Angkor Wat

Angkor - Angkor Wat
Angkor, a few kilometres to the north of the town of Siem Reap, is indisputably the most famous, most enormous, most impressive and most important attraction not only in Cambodia, but in all of Southeast Asia, and maybe even in all of Asia.

Compared to Angkor the old Royal Palace of Bangkok, the Shwedagon Pagoda of Rangoon or the Citadel at the old Vietnamese Emperor's town of Hué fade. Compared to Angkor many of the attractions, monuments or archaeological sites of other places appear small, if not irrelevant. Angkor is truly overpowering.

In its dimensions Angkor is best compared to the Egyptian Pyramids. But Angkor is far more than merely an agglomeration of huge geometrical structures. Despite its enormous constructional dimensions, it is ornamented in detail like Notre Dame of Paris and tells of an ancient art of architecture and sculpturing on a level of the Acropolis of Athens.

From the early 9th century, after the first independent Khmer kingdom was founded by King Jayavarman II, until 1431, when a large part of the population emigrated a few hundred kilometres to the Southeast, Angkor was the capital of a Khmer state, which in its prime covered the major part of Southeast Asia from present-day Myanmar to present-day southern Vietnam, from today's southern Chinese province of Yunnan deep down the Malayan peninsula.

Many publications create unnecessary confusion by citing the construction of a "new capital" again and again, whenever a new Khmer king constructed a new palace a few kilometres from the former palace and transferred his government there. (The construction of new palaces is treated similarly as a move of the capital in many guide books about Myanmar.)

Considering the case of the Angkor realm it can be read, that its first king, Jayavarman II, set up his capital in Rolous, the fourth Angkor king, Yasovarman, in Angkor by the name of Yashodharapura, the seventh Angkor king, Jayavarman IV, at Koh Ker, the ninth Angkor king, Rajendravarman, again at Angkor; and the 21st Angkor king, Jayavarman VII built the royal town of Angkor Thom.

Fact is: almost all of these so-called new capitals are only a few kilometres apart: the distance between Rolous and Angkor Thom is just 15 kilometres; only the distance from Angkor to Koh Ker is more than 50 kilometres.

Because the Angkor kingdom, as the most powerful state of Southeast Asia of its time, must have commanded a significant permanent army and a large centralized administrative apparatus, and because thousands of workers were needed for the construction and maintenance of the enormous building complexes, it can safely be assumed that around the stone constructions of the palaces and temples an appropriate city with a substantial population must have existed.

The city probably covered large areas of the empty terrain between the remainders of the temples and palaces. But there is nothing left of these surrounding settlements, probably because wood had been used as construction material, which has long since rotten, and jungle or rice farmers have reclaimed the former urban area.

Another cause for confusion is, that the entirety of the attraction is often named Angkor Wat. But strictly speaking, Angkor Wat is only a single temple within a total complex of many others, even though it is the most impressive one.

Angkor Wat is the prime example of the classical style of Khmer Architecture, which used sandstone in addition to brick to create unique designs. It has stood the test of time because quality of the constuction was not sacrified for the beauty of it. The basic of both was perfect. Many modern day architectures are at awe with the balace of the elements and style.

It is a representative symbol of Cambodia, displayed on the National Flag. The temple is said to be indestructible. The people of Sieam Reap took refuge inside the temple during the war that broke out in 1970. The Guinness Book of World Records lists it as the largest religious structure in the world. In 1992, the UNESCO World Heritage Committee declared the monument, and the whole city of Angkor, a World Heritage Site..

This temple is suspected to be built more than eight centuries ago by King Suryavarman, who ruled from 1113 to at least 1145. It was built as the king's state temple and capital city. The temple was dedicated to the Hindu God, Vishnu. When the city was left in the 1400's, this magnificent temple was occupied by Buddhist monks. They continue to reside there today.

A 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”. The temple became known around the world after a French explorer wrote of his travels there. The Angkor Wat is truly one of the greatest representations of the traditional Cambodian culture.