Angkor Wat temple

Angkor wat reflected in the northern pond

hundreds of meters of fine carvings in the gallaries

Angkor Wat

Angkor Wat is the largest and most impressive of the Angkor temples. It is often cited as one of the 7 wonders of the world and contains more stonework than the great pyramid of Egypt. It was built in early 12th century of sandstone and laterite stone blocks by King Suryavarman II for the Hindu god, Vishnu, and also for the spirits of the ancestors of the King and his predecessor King that he highly respected. The temple took around 40 years and 250,000 people to build (around a quarter of the entire population of the time).

The temple is enclosed by laterite walls and surrounded by moats, from west to east the moat is 1.5km, from north to south is 1.3km, the central tower stands 65 meter high, and the whole covers 200 hectars. The archeologists compare all towers of Angkor Wat to the peaks of the mythical Mount Meru, the sacred home of Hindu gods which is believed to be situated in the center of the universe, the walls to the mountain ranges surround the universe, while the moat represents the cosmic ocean beyond, so the main concept of the king is to represent Angkorwat as the whole universe.

Suryavarman II wanted to show his people that even he is in a human form but that he is really inspired by the spirit of the Gods.