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Craig November 29th, 2007

After decades of war, genocide and famine, tourist arrivals in Cambodia have been steadily increasing since the late 1990s. Tourism was Cambodia’s fastest growing industry, with arrivals increasing from 219,000 in 1997 to 1,700,000 in 2006 and in the first nine months of 2007 there’s been a further increase of 19%.  One of the jewels of Cambodia is Angkor Wat, located just outside the town of Siem Reap. While tourist numbers for Cambodia as a whole grew by 375% between 1999 and 2005, Siem Reap saw a 1600% increase in visitors.

Angkor Wat is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is said to be the largest religious structure in the world. Angkor Wat is a symbol of Cambodia, depicted on the national flag and is a prime example of Khmer architecture. Constructed for King Suryavarman II in the early 12th century, it served as his state temple dedicated to the Hindu deity Vishnu.

The term Angkor is a derivation of the Sanskrit work “nagara” meaning city. It is conventionally applied to the region of Cambodia that served as the seat of the Khmer empire, an area that stretched into modern day Thailand. The empire is thought to have been created in 802 CE when Jayavarman II declared himself the “universal monarch” and “god-king” of Cambodia. It’s been speculated that prior to this time, Cambodia was a vassal state of Java (present day Indonesia) and Jayavarman II’s declaration brought about full independence for Cambodia. In 2007 an international team of researchers using satellite photographs and other modern techniques concluded that Angkor had been the largest preindustrial city in the world with an urban sprawl of 1,150 square miles. The closest rival to Angkor, the Mayan city of Tikal in Guatemala, was roughly 50 square miles in total size. The Khmer empire flourished until 1431 when Thai invaders sacked the city and the Khmer’s fled southwards to what is now Phnom Penh.

Suryavarman II reigned from 1113 to 1150. His reign’s monumental achievements in architecture, numerous military campaigns and restoration of strong government have led historians to rank Suryavarman as one of the empire’s greatest kings. Suryavarman grew up in Lopburi, Thailand during a time when the Khmer empire was weakening.  During his decades in power, the king reunited the empire, reversing many of the benign policies of his predecessor, historians believe. Vassals paid him tribute. In the west and north, his soldiers expanded the borders to cover new parts of present-day Thailand, Laos and Malaysia.

Angkor Wat combines two basic plans of Khmer temple architecture: the temple mountain and the later galleried temples. It is designed to represent Mount Meru, home of the gods in Hindu mythology: within a moat and an outer wall 3.6 km (2.2 miles) 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.

In the 14th or 15th century the temple was converted to Theravada Buddhist use, which continues to the present day. Angkor Wat is unusual among the Angkor temples in that although it was somewhat neglected after the 16th century it was never completely abandoned. Its moat also provided some protection from encroachment by the jungle. Around this time the temple was known as Preah Pisnulok, after the posthumous title of Suryavarman. The modern name, in use by the 16th century, means “City Temple”.

Unlike most Khmer temples, Angkor Wat is oriented to the west rather than the east. This has led many to conclude that Suryavarman intended it to serve as his funerary temple^. Further evidence for this view is provided by the bas-reliefs, which proceed in a counter-clockwise direction—prasavya in Hindu terminology—as this is the reverse of the normal order.

The outer wall encloses a space of 820,000 square metres (203 acres), which besides the temple proper was originally occupied by the city and, to the north of the temple, the royal palace. Like all secular buildings of Angkor, these were built of perishable materials rather than of stone, so nothing remains of them except the outlines of some of the streets. Most of the area is now covered by forest. A 350 m causeway connects the western gopura to the temple proper, with naga balustrades and six sets of steps leading down to the city on either side. Each side also features a library with entrances at each cardinal point, in front of the third set of stairs from the entrance, and a pond between the library and the temple itself. The ponds are later additions to the design, as is the cruciform terrace guarded by lions connecting the causeway to the central structure.

A visit to Angkor Wat is a must for anyone in the region. Words cannot fully express the wonder that is Angkor Wat. I’ll leave you with a couple more pictures and stay tuned for some future posts showing some of the other temples and ruins in the area.

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Tags: Angkor, Cambodia, Photoessay, Photos

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