CAMBODIA: Angkor Wat

The Khmer kings ruled one of the largest, most prosperous, and most sophisticated kingdoms in the history of Southeast Asia. 

The Khmer dynasty lasted from the 9^th century to the 15^th century. 

The empire consisted of present-day Cambodia, as well as a lot of Thailand, southern Vietnam and Laos.

Over the 600 years, numerous construction projects were undertaken by the different Khmer Kings, each trying to outdo their predecessors.

Angkor, which served as the royal center, was once the largest pre-industrial city in the world with over a million people! 

Angkor Archaeological Park contains the remains of some of the Khmer Empire’s cities, buildings, temples, urban plans and water reservoirs. It comprises of more than a thousand buildings and it is one of the great cultural wonders of the world.

The Park is HUGE, stretching over 400 sq km’s and is a testament to the Khmer’s advanced civilization.

The park is one of the most important archaeological sites in South-East Asia and is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

 

We were out the door of our hotel in Siem Reap at 5:30am to catch the sun rising over Angkor Wat, the biggest temple in the empire. We were there with hundreds of other people with the exact same intention.

One can never have too many pictures of the sun rising over Angkor Wat.

But, reality prevails and it meant editing and deleting 98% of the nearly identical 483 photos.

The Angkor Wat temple complex was built in the 12^th century and is the world’s largest religious structure, covering some 400 acres (160 hectares.)

It was built by a Khmer King, Suryavarman II, as a huge funerary temple where his remains were to be deposited. Construction is believed to have taken three decades and took some 50,000 artisans, workers and slaves to complete.

At the time, the Khmers were Hindu and all of the original religious motifs reflect Hinduism.

The five central towers of Angkor Wat symbolize the peaks of Mount Meru, which according to Hindu mythology is the dwelling place of the gods.

Mount Meru is said to be surrounded by an ocean, and Angkor Wats’ enormous moat symbolizes the oceans at the edge of the world.

A bridge allows access to the site.

Inside the site.

There were a lot of steep staircases. I don't know how people with short legs climbed it!

After the Cham people ransacked it in 1177, the ruler at the time, Jayavarman VII, decided that the Hindu gods had failed him, so he transitioned it from being a Hindu temple to a Buddhist temple. The symbolism throughout is a combination of Hinduism and Buddhism. 

Bas-reliefs on the temple depict battles with the neighbouring kingdom of Champa, and vivid scenes of twelfth century Cambodian life. 

Angkor Wat is famous for its almost 2,000 apsaras (heavenly nymphs) carved into the walls. Each of them is unique, and apparently there are 37 different hairstyles. Not having counted them, I can’t confirm or dispute.

There are no other remaining buildings except the stone temples because the houses and most of their other buildings were made of wood, thatch and bamboo.

In the early 15th century the city of Angkor was abandoned. After that Buddhist monks maintained the temple of Angkor Wat and it remained an important pilgrimage site. Angkor Wat was “rediscovered” in 1863 by the French. It was then rediscovered again by John and me in 2024.  

A quick Cocktail Party Trivia fact - the image of Angkor Wat is on the Cambodian flag.

Coincidentally, it is also on the label of the Angkor beer.

The entire time we were in Angkor Wat it was incredibly hot and humid with heat records in southeastern Asia being broken. Temperatures were up over 43C with high humidity. John might have consumed one or two Angkor beers while there. 

He told me it was for medicinal hydration purposes. 

I believed him.