Cambodia Hotels Tours Travel

Angkor Wat Temple

Angkor Wat is the largest monument in Angkor Archeological site. It is the most famous temple in Cambodia and the soul of Khmer people; its three towers are shown in Cambodia 's National Flag. The temple is located just 7 kilometers from Siem Reap town to the north and only 5 kilometers from the International Siem Reap airport. It was discovered in 1860 by Henri Mouhot, a French naturalist who lost his way by chance in this area. Then many archeologists from France arrived to restore all the master pieces which remained hidden in the jungle. The Angkor Wat temple was taken care by monks and it is one of the best preserves of this site.

Angkor Wat temple was built by the Khmer king ‘Suryavarman II (1113 – 1150) in the first half of the 12th century. He was a great king who ruled Cambodia during the glorious time of the Khmer Empire. King Suryavarman II fought against Champa and Vietnam (1150) during his reign and we do not know the date of his death. His successor probably was king Dharanindravarman II.

Angkor means ‘City or Capital', Wat means ‘ Temple or Pagoda', thus Angkor Wat means ‘The city that is a temple'. Researchers presume that the Angkor Wat temple was dedicated to God Vishnu, who is considered to be the Supreme God of Hinduism. According to Coedes, the French epigraphic archeologist:

What we have here is not an orientation suggesting funerary rites, but a well-known architectural arrangement and plan, that cannot denote anything but a temple, If one thinks of the word ‘temple' as I do, not as a place of worship, but as the house of a god, to refuse Angkor this appellation is to deny the evidence.

I concede that the presence of skeletons and ashes would explain why the monument faces toward the west, but I refuse to believe that Angkor was only a sepulcher, like the Chinese sepulchers. It is a tomb, in the sense of the resting place of a king after death, but precisely because a Khmer king ‘went to heaven' at his death, this was his habitation in the form of a celestial palace in the centre of which was placed an image of the god with whom the king was identified (Coedes 1963).

Symbolism
Central Temple with its towers symbolize Mount ‘Meru'. The outer wall (1025m by 800) symbolizes the 7 chain of mountains which surround Mount ‘Meru'.
Moat (1500m by 1300) that surrounds the wall symbolizes the 7 oceans which surround Mount Meru .
Causeway (200m) link to temple symbolizes the rainbow bridge which links the earth and the heaven.

Links: Angkor, Angkor Wat, Preah Vihear, Cambodian Cultural Village