little damage, other than some graffiti; ropes and wooden steps have been introduced to protect the bas-reliefs and floors, respectively. Tourism has also provided some additional funds for maintenance—as of 2000 approximately 28% of ticket revenues across the whole Angkor site was spent on the temples—although most work is carried out by foreign government-sponsored teams rather than by the Cambodian authorities.[49]

Angkor Wat Architecture

Angkor Wat, located at 13°24′45″N 103°52′0″E / 13.4125°N 103.866667°E / 13.4125; 103.866667Coordinates: 13°24′45″N 103°52′0″E / 13.4125°N 103.866667°E / 13.4125; 103.866667, 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.[12] Access to the upper areas of the temple was progressively more exclusive, with the laity being admitted only to the lowest level.[13]

Unlike most Khmer temples, Angkor Wat is oriented to the west rather than the east. This has led many (including Glaize and George Coedès) to conclude that Suryavarman intended it to serve as his funerary temple.[14] Further evidence for this view is provided by the bas-reliefs, which proceed in a counter-clockwise direction—prasavya in Hindu terminology—as this is the reverse of the normal order. Rituals take place in reverse order during Brahminic funeral services.[8] The archaeologist Charles Higham also describes a container which may have been a funerary jar which was recovered from the central tower.[15] It has been nominated by some as the greatest expenditure of energy on the disposal of a corpse. [16] Freeman and Jacques, however, note that several other temples of Angkor depart from the typical eastern orientation, and suggest that Angkor Wat's alignment was due to its dedication to Vishnu, who was associated with the west.[12]

A further interpretation of Angkor Wat has been proposed by Eleanor Mannikka. Drawing on the temple's alignment and dimensions, and on the content and arrangement of the bas-reliefs, she argues that these indicate a claimed new era of peace under king Suryavarman II: "as the measurements of solar and lunar time cycles were built into the sacred space of Angkor Wat, this divine mandate to rule was anchored to consecrated chambers and corridors meant to perpetuate the king's power and to honor and placate the deities manifest in the heavens above."[17][18] Mannikka's suggestions have been received with a mixture of interest and scepticism in academic circles.[15] She distances herself from the speculations of others, such as Graham Hancock, that Angkor Wat is part of a representation of the constellation Draco.[19]

Angkor Wat History

Angkor Wat lies 5.5 km north of the modern town of Siem Reap, and a short distance south and slightly east of the previous capital, which was centred on the Baphuon. It is in an area of Cambodia where there is an important group of ancient structures. It is the southernmost of Angkor's main sites.

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 Vrah Vishnulok after the presiding deity. Work seems to have ended shortly after the king's death, leaving some of the bas-relief decoration unfinished.[2] 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 kilometres to the north.

In the late 13th century, King Jayavarman VIII, who was Hindu, was deposed by his son in law, Srindravarman. Srindravarman had spent the previous 10 years in Sri Lanka becoming ordained as a Buddhist monk. Hence, the new King decided to convert the official religion of the empire from Hindu to Buddhist. Since Buddha was born and died a Hindu and since divisions between both the faiths appeared seamless, citizens were quick to follow a faith founded on tranquility without a need for material gain and power. This made the conversion relatively easy. [3] Hence, Angkor Wat was converted from Hindu to Theravada Buddhist use, which continues to the present day. Angkor Wat is unusual among the Angkor temples in that although it was somewhat neglected after the 16th century it was never completely abandoned, its preservation being due in part to the fact that its moat also provided some protection from encroachment by the jungle.[4]

One of the first Western visitors to the temple was Antonio da Magdalena, a Portuguese monk who visited in 1586 and said that it "is of such extraordinary construction that it is not possible to describe it with a pen, particularly since it is like no other building in the world. It has towers and decoration and all the refinements which the human genius can conceive of".[5] However, the temple was popularised in the West only in the mid-19th century on the publication of Henri Mouhot's travel notes. The French explorer wrote of it:

"One of these temples—a rival to that of Solomon, and erected by some ancient Michelangelo—might take an honourable place beside our most beautiful buildings. It is grander than anything left to us by Greece or Rome, and presents a sad contrast to the state of barbarism in which the nation is now plunged."[6]

Mouhot, like other early Western visitors, was unable to believe that the Khmers could have built the temple, and mistakenly dated it to around the same era as Rome. The true history of Angkor Wat was pieced together only from stylistic and epigraphic evidence accumulated during the subsequent clearing and restoration work carried out across the whole Angkor site.

There were no ordinary dwellings or houses or other signs of settlement including cooking utensils weapons or items of clothing usually found at ancient sites. Instead there is the evidence of the monuments themselves. [7]

Angkor Wat required considerable restoration in the 20th century, mainly the removal of accumulated earth and vegetation.[8] Work was interrupted by the civil war and Khmer Rouge control of the country during the 1970s and 1980s, but relatively little damage was done during this period other than the theft and destruction of mostly post-Angkorian statues.[9]

The temple has become a symbol of Cambodia, and is a source of great national pride. A depiction of Angkor Wat has been a part of Cambodian national flags since the introduction of the first version circa 1863.[10] In January 2003 riots erupted in Phnom Penh when a false rumour circulated that a Thai soap opera actress had claimed that Angkor Wat belonged to Thailand.[11]

Angkor wat Khmer architecture

Angkor Wat: (or Angkor Vat) (Khmer: អង្គរវត្ត) is a temple complex at Angkor, Cambodia, built for the king Suryavarman II in the early 12th century as his state temple and capital city. As the best-preserved temple at the site, it is the only one to have remained a significant religious centre since its foundation—first Hindu, dedicated to the god Vishnu, then Buddhist. The temple is the epitome of the high classical style of Khmer architecture. It has become a symbol of Cambodia, appearing on its national flag, and it is the country's prime attraction for visitors.

Angkor Wat combines two basic plans of Khmer temple architecture: the temple mountain and the later galleried temple, based on early South Indian Hindu architecture, with key features such as the Jagati. It is designed to represent Mount Meru, home of the devas in Hindu mythology: within a moat and an outer wall 3.6 kilometres (2.2 mi) long are three rectangular galleries, each raised above the next. At the centre of the temple stands a quincunx of towers. Unlike most Angkorian temples, Angkor Wat is oriented to the west; scholars are divided as to the significance of this. The temple is admired for the grandeur and harmony of the architecture, its extensive bas-reliefs and for the numerous devatas (guardian spirits) adorning its walls.

The modern name, Angkor Wat, means "City Temple"; Angkor is a vernacular form of the word nokor which comes from the Urdu word nagara meaning capital. wat is the Khmer word for temple. Prior to this time the temple was known as Preah Pisnulok, after the posthumous title of its founder, Suryavarman II.[1]

AngkorWat History

Angkor (Khmer: អង្គរ) is a region of Cambodia that served as the seat of the Khmer empire, which flourished from approximately the ninth century to the thirteenth century. The word Angkor is derived from the Sanskrit nagara (नगर), meaning "city".[1] The Angkorian period began in AD 802, when the Khmer Hindu monarch Jayavarman II declared himself a "universal monarch" and "god-king", until 1431, when Ayutthayan (Thai) invaders sacked the Khmer capital, causing its population to migrate south to the area of Phnom Penh.

The ruins of Angkor are located amid forests and farmland to the north of the Great Lake (Tonle Sap) and south of the Kulen Hills, near modern-day Siem Reap (13°24′N, 103°51′E), and are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The temples of the Angkor area number over one thousand, ranging in scale from nondescript piles of brick rubble scattered through rice fields to the magnificent Angkor Wat, said to be the world's largest single religious monument. Many of the temples at Angkor have been restored, and together, they comprise the most significant site of Khmer architecture. Visitor numbers approach two million annually.

In 2007, an international team of researchers using satellite photographs and other modern techniques concluded that Angkor had been the largest preindustrial city in the world, with an elaborate system of infrastructure connecting an urban sprawl of at least 1000 square kilometres to the well-known temples at its core.[2] The closest rival to Angkor, the Mayan city of Tikal in Guatemala, was between 100 and 150 square kilometres in total size.[3] Although its population remains a topic of research and debate, newly identified agricultural systems in the Angkor area may have supported up to one million people.[4]