Angkor Wat

Southeast Asia Tour 2015

Siem Reap | Cambodia

25 Nov 2015 | Wed

Day 07 of 46

Angkor Wat Sunrise
Angkor Wat
Bayon Angkor
Baphuon Angkor
Phimeanakas Angkor
Terrace Leper King Angkor
Ta Keo Angkor
Ta Prohm Angkor

Angkor Wat is a world-famous temple complex located in Cambodia. Built by the Khmer Empire during the 12th century, it was dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu and later embraced Buddhism. Today, it’s one of the most important spiritual sites in Southeast Asia and home to some of the best-preserved ruins in history.

Built over an area of more than 400 acres, Angkor Wat is composed of five distinct towers that are connected through walkways and galleries. These towers are surrounded by a moat that measures 1.5 miles (2.41 km) long and nearly 200 feet (ca. 61 m) wide. The grandeur of this temple complex has attracted millions of tourists from all around the world for its magnificence, historical importance, culture, and architecture.

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). Originally constructed as a Hindu temple dedicated to the god Vishnu for the Khmer Empire by King Suryavarman II, it was gradually transformed into a Buddhist temple towards the end of the 12th century; as such, it is also described as a “Hindu-Buddhist” temple.

Angkor Wat was built at the behest of the Khmer King Suryavarman II 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. 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 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, alternatively Nokor Wat, means “Temple City” or “City of Temples” in Khmer. Angkor (អង្គរ ângkôr) meaning “city” or “capital city”, is a vernacular form of the word nokor (នគរ nôkôr), which comes from the Sanskrit/Pali word nagara (Devanāgarī: नगर). Wat (វត្ត vôtt) is the word for “temple grounds”, also derived from Sanskrit/Pali vāṭa (Devanāgarī: वाट), meaning “enclosure”.

The original name of the temple was Vrah Viṣṇuloka or Parama Viṣṇuloka meaning “the sacred dwelling of Vishnu.”

– Wikipedia Angkor Wat