Prasat Beng Mealea

Beng Mealea or Bung Mealea (Khmer: ប្រាសាទបឹងមាលា "lotus pond") is a temple from the Angkor Wat period:118–119 located 40 km east of the main group of temples at Angkor, Cambodia, on the ancient royal highway to Preah Khan Kompong Svay.

Beng Mealea was built as a Hindu temple, but some carvings depict Buddhist motifs. Its primary material is sandstone and it is largely unrestored, with trees and thick brush thriving amidst its towers and courtyards and many of its stones lying in great heaps. For years it was difficult to reach, but a road recently built to the temple complex of Koh Ker passes Beng Mealea and more visitors are coming to the site, as it is 77 km from Siem Reap by road.

The corridor in the temple.
The history of the temple is unknown and it can be dated only by its architectural style, identical to Angkor Wat, so scholars assumed it was built during the reign of king Suryavarman II in the early 12th century. Smaller in size than Angkor Wat, the king's main monument, Beng Mealea nonetheless ranks among the Khmer empire's larger temples: the gallery which forms the outer enclosure of the temple is 181 m by 152 m. It was the center of a town, surrounded by a moat 1025 m by 875 m large and 45 m wide.

Beng Mealea is oriented toward the east, but has entranceways from the other three cardinal directions. The basic layout is three enclosing galleries around a central sanctuary, collapsed at present. The enclosures are tied with "cruciform cloisters", like Angkor Wat. Structures known as libraries lie to the right and left of the avenue that leads in from the east. There is extensive carving of scenes from Hindu mythology, including the Churning of the Sea of Milk and Vishnu being borne by the bird god Garuda. Causeways have long balustrades formed by bodies of the seven-headed Naga serpent.

It was built mostly of sandstone: Beng Mealea is only 7 km far from the angkorian sandstone quarries of Phnom Kulen, as the crow flies. Presumably sandstone blocks used for Angkor were transported along artificial water canals and passed from here. Despite of lack of information, the quality of architecture and decorations has drawn the attention of French scholars just from its discovery

Prasat Bayon

The Bayon (Khmer: ប្រាសាទបាយ័ន, Prasat Bayon) is a richly decorated Khmer temple at Angkor in Cambodia. Built in the late 12th or early 13th century as the state temple of the Mahayana Buddhist King Jayavarman VII (Khmer: ព្រះបាទជ័យវរ្ម័នទី ៧), the Bayon stands at the centre of Jayavarman's capital, Angkor Thom (Khmer: អង្គរធំ). Following Jayavarman's death, it was modified and augmented by later Hindu and Theravada Buddhist kings in accordance with their own religious preferences.

The Bayon's most distinctive feature is the multitude of serene and smiling stone faces on the many towers which jut out from the upper terrace and cluster around its central peak. The temple has two sets of bas-reliefs, which present a combination of mythological, historical, and mundane scenes. The main conservatory body, the Japanese Government Team for the Safeguarding of Angkor (the JSA) has described the temple as "the most striking expression of the baroque style" of Khmer architecture, as contrasted with the classical style of Angkor Wat (Khmer: ប្រាសាទអង្គរវត្ត)

Buddhist symbolism in the foundation of the temple by King Jayavarman VII

The Bayon was the last state temple to be built at Angkor (Khmer: ក្រុងអង្គរ), and the only Angkorian state temple to be built primarily as a Mahayana Buddhist shrine dedicated to the Buddha, though a great number of minor and local deities were also encompassed as representatives of the various districts and cities of the realm. It was the centrepiece of Jayavarman VII's massive program of monumental construction and public works, which was also responsible for the walls and nāga-bridges of Angkor Thom (Khmer: អង្គរធំ) and the temples of Preah Khan (Khmer: ប្រាសាទព្រះខ័ន), Ta Prohm (Khmer: ប្រាសាទតាព្រហ្ម) and Banteay Kdei (Khmer: ប្រាសាទបន្ទាយក្តី).

From the vantage point of the temple's upper terrace, one is struck by "the serenity of the stone faces" occupying many towers.

The similarity of the 216 gigantic faces on the temple's towers to other statues of the king has led many scholars to the conclusion that the faces are representations of Jayavarman VII (Khmer: ព្រះបាទជ័យវរ្ម័នទី ៧)himself. Others have said that the faces belong to the bodhisattva of compassion called Avalokitesvara or Lokesvara.The two hypotheses need not be regarded as mutually exclusive. Angkor scholar George Coedès has theorized that Jayavarman stood squarely in the tradition of the Khmer monarchs in thinking of himself as a "devaraja" (god-king), the salient difference being that while his predecessors were Hindus and regarded themselves as consubstantial with Shiva and his symbol the lingam, Jayavarman as a Buddhist identified himself with the Buddha and the bodhisattva.


Alterations following the death of Jayavarman VII
Since the time of Jayavarman VII, the Bayon has undergone numerous additions and alterations at the hands of subsequent monarchs.[5] During the reign of Jayavarman VIII in the mid-13th century, the Khmer empire reverted to Hinduism and its state temple was altered accordingly. In later centuries, Theravada Buddhism became the dominant religion, leading to still further changes, before the temple was eventually abandoned to the jungle. Current features which were not part of the original plan include the terrace to the east of the temple, the libraries, the square corners of the inner gallery, and parts of the upper terrace.

Modern restoration
In the first part of the 20th century, the École Française d'Extrême Orient took the lead in the conservation of the temple, restoring it in accordance with the technique of anastylosis. Since 1995 the Japanese Government team for the Safeguarding of Angkor (the JSA) has been the main conservatory body, and has held annual symposia.

Etymology of Bayon
The original name for the Bayon is Jayagiri (or "Victory Mountain"). After French occupancy, it was later named Banyan Temple due to its religious significance and Buddhist imagery (the Buddha is said to have attained enlightenment under the Banyan tree). When the local Khmer came to work at renovating Banyan Temple, there was a mispronunciation in Banyan, which was pronounced Bayon. The name then stuck.

The site
The Bayon in plan, showing the main structure. The dimensions of the upper terrace are only approximate, due to its irregular shape.
The temple is oriented towards the east, and so its buildings are set back to the west inside enclosures elongated along the east-west axis. Because the temple sits at the exact centre of Angkor Thom, roads lead to it directly from the gates at each of the city's cardinal points. The temple itself has no wall or moats, these being replaced by those of the city itself: the city-temple arrangement, with an area of 9 square kilometres, is much larger than that of Angkor Wat to the south (2 km²). Within the temple itself, there are two galleried enclosures (the third and second enclosures) and an upper terrace (the first enclosure). All of these elements are crowded against each other with little space between. Unlike Angkor Wat, which impresses with the grand scale of its architecture and open spaces, the Bayon "gives the impression of being compressed within a frame which is too tight for it.

The outer gallery: historical events and everyday life
A scene from the eastern gallery shows a Khmer army on the march.
The outer wall of the outer gallery features a series of bas-reliefs depicting historical events and scenes from the everyday life of the Angkorian Khmer. Though highly detailed and informative in themselves, the bas-reliefs are not accompanied by any sort of epigraphic text, and for that reason considerable uncertainty remains as to which historical events are portrayed and how, if at all, the different reliefs are related. From the east gopura clockwise, the subjects are:

in the southern part of the eastern gallery a marching Khmer army (including some Chinese soldiers),[12] with musicians, horsemen, and officers mounted on elephants, followed by wagons of provisions;
still in the eastern gallery, on the other side of the doorway leading into the courtyard, another procession followed by domestic scenes depicting Angkorian houses, some of the occupants of which appear to be Chinese merchants;
in the southeast corner pavilion, an unfinished temple scene with towers, apsaras (Khmer: អប្សរា), and a lingam (Khmer: លិង្គសិវៈ);
A market scene in the southern gallery shows the weighing of goods; the fish belong to a naval battle taking place above.
in the eastern part of the southern gallery, a naval battle on the Tonle Sap (Khmer: ទន្លេសាប) between Khmer and Cham forces,[13][14] underneath which are more scenes from civilian life depicting a market, open-air cooking, hunters, and women tending to children and an invalid;
still in the southern gallery, past the doorway leading to the courtyard, a scene with boats and fisherman, including a Chinese junk, below which is a depiction of a cockfight; then some palace scenes with princesses, servants, people engaged in conversations and games, wrestlers, and a wild boar fight; then a battle scene with Cham warriors disembarking from boats and engaging Khmer warriors whose bodies are protected by coiled ropes, followed by a scene in which the Khmer dominate the combat, followed by a scene in which the Khmer king celebrates a victory feast with his subjects;
in the western part of the southern gallery, a military procession including both Khmers and Chams, elephants, war machines such as a large crossbow and a catapult;
in the southern part of the western gallery, unfinished reliefs show an army marching through the forest, then arguments and fighting between groups of Khmers;[15]
in the western gallery, past the doorway to the courtyard, a scene depicting a melee between Khmer warriors, then a scene in which warriors pursue others past a pool in which an enormous fish swallows a small deer;[16] then a royal procession, with the king standing on an elephant, preceded by the ark of the sacred flame;
in the western part of the northern gallery, again unfinished, a scene of royal entertainment including athletes, jugglers and acrobats, a procession of animals, ascetics sitting in a forest, and more battles between Khmer and Cham forces;
in the northern gallery, past the doorway to the courtyard, a scene in which the Khmer flee from Cham soldiers advancing in tight ranks;
in the northeast corner pavilion, another marching Khmer army;
in the eastern gallery, a land battle between Khmer and Cham forces, both of which are supported by elephants: the Khmer appear to be winning.

The outer gallery encloses a courtyard in which there are two libraries (one on either side of the east entrance). Originally the courtyard contained 16 chapels, but these were subsequently demolished by the Hindu restorationist Jayavarman VIII.

The inner gallery: depictions of mythological events
The inner gallery is raised above ground level and has doubled corners, with the original redented cross-shape later filled out to a square. Its bas-reliefs, later additions of Jayavarman VIII, are in stark contrast to those of the outer: rather than set-piece battles and processions, the smaller canvases offered by the inner gallery are decorated for the most part with scenes from Hindu mythology. Some of the figures depicted are Siva, Vishnu, and Brahma, the members of the trimurti or threefold godhead of Hinduism, Apsaras or celestial dancers, Ravana and Garuda.[17] There is however no certainty as to what some of the panels depict, or as to their relationship with one another. One gallery just north of the eastern gopura, for example, shows two linked scenes which have been explained as the freeing of a goddess from inside a mountain, or as an act of iconoclasm by Cham invaders.[18] Another series of panels shows a king fighting a gigantic serpent with his bare hands, then having his hands examined by women, and finally lying ill in bed; these images have been connected with the legend of the Leper King, who contracted leprosy from the venom of a serpent with whom he had done battle.[19] Less obscure are depictions of the construction of a Vishnuite temple (south of the western gopura) and the Churning of the Sea of Milk (north of the western gopura).

The upper terrace: 200 faces of Lokesvara
The inner gallery is nearly filled by the upper terrace, raised one level higher again. The lack of space between the inner gallery and the upper terrace has led scholars to conclude that the upper terrace did not figure in the original plan for the temple, but that it was added shortly thereafter following a change in design. Originally, it is believed, the Bayon had been designed as a single-level structure, similar in that respect to the roughly contemporaneous foundations at Ta Prohm and Banteay Kdei.

The upper terrace is home to the famous "face towers" of the Bayon, each of which supports two, three or (most commonly) four gigantic smiling faces. In addition to the mass of the central tower, smaller towers are located along the inner gallery (at the corners and entrances), and on chapels on the upper terrace. "Wherever one wanders," writes Maurice Glaize, "the faces of Lokesvara follow and dominate with their multiple presence.

Efforts to read some significance into the numbers of towers and faces have run up against the circumstance that these numbers have not remained constant over time, as towers have been added through construction and lost to attrition. At one point, the temple was host to 49 such towers; now only 37 remain. The number of faces is approximately 200, but since some are only partially preserved there can be no definitive count.

The central tower and sanctuary

Like the inner gallery, the central tower was originally cruciform but was later filled out and made circular. It rises 43 metres above the ground. At the time of the temple's foundation, the principal religious image was a statue of the Buddha, 3.6 m tall, located in the sanctuary at the heart of the central tower. The statue depicted the Buddha seated in meditation, shielded from the elements by the flared hood of the serpent king Mucalinda. During the reign of Hindu restorationist monarch Jayavarman VIII(Khmer: ព្រះបាទជ័យវរ្ម័នទី ៨), the figure was removed from the sanctuary and smashed to pieces. After being recovered in 1933 from the bottom of a well, it was pieced back together, and is now on display in a small pavilion at Angkor

Prasat Kravan

Prasat Kravan (Khmer: ប្រាសាទក្រវាន់) is a small 10th-century temple consisting of five reddish brick towers on a common terrace, at Angkor, Cambodia, south of the artificial lake (baray) called Srah Srang. Its original Sanskrit name is unknown. The modern name in Khmer, "Prasat Kravan", means artabotrys odoratissimus temple. The temple was dedicated to Vishnu in 921 CE,70 according to an inscription on doorjambs.

The site was cleaned from vegetation in the 1930s by Henri Marchal and Georges Trouvé. Afterwards the towers were restored on Bernard Philippe Groslier's initiative from 1962 to 1966,[2] adding some new bricks which are marked with a "CA" (meaning "Conservation Angkor").

The temple is oriented to the east and surrounded by a small moat. Its exterior is striking for its classical lines and symmetry. The central and the south tower have superstructures which take advantage of false perspective by simple means of diminishing tiers. The sanctuary's interiors are remarkable for the large bas-relief depictions of Vishnu and Lakshmi that have been carved into the walls of reddish brick, connected by a vegetable compound. This type of sculptured artwork is rather common in Cham temples, but rare in known Khmer monuments.

Prasat Bakong Temple

Bakong (Khmer: ប្រាសាទបាគង) is the first temple mountain of sandstone constructed by rulers of the Khmer empire at Angkor near modern Siem Reap in Cambodia. In the final decades of the 9th century AD, it served as the official state temple of King Indravarman I in the ancient city of Hariharalaya, located in an area that today is called Roluos. The structure of Bakong took shape of stepped pyramid, popularly identified as temple mountain of early Khmer temple architecture. The striking similarity of the Bakong and Borobudur temple in Java, going into architectural details such as the gateways and stairs to the upper terraces, suggests strongly that Borobudur was served as the prototype of Bakong. There must have been exchanges of travelers, if not mission, between Khmer kingdom and the Sailendras in Java. Transmitting to Cambodia not only ideas, but also technical and architectural details of Borobudur, including arched gateways in corbelling method.

The site of Bakong measures 900 metres by 700 metres, and consists of three concentric enclosures separated by two moats, the main axis going from east to west. The outer enclosure has neither a wall nor gopuram and its boundary is the outer moat, today only partially visible. The current access road from NH6 leads at the edge of the second enclosure. The inner moat delimits a 400 by 300 metres area, with remains of a laterite wall and four cruciform gopuram, and it is crossed by a wide earthen causeway, flanked by seven-headed nāgas, such as a draft of nāga bridge . Between the two moats there are the remains of 22 satellite temples of brick. The innermost enclosure, bounded by a laterite wall, measures 160 metres by 120 metres and contains the central temple pyramid and eight brick temple towers, two on each side. A number of other smaller buildings are also located within the enclosure. Just outside the eastern gopura there is a modern buddhist temple.

A statue of a lion guards the stairs on the central pyramid.
The pyramid itself has five levels and its base is 65 by 67 metres. It was reconstructed by Maurice Glaize at the end of the 1930s according to methods of anastylosis. On the top there is a single tower that is much later in provenance, and the architectural style of which is not that of the 9th century foundations of Hariharalaya, but that of the 12th-century temple city Angkor Wat.


Though the pyramid at one time must have been covered with bas relief carvings in stucco, today only fragments remain. A dramatic scene-fragment involving what appear to be asuras in battle gives a sense of the likely high quality of the carvings. Large stone statues of elephants are positioned as guardians at the corners of the three lower levels of the pyramid. Statues of lions guard the stairways.

Prasat Angkor Wat ( 1 )

Angkor Wat (/ˌæŋkɔːr ˈwɒt/; Khmer: អង្គរវត្ត, "City/Capital of Temples") is a temple complex in Cambodia and is the largest religious monument in the world, on a site measuring 162.6 hectares (1,626,000 m2; 402 acres).[1] Originally constructed as a Hindu temple dedicated to the god Vishnu for the Khmer Empire, it was gradually transformed into a Buddhist temple towards the end of the 12th century.[2] It was built by the Khmer King Suryavarman II[3] in the early 12th century in Yaśodharapura (Khmer: យសោធរបុរៈ, present-day Angkor), the capital of the Khmer Empire, as his state temple and eventual mausoleum. Breaking from the Shaiva tradition of previous kings, Angkor Wat was instead dedicated to Vishnu. As the best-preserved temple at the site, it is the only one to have remained a significant religious centre since its foundation. The temple is at the top of the high classical style of Khmer architecture. It has become a symbol of Cambodia,[4] appearing on its national flag, and it is the country's prime attraction for visitors.[5] Angkor Wat combines two basic plans of Khmer temple architecture: the temple-mountain and the later galleried temple. It is designed to represent Mount Meru, home of the devas in Hindu mythology: within a moat more than 5 kilometres (3 mi) long[6] 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 adorning its walls.
The modern name, Angkor Wat (Khmer: អង្គរវត្ត) (alternate name: Nokor Wat, Khmer: នគរវត្ត),[7] means "Temple City" or "City of Temples" in Khmer; Angkor (Khmer: អង្គរ) meaning "city" or "capital city", is a vernacular form of the word nokor (Khmer: នគរ), which comes from the Sanskrit word nagara (Devanāgarī: नगर).[8] Wat (Khmer: វត្ត) is the Khmer word for "temple grounds", also derived from Sanskrit vāṭa (Devanāgarī: वाट), meaning "enclosure".[9] The original name of the temple was Vrah Viṣṇuloka or Parama Viṣṇuloka (Sanskrit), (Khmer: បរមវិស្ណុលោក – Barom Visnulōk) which means the sacred dwelling of Vishnu.
Angkor Wat lies 5.5 kilometres (3.4 mi) north of the modern town of Siem Reap, and a short distance south and slightly east of the previous capital, which was centred at Baphuon. In an area of Cambodia where there is an important group of ancient structures, it is the southernmost of Angkor's main sites.

According to legend, the construction of Angkor Wat was ordered by Indra to serve as a palace for his son Precha Ket Mealea.[10] According to the 13th-century Chinese traveller Zhou Daguan, some believed that the temple was constructed in a single night by a divine architect.[11]

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.[12] In 1177, approximately 27 years after the death of Suryavarman II, Angkor was sacked by the Chams, the traditional enemies of the Khmer.[13] 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.

Towards the end of the 12th century, Angkor Wat gradually transformed from a Hindu centre of worship to Buddhism, which continues to the present day.[2] Angkor Wat is unusual among the Angkor temples in that although it was largely neglected after the 16th century it was never completely abandoned.[14] Fourteen inscriptions dated from the 17th century discovered in Angkor area testify to Japanese Buddhist pilgrims that had established small settlements alongside Khmer locals.[15] At that time, the temple was thought by the Japanese visitors as the famed Jetavana garden of the Buddha, which originally located in the kingdom of Magadha, India.[16] The best-known inscription tells of Ukondafu Kazufusa, who celebrated the Khmer New Year at Angkor Wat in 1632.[17]

Sketch of Angkor Wat, a drawing by Louis Delaporte, c. 1880

One of the first Western visitors to the temple was António da Madalena, a Portuguese friar 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."[18]

In the mid-19th century, the temple was effectively rediscovered by the French naturalist and explorer Henri Mouhot, who popularised the site in the West through the publication of travel notes, in which he wrote:

“ One of these temples, a rival to that of Solomon, and erected by some ancient Michelangelo, might take an honorable 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.[19] ”
Angkor Wat may relate to the architecture of the Greek and Roman record explored in terms of the west rather than east orientation of the temple. Some architects have written that it is 'correct' for the construction to be facing to the west. In temple orientations for the Greek and Etruscan context, west is associated with "right" and the "underworld" to suggest a religious connection of the building.[20]

Mouhot, like other early Western visitors, found it difficult to believe that the Khmers could have built the temple and mistakenly dated it to around the same era as Rome. His reports inspired the French government, already an established presence in Indochina, to begin a systematic study of the ruins. The true history of Angkor Wat was pieced together from stylistic and epigraphic evidence accumulated during subsequent clearing and restoration work. 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 only the evidence of the monuments themselves.[21] An exploration commission began drawing up a list of principal monuments. Subsequent missions copied inscriptions written on Angkor buildings so scholars might translate them and learn something of Angkor's history. By 1885 they had worked up a chronology of the rulers and developed the outlines of a description of the civilization that had produced the temple complex. In 1898 the French decided to commit substantial funds to Angkor's preservation. Centuries of neglect had permitted the jungle to recapture many of the more significant structures, and unless efforts were made to free the buildings from the embrace of huge banyan and silk-cotton trees, they might soon be crushed to destruction.

The 20th century saw considerable restoration of Angkor Wat.[22] Gradually teams of laborers and archeologists pushed back the jungle and exposed the expanses of stone, permitting the sun once again to illuminate the dark corners of the temple. Work was interrupted by the Cambodian Civil War and Khmer Rouge control of the country during the 1970s and 1980s, but relatively little damage was done during this period. Camping Khmer Rouge forces used whatever wood remained in the building structures for firewood, and a shoot-out between Khmer Rouge and Vietnamese forces put a few bullet holes in a bas relief. Far more damage was done after the wars, by art thieves working out of Thailand, which, in the late 1980s and early 1990s, claimed almost every head that could be lopped off the structures, including reconstructions.[23]

The temple is a powerful symbol of Cambodia, and is a source of great national pride that has factored into Cambodia's diplomatic relations with France, the United States and its neighbour Thailand. A depiction of Angkor Wat has been a part of Cambodian national flags since the introduction of the first version circa 1863.[24] From a larger historical and even transcultural perspective, however, the temple of Angkor Wat did not become a symbol of national pride sui generis but had been inscribed into a larger politico-cultural process of French-colonial heritage production in which the original temple site was presented in French colonial and universal exhibitions in Paris and Marseille between 1889 and 1937.[25] Angkor Wat's aesthetics were also on display in the plaster cast museum of Louis Delaporte called musée Indo-chinois which existed in the Parisian Trocadero Palace from c.1880 to the mid-1920s.[26]

The splendid artistic legacy of Angkor Wat and other Khmer monuments in the Angkor region led directly to France adopting Cambodia as a protectorate on 11 August 1863 and invading Siam to take control of the ruins. This quickly led to Cambodia reclaiming lands in the northwestern corner of the country that had been under Siamese (Thai) control since AD 1351 (Manich Jumsai 2001), or by some accounts, AD 1431.[27] Cambodia gained independence from France on 9 November 1953 and has controlled Angkor Wat since that time. It is safe to say that from the colonial period onwards until the site's nomination as UNESCO World Heritage in 1992, this specific temple of Angkor Wat was instrumental in the formation of the modern and gradually globalised concept of built cultural heritage.[28]


In December 2015, it was announced that a research team from University of Sydney had found a previously unseen ensemble of buried towers built and demolished during the construction of Angkor Wat, as well as massive structure of unknown purpose on its south side and wooden fortifications. The findings also include evidence of low-density residential occupation in the region, with a road grid, ponds and mounds. These indicate that the temple precinct, bounded by moat and wall, may not have been used exclusively by the priestly elite, as was previously thought. The team used LiDAR, ground-penetrating radar and targeted excavation to map Angkor Wat.[29]

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) and the later plan of concentric galleries. The construction of Angkor Wat also suggests that there was a celestial significance with certain features of the temple. This is observed in the temple's east-west orientation, and lines of sight from terraces within the temple that show specific towers to be at the precise location of the sunrise on a solstice.[30] 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 symbolize the surrounding mountain ranges and ocean.[31] Access to the upper areas of the temple was progressively more exclusive, with the laity being admitted only to the lowest level.[32]

Unlike most Khmer temples, Angkor Wat is oriented to the west rather than the east. This has led many (including Maurice Glaize and George Coedès) to conclude that Suryavarman intended it to serve as his funerary temple.[33][34] 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.[22] The archaeologist Charles Higham also describes a container which may have been a funerary jar which was recovered from the central tower.[35] It has been nominated by some as the greatest expenditure of energy on the disposal of a corpse.[36] 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.[31]

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 the structure represents 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 honour and placate the deities manifest in the heavens above."[37][38] Mannikka's suggestions have been received with a mixture of interest and scepticism in academic circles.[35] She distances herself from the speculations of others, such as Graham Hancock, that Angkor Wat is part of a representation of the constellation Draco.[39]


The Angkor Wat temple's main tower aligns to the morning sun of the Spring Equinox.[40][41]

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 has been suggested.[42]

The temple has drawn praise above all for the harmony of its design. According to Maurice Glaize, a mid-20th-century conservator of Angkor, 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."[43]


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. Typical decorative elements are devatas (or apsaras), bas-reliefs, and on pediments extensive garlands and narrative scenes. The statuary of Angkor Wat is considered conservative, being more static and less graceful than earlier work.[44] Other elements of the design have been destroyed by looting and the passage of time, including gilded stucco on the towers, gilding on some figures on the bas-reliefs, and wooden ceiling panels and doors.[45]

The outer wall, 1,024 m (3,360 ft) by 802 m (2,631 ft) and 4.5 m (15 ft) high, is surrounded by a 30 m (98 ft) apron of open ground and a moat 190 m (620 ft) wide and over 5 kilometres (3 mi) in perimeter.[6] Access to the temple is by an earth bank to the east and a sandstone causeway to the west; the latter, the main entrance, is a later addition, possibly replacing a wooden bridge.[46] There are gopuras at each of the cardinal points; the western is by far the largest and has three ruined towers. Glaize notes that this gopura both hides and echoes the form of the temple proper.[47] Under the southern tower is a statue of Vishnu, known as Ta Reach, which may originally have occupied the temple's central shrine.[46] Galleries run between the towers and as far as two further entrances on either side of the gopura often referred to as "elephant gates", as they are large enough to admit those animals. These galleries have square pillars on the outer (west) side and a closed wall on the inner (east) side. The ceiling between the pillars is decorated with lotus rosettes; the west face of the wall with dancing figures; and the east face of the wall with balustered windows, dancing male figures on prancing animals, and devatas, including (south of the entrance) the only one in the temple to be showing her teeth.

The outer wall encloses a space of 820,000 square metres (203 acres), which besides the temple proper was originally occupied by the city and, to the north of the temple, the royal palace. Like all secular buildings of Angkor, these were built of perishable materials rather than of stone, so nothing remains of them except the outlines of some of the streets.[48] Most of the area is now covered by forest. A 350 m (1,150 ft) causeway connects the western gopura to the temple proper, with naga balustrades and six sets of steps leading down to the city on either side. Each side also features a library with entrances at each cardinal point, in front of the third set of stairs from the entrance, and a pond between the library and the temple itself. The ponds are later additions to the design, as is the cruciform terrace guarded by lions connecting the causeway to the central structure.[48]

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.[12] 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.

Prasat Angkor Wat ( 2 )

The outer gallery measures 187 m (614 ft) by 215 m (705 ft), 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 Gods"). 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. North and south of the cloister are libraries.

Beyond, the second and inner galleries are connected to each other and to two flanking libraries by another cruciform terrace, again a later addition. From the second level upwards, devatas abound on the walls, singly or in groups of up to four. The second-level enclosure is 100 m (330 ft) by 115 m (377 ft), and may originally have been flooded to represent the ocean around Mount Meru.[50] Three sets of steps on each side lead up to the corner towers and gopuras of the inner gallery. The very steep stairways represent the difficulty of ascending to the kingdom of the gods.[51] This inner gallery, called the Bakan, is a 60 m (200 ft) square with axial galleries connecting each gopura with the central shrine, and subsidiary shrines located below the corner towers. The roofings of the galleries are decorated with the motif of the body of a snake ending in the heads of lions or garudas. Carved lintels and pediments decorate the entrances to the galleries and to the shrines. The tower above the central shrine rises 43 m (141 ft) to a height of 65 m (213 ft) above the ground; unlike those of previous temple mountains, the central tower is raised above the surrounding four.[52] The shrine itself, originally occupied by a statue of Vishnu and open on each side, was walled in when the temple was converted to Theravada Buddhism, the new walls featuring standing Buddhas. In 1934, the conservator George Trouvé excavated the pit beneath the central shrine: filled with sand and water it had already been robbed of its treasure, but he did find a sacred foundation deposit of gold leaf two metres above ground level.

Integrated with the architecture of the building, and one of the causes for its fame is Angkor Wat's extensive decoration, which predominantly takes the form of bas-relief friezes. The inner walls of the outer gallery bear a series of large-scale scenes mainly depicting episodes from the Hindu epics the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. Higham has called these, "the greatest known linear arrangement of stone carving".[54] From the north-west corner anti-clockwise, the western gallery shows the Battle of Lanka (from the Ramayana, in which Rama defeats Ravana) and the Battle of Kurukshetra (from the Mahabharata, showing the mutual annihilation of the Kaurava and Pandava clans). On the southern gallery follow the only historical scene, a procession of Suryavarman II, then the 32 hells and 37 heavens of Hinduism.

Decoration on the corner
On the eastern gallery is one of the most celebrated scenes, the Churning of the Sea of Milk, showing 92 asuras and 88 devas using the serpent Vasuki to churn the sea under Vishnu's direction (Mannikka counts only 91 asuras, and explains the asymmetrical numbers as representing the number of days from the winter solstice to the spring equinox, and from the equinox to the summer solstice). It is followed by Vishnu defeating asuras (a 16th-century addition). The northern gallery shows Krishna's victory over Bana (where according to Glaize, "The workmanship is at its worst").

Angkor Wat is decorated with depictions of apsaras and devata; there are more than 1,796 depictions of devata in the present research inventory.[59] Angkor Wat architects employed small apsara images (30 cm (12 in)–40 cm (16 in)) as decorative motifs on pillars and walls. They incorporated larger devata images (all full-body portraits measuring approximately 95 cm (37 in)–110 cm (43 in)) more prominently at every level of the temple from the entry pavilion to the tops of the high towers. In 1927, Sappho Marchal published a study cataloging the remarkable diversity of their hair, headdresses, garments, stance, jewellery and decorative flowers, which Marchal concluded were based on actual practices of the Angkor period.

The stones, as smooth as polished marble, were laid without mortar with very tight joints that are sometimes hard to find. The blocks were held together by mortise and tenon joints in some cases, while in others they used dovetails and gravity. The blocks were presumably put in place by a combination of elephants, coir ropes, pulleys and bamboo scaffolding. Henri Mouhot noted that most of the blocks had holes 2.5 cm (0.98 in) in diameter and 3 cm (1.2 in) deep, with more holes on the larger blocks. Some scholars have suggested that these were used to join them together with iron rods, but others claim they were used to hold temporary pegs to help manoeuvre them into place.

The monument was made out of 5 million to 10 million sandstone blocks with a maximum weight of 1.5 tons each.[61] In fact, the entire city of Angkor used up far greater amounts of stone than all the Egyptian pyramids combined, and occupied an area significantly greater than modern-day Paris. Moreover, unlike the Egyptian pyramids which use limestone quarried barely 0.5 km (0.31 mi) away all the time, the entire city of Angkor was built with sandstone quarried 40 km (25 mi) (or more) away.[62] This sandstone had to be transported from Mount Kulen, a quarry approximately 25 miles (40 km) to the northeast. The route has been suggested to span 35 kilometres (22 mi) along a canal towards Tonlé Sap lake, another 35 kilometres (22 mi) crossing the lake, and finally 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) against the current along Siem Reap River, making a total journey of 90 kilometres (56 mi). However, Etsuo Uchida and Ichita Shimoda of Waseda University in Tokyo, Japan have discovered in 2011 a shorter 35-kilometre (22 mi) canal connecting Mount Kulen and Angkor Wat using satellite imagery. The two believe that the Khmer used this route instead.


Virtually all of its surfaces, columns, lintels and even roofs are carved. There are miles of reliefs illustrating scenes from Indian literature including unicorns, griffins, winged dragons pulling chariots as well as warriors following an elephant-mounted leader and celestial dancing girls with elaborate hair styles. The gallery wall alone is decorated with almost 1,000 square metres of bas reliefs. Holes on some of the Angkor walls indicate that they may have been decorated with bronze sheets. These were highly prized in ancient times and were a prime target for robbers. While excavating Khajuraho, Alex Evans, a stonemason and sculptor, recreated a stone sculpture under 4 feet (1.2 m), this took about 60 days to carve.[64] Roger Hopkins and Mark Lehner also conducted experiments to quarry limestone which took 12 quarrymen 22 days to quarry about 400 tons of stone.[65] The labour force to quarry, transport, carve and install so much sandstone must have run into the thousands including many highly skilled artisans. The skills required to carve these sculptures were developed hundreds of years earlier, as demonstrated by some artefacts that have been dated to the seventh century, before the Khmer came to power

Prasat Angkor Wat ( 3 )

As with most other ancient temples in Cambodia, Angkor Wat has faced extensive damage and deterioration by a combination of plant overgrowth, fungi, ground movements, war damage and theft. The war damage to Angkor Wat's temples however has been very limited, compared to the rest of Cambodia's temple ruins, and it has also received the most attentive restoration.

The restoration of Angkor Wat in the modern era began with the establishment of the Conservation d'Angkor (Angkor Conservancy) by the École française d'Extrême-Orient (EFEO) in 1908; before that date, activities at the site were primarily concerned with exploration. The Conservation d'Angkor was responsible for the research, conservation, and restoration activities carried out at Angkor until the early 1970s, and a major restoration of Angkor was undertaken in the 1960s. However, work on Angkor was abandoned during the Khmer Rouge era and the Conservation d'Angkor was disbanded in 1975.[70] Between 1986 and 1992, the Archaeological Survey of India carried out restoration work on the temple,[71] as France did not recognise the Cambodian government at the time. Criticism has been raised about both the early French restoration attempts and particularly the later Indian work, with concerns over damage done to the stone surface by the use of chemicals and cement.

In 1992, following an appeal for help by Norodom Sihanouk, Angkor Wat was listed in UNESCO's World Heritage in Danger (later removed in 2004) and World Heritage Site together with an appeal by UNESCO to the international community to save Angkor.Zoning of the area was set up to protect the Angkor site in 1994, APSARA was established in 1995 to protect and manage the area, and a law to protect Cambodian heritage was passed in 1996. A number of countries such as France, Japan and China are currently involved in various Angkor Wat conservation projects. 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. 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, while a Japanese team completed restoration of the north library of the outer enclosure in 2005. World Monuments Fund began conservation work on the Churning of the Sea of Milk Gallery in 2008 after several years of studies on its condition. The project restored the traditional Khmer roofing system and removed cement used in earlier restoration attempts that had resulted in salts entering the structure behind the bas-relief, discoloring and damaging the sculpted surfaces. The main phase of work ended in 2012, with the final component being the installation of finials on the roof of the gallery in 2013.

Microbial biofilms have been found degrading sandstone at Angkor Wat, Preah Khan, and the Bayon and West Prasat in Angkor. The dehydration- and radiation-resistant filamentous cyanobacteria can produce organic acids that degrade the stone. A dark filamentous fungus was found in internal and external Preah Khan samples, while the alga Trentepohlia was found only in samples taken from external, pink-stained stone at Preah Khan.[82] Replicas were also made to replace some of the lost or damaged sculptures.

Since the 1990s, Angkor Wat has become a major tourist destination. In 1993, there were only 7,650 visitors to the site;[84] by 2004, government figures show that 561,000 foreign visitors had arrived in Siem Reap province that year, approximately 50% of all foreign tourists in Cambodia. The number reached over a million in 2007, and over two million by 2012. Most visited Angkor Wat, which received over two million foreign tourists in 2013. The site was managed by the private SOKIMEX group between 1990 and 2016[89], which rented it from the Cambodian government. 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 teams sponsored by foreign governments rather than by the Cambodian authorities.

Since Angkor Wat has seen significant growth in tourism throughout the years, UNESCO and its International Co-ordinating Committee for the Safeguarding and Development of the Historic Site of Angkor (ICC), in association with representatives from the Royal Government and APSARA, organised seminars to discuss the concept of "cultural tourism". Wanting to avoid commercial and mass tourism, the seminars emphasised the importance of providing high quality accommodation and services in order for the Cambodian government to benefit economically, while also incorporating the richness of Cambodian culture. In 2001, this incentive resulted in the concept of the "Angkor Tourist City" which would be developed with regard to traditional Khmer architecture, contain leisure and tourist facilities, and provide luxurious hotels capable of accommodating large numbers of tourists.

The prospect of developing such large tourist accommodations has encountered concerns from both APSARA and the ICC, claiming that previous tourism developments in the area have neglected construction regulations and more of these projects have the potential to damage landscape features.[91] Also, the large scale of these projects have begun to threaten the quality of the nearby town's water, sewage, and electricity systems. 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. Locals of Siem Reap have also voiced concern that the charm and atmosphere of their town have been compromised in order to entertain tourism. Since this local atmosphere is the key component to projects like Angkor Tourist City, the local officials continue to discuss how to successfully incorporate future tourism without sacrificing local values and culture.


At the ASEAN Tourism Forum 2012, it was agreed that Borobudur and Angkor Wat would become sister sites and the provinces sister provinces

=============== Thanks For Watching =============== 

Prasat Preah Vihear

Prasat Preah Vihear temple is located in Svay Chrum village, Kantuot commune, Choam Ksan district on the back of Dangrek mountain (800 by 400 square meters). The mountain range is very steep from the Cambodian side and steep from the Thai side. Preah Vihear Temple is 405 km from Phnom Penh, but if you walk from the provincial town, it is only 108 kilometers away. Only km by road 211 to Choam Ksan district. At the Dangrek Mountain, there is a staircase that leads to the top of the hill where the Temple of Preah Vihear is located.

Today, most of the shopkeepers and residents of the area often climb the mountain on the C1 road because the road is easy Travel. The Temple of Preah Vihear is an historical site called "Cirrus Swara" meaning "Power of the Mountain" and was built. Built during the late 9th and early 10th centuries by four kings named King Yasovarman II 1 (built in AD 889-910) King Suryavarman I (built in AD 1002-1050) Vravarman II (built in 1113-150) and Jayavarman VI (built in 1080-1109 AD) ). The temple was given to Thailand by the French colonists in 1954, but was demanded back by an international court judgment. The National Day of Toula on 15 June 1962 under the leadership of the Khmer King.

Important Dates

* June 15, 1962: The Temple of Preah Vihear is adjudicated by the International Court of the Court of the capital of Barcelona - Thai temple.

- July 7, 2008: UNESCO decides to put Cambodia's Preah Vihear Temple on the World Heritage List at the 32nd Session In Quebec, Canada.

History of the Temple

According to many Khmer historical documents, the temple was built of stone since the reign of Suryavarman. First. King Suryavarman I ruled in the first half of the 11th century. The highest temple site is 625 meters (French document) or 615 meters (English document) ).

The history of the construction of the Temple of Preah Vihear is inscribed on a Khmer inscription at Baphuon temple in Siem Reap province # 583: the person who wrote the inscription was Hari It was in the reign of King Rajaranus 944 to 968. They are written in Sanskrit and in Khmer. It is said that there was a prince named Indra Yuthit who brought a penis named Sri Sithika Rashavira. Here is the Temple of Preah Vihear. They wrote that He was very powerful.

He had the power to go to war with the king of the Chams and capture him again. For this inscription, historical scholars think that there is no other inscription mentioning a war to capture the king of Cham, but The king he captured may not have been the king of the Cham. Probably a small monarch who ruled in a kingdom bordering Cambodia.

Lord Indra Surat

About His Majesty Indra Surat: "Lord Indra, when you grow old, you study the Dhamma. The Lobster Pen is a pagoda in southern Laos today. Then he built a penis, and he took a piece of it. The penis is called Sri Sisakhara Rakara: he took it to the Temple of Preah Vihear. Penis Sisakath Rasbandara: Later next year, it is often called for both the pen name and the temple's name. Also, those who came to Sri Sisakrita Raya Stone were a piece of the penis at that pagoda. It is taken to the Temple of Preah Vihear, Lord Indra Surat. At that time scholars of the inscriptions and of the Temple of Preah Vihear assumed that there were probably places not today. This. Only the wood-carvings are the place of residence of the Brahmins who are responsible for the maintenance of Sithika Sri Lanka. Monkey: This is it. "

Brahman: Bodhisattva

According to the inscription at Preah Vihear KA 381, written in both Khmer and Sanskrit, there is also a Brahman named The following are the important texts related to the history of the Temple of Preah Vihear. The Buddhist monk has a monument on the site of the temple. During the year 1024 he received a hammock, gold and many other valuables from Suryavarman I, for But he is grateful to Anak Viravudh, PhD, who has maintained the penis of the goddess Sithika Rishvara.

King Suryavarman I very much believed, according to the inscription. He believed that a penis with the name of Sri Siddhakrasvara, completed from Wat Phu, was stored at the temple. The penis is always performing a miracle. He has no time to go and worship the penis, only the Holy Spirit does it and he asks that he try Keep doing that for the benefit of you and Cambodia. In the inscription it states and reiterates, the Lord is very earnest. Those who served in the temple at the beginning of the first century of Suryavarman I's reign were not many. Only the Brahmins, some of whom were residents of the nearby village, named their village but some did not know It is up to you where the foot rests at the foot of the mountain Respect those who do this for the sake of maintaining it. Therefore, King Suryavarman I asked all of them to take the oath of allegiance. Not only are our servants doing the will.

What is the oath? That is, if you swear to guard the temple, you will surely guard it. If you take care of the temple, take care of the temple. If you are the custodian of the temple, you are the protector of all those who serve, even if the temple needs to protect you. All of them go to work outside the temple, for example, to work cattle pasture outside the castle, also protected. Also. And he protected the insurgents from harming the people. Therefore, this oath is not the same as the official called by the sheriff to swear against him inscribed on the gate of the temple At Angkor, that's not the same. This is our vow, and we decide that we are still serving the temple of the goddess Rishiva.

Srey Sokha: Rama

One of those who served the Sithika goddess Sri Sisowathraka at that time was a woman named Sri Sokha Rama. People are important. Srey Sokha: This family has been keeping a record of Cambodian history since the Kingdom of Cambodia. Various works from pre-Angkorian period, Suryavarman to Suryavarman, are all written. . Also in the Temple of Preah Vihear and next to the temple today at the North of Dangrek Mountain. He is said to be a respectful person, helping to clear the way for the Sithikahara.

Suryavarman I was a Theravada Buddhist. He still respects God because in this inscription it is said that to temporarily demarcate his power The fourth penis, each of which has the same name, is the Sun Virava Swara: the surname is called Suryavarman.

- A penis is stored in Battambang province, a monastery named Chey Ksat on the western border.

- On the north border is another pen, which the same name holds in the church, temporarily defining the boundary of his power. He is in the north.

- There is another take on the Sorya mountain, the Preah Siso mountain, in Takeo today. South side.

- And another penis of the same name is stored in Indra: probably on the Mekong River, perhaps on the Kratie River. These four limbs are carried in all four directions in the CE 1018 This is what Suryavarman I did for the Temple of Preah Vihear.

Brahman Day: or Day a The inscription on the hill of Preah Vihear No 194 in the Temple Mount, 383, says very little about a Brahman, either Day A or Daya . Why this Brahman served the King of Cambodia from a young age, since the time of Uttarik Tirman 2 that he built the Baphuon and until the reign of Suryavarman II. He was given the biggest title of Brahman, the personal advisor to Suryavarman II, and he was appointed as a great Brahman. For all kings, all kings. The most important of the temple-related inscriptions is that he administered the command of Suryavarman II to all the properties. For every temple in Cambodia, he manages. Most of the properties that Brahmin Day received as royalty from the King include gold jewelry, precious diamonds and On average, he gives to all deities of Siddhartha, Sri Vishnu. Therefore, for this temple of the goddess Siddhartha Rishvara and Brahman named Day Kara, he has work for the temple. Brahman Day: On this day, he goes to the construction of various deities, and he gives his village land to demarcate it for the village. Needed for how to make rice and rice for the ceremony in the Temple. And one time, he received a gold medal from King Suryavarman II, who presented it to the goddess Sithikri. Monkey. During the New Year, he also acts for the goddess Sithika Rishvara: he takes bronze to the center of the temple, which is understood That the temple at the end of the mountain, and the silver plates which are used for the silver, are used in the temple Slaves. After that, he repaired the buildings, and the king went as he came to take the work of examining the temple. Things in the Kingdom. As such, the side dedicated to the temple of King Suryavarman II he passed on to a Brahmin named Day or Day. The purpose of the temple The Temple of Preah Vihear was built with a special purpose in addition to the building of the Angkor Wat built to commemorate the Vishnu. Okay. The Temple of Preah Vihear was built to be the place where the goddess Sithika Sri Rakhaya was kept. Yes, Suryavarman 1, especially Suryavarman II, so he still supports the idea that the monk is very big deity. How to pray, you must do it. Location of the Temple of Preah Vihear: - First, they keep the deity of the Siddhartha goddess, sometimes they write the Vedas: Just one name. This is the place where it is kept, because this deity, whose penis is represented by great powers. It is believed that the harvest brought happiness to Cambodia. - 2nd Temple of Preah Vihear This place is not the place for the king to live. There is no village for the people. There is only room for the vegetarians to come and continue their worship. If invited, take a look at the temple next to the third gate from the bottom to the third. No. 381, it is suspected that there was a place dedicated to Brahmins to continue the work of worshiping and preserving the deity. Sri Sithya Rasbandara. Therefore, the temple of Preah Vihear is different from other temples. Stage of construction The construction of the Temple of Preah Vihear consists of three main stages: - Which historians suspect was the time of Indra Yathapura to be made of wood. - But in the reign of Suryavarman I, the bulldozers made the steps of the mountain. And to build a mountain of stone in the temple area. - It was then during the reign of Suryavarman II that it was thought that the Temple of Preah Vihear was better built. By the middle of the twelfth century. Suryavarman II built the Angkor Wat Temple in Siem Reap today. Features of the temple From the plains from the road to the temple at the top of the mountain, one needs to walk up the stairs. Lots of radius a total of 804 meters. Before climbing from the plains to the top of the tower, they had to go through five gates. The temple site on the highest peak is 525 meters high. The main temple, measuring 35 meters by 45 meters, is thought to be the place where the goddess Sithikri was kept. Monkey.

- From the ground we usually come from the ground is the foot of Phnom Dangkam mountain and we came up to it 54 meters. The stairs are 159 steps. We came up the stairs and made a slight slope 25 meters into the first gate. - Note 1: If you have books written in French and English, they count from the first to the largest temple. The original. After the first gate, the steps must be made to climb the steps 244 meters. The staircase was set up on either side of the hallway and entered the second gate. And at the second gate was the sea, in which was the likeness of his likeness. When it came to the left, there was a pond. This pond is very important because at the time of the Thai King, the Royal Archbishop Adalayadeth. On June 9, 1946, Thailand took the water from the pond to celebrate the coronation of the Thai king in Bangkok. Thailand. Up again and 150 meters away there is always a road. On the left hand side, there are small castles rising up to 150 meters, and it came to the third gate. The inscription which mentions the construction of the temple was during the reign of Suryavarman I, probably the place where you came to abdicate. Let's learn the Dharma here and beyond the third gate.