Angkor Wat Construction
Angkor Wat, the vast temple complex in present-day Cambodia, was begun in the early twelfth century under the Khmer king Suryavarman II, who came to the throne in about 1113. It is often described as the largest religious monument in the world, and it remains a powerful symbol of Cambodia, appearing on the national flag. Its scale, its architectural harmony, and its extensive stone reliefs make it one of the great achievements of premodern Asia.
The temple grew out of the Khmer Empire, which dominated much of mainland Southeast Asia from its capital region near modern Siem Reap. Earlier kings had built grand temple-mountains to link royal authority with the divine order, and Suryavarman II inherited this tradition. He took power after a period of rivalry and conflict, and he sought to consolidate his rule through military campaigns and monumental building. Unlike many earlier Khmer state temples, which were dedicated to Shiva, Angkor Wat was dedicated to Vishnu, reflecting a growing prominence of Vaishnava devotion at court.
The precise start date is not recorded directly, and the commonly cited figure of about thirty years for construction is an estimate based on the king's reign and the style of the work. The temple was built mostly of sandstone, much of it quarried in the Kulen hills and likely transported by river and canal, with laterite used for hidden structural parts. Its design is a representation of Mount Meru, the mythical home of the gods: five central towers rise above concentric galleries, surrounded by a rectangular moat. Long bas-relief panels depict scenes from the Hindu epics, the churning of the ocean of milk, and royal processions and battles. Many scholars also think the temple served as Suryavarman's funerary monument, and its main entrance faces west, an orientation associated with Vishnu and with death.
After the king's death, the Khmer Empire went through upheaval, including a devastating Cham invasion in 1177. Under Jayavarman VII the state shifted toward Mahayana Buddhism, and later Theravada Buddhism became dominant. Angkor Wat was gradually converted to Buddhist use rather than abandoned, which helps explain its remarkable preservation. Even as the center of Khmer power moved south after the fifteenth century, monks continued to maintain it.
European accounts of the site from the sixteenth century onward, and especially nineteenth-century publications, brought it wide attention in the West, though it was never truly "lost" to local people. Restoration work during the French colonial period and again after decades of conflict has helped preserve it. UNESCO designated the Angkor area a World Heritage Site in 1992, and the temple today draws millions of visitors.