Angkor Wat

One of the great complexes of ancient temples in Southeast Asia is at Angkor in Cambodia.




The temples of Angkor, built by the Khmer civilization between 802 and 1220AD, represent one of humankind's most astonishing and enduring architectural achievements.



From Angkor the Khmer kings ruled over a vast domain that reached from Vietnam to China to the Bay of Bengal.
The structures one sees at Angkor today, more than 100 stone temples in all, are the remains of a grand religious, social and administrative city whose other buildings - palaces, public buildings, and houses - were built of wood and are long gone.



Angkor Wat, built during the early years of the 12th century, honors the Hindu god Vishnu and is a symbolic representation of Hindu cosmology.


Unlike other temples at Angkor, Ta Prohm has been left as it was found, preserved as an example of what a tropical forest will do to an architectural monument when the protective hands of humans are withdrawn.



Ta Prohm's walls, roofs, chambers and courtyards have been sufficiently repaired to stop further deterioration, and the inner sanctuary has been cleared of bushes and thick undergrowth, but the temple has been left in the stranglehold of trees.



Having planted themselves centuries ago, the tree's serpentine roots pry apart the ancient stones and their immense trunks straddle the once bustling Buddhist temple.


During Khmer occupation, the city of Angkor became a pilgrimage destination of importance throughout Southeastern Asia.

Sacked by the Thais in 1431 and abandoned in 1432, Angkor was forgotten for a few centuries. Wandering Buddhist monks, passing through the dense jungles, occasionally came upon the awesome ruins.


Recognizing the sacred nature of the temples but ignorant of their origins, they invented fables about the mysterious sanctuaries, saying they had been built by the gods in a far ancient time.

Centuries passed, these fables became legends, and pilgrims from the distant reaches of Asia sought out the mystic city of the gods. A few adventurous European travelers knew of the ruins and stories circulated in antiquarian circles of a strange city lost in the jungles.

Most people believed the stories to be nothing more than legend however, until the French explorer Henri Mouhot brought Angkor to the world's attention in 1860. The French people were enchanted with the ancient city and beginning in 1908 funded and superbly managed an extensive restoration project.
The restoration has continued to the present day, except in the 70's and 80's when military fighting prevented archaeologists from living near the ruins.


The kings designed and constructed the temples as a form of service to both god and their own subjects. The temples were places not for the worship of the kings but rather for the worship of god. Precisely aligned with the stars, constructed as vast three dimensional yantras and adorned with stunningly beautiful religious art, the Angkor temples were instruments for assisting humans in their realization of the divine.


Reflection question
1. Imagine that you have been to Angkor Wat. Write a letter to your cousin or pen pal Ming De encouraging him to visit Angkor Wat when he is going to Cambodia for a holiday in June.