Angkor Wat, Cambodia

 This complex of ancient temples (geographically as large as Paris) is probably the most important archeological site in South East Asia. It is located at Angkor in Cambodia to 5.5 kilometers of the modern town of Siem Reap. It dates from XII century (although the construction lasted almost 4 centuries) and the main temple is very well conserved and it is still today a religious center. The temple was constructed in the jungle by order from the king Suryavarman as the main temple of the country and its capital city.

This temple is one of the most beautiful and suggestive places on the planet. It is a true feat of the architecture. The temple is a representation of Mount Meru (the house of gods of the Hinduism). The temple has several towers; there are many courtyards and an endless number of bas-reliefs ornament the walls of its rooms. The architectural style of the temple is known as Khmer Architecture, this style used sandstone and bricks to create the intricate designs that adorn this wonderful temple.

The temple is composed by concentric galleries; Angkor Wat (wat means temple) has three main features: the outer enclosure that surrounded the complex, which is composed by a great outer wall of 1024 x 802 meters and 4.5 meters height and a moat of 190 meters wide, which symbolizes the ranges of mountains and the ocean respectively.

The central structure is composed by several rectangular galleries rising to a central tower, which is over a terrace higher than the city. The temple itself has quincunx (arrangement of five units) towers which represents the peaks of the mountains. This part of the temple has many statues of Buddha and inscriptions of old pilgrims.

The decoration is the other and perhaps the most representative characteristic of the temple. It is composed mainly by bas-reliefs friezes, which represent episodes from the Hindu epics the Ramyana and the Mahabharata; bas-reliefs show also battle scenes like the Battle of Kurukshetra amongst the Kaurava and Pandava clans as well as the “Churning of the Sea of Milk”, the “37 heavens” and many other pictures of the Hindu mythology.

Angkor Wat is dedicated to Vishnu (the supreme god of the Hinduism). According to archeologists like Charles Higham, the sanctuary was built also to serve as a funerary temple for the remains of Suryavarman. The evidence that support this theory is in the bas-reliefs and a funerary jar which was found in the central tower.