Buddhism Dictionary: Angkor Wat

Temple complex in Cambodia located over 190 miles to the north-west of Phnom Penh and less than 1 mile south of the royal town of Angkor Thom. Founded by Jayavarman VII, the Temple was dedicated to the Hindu god Viṣṇu by king Suryavarman II, who reigned between 1131 and 1150 ce. The name Angkor comes from the Sanskrit word nagara, meaning ‘town’. The temple was constructed over a period of 30 years, and illustrates some of the most beautiful examples of Khmer and Hindu art. The temple is a huge pyramid structure covering an area of about 200 acres and surrounded by a vast moat. Along the causeway leading to the enormous entrance gate are balustrades shaped as giant serpents, which are believed to represent emblems of cosmic fertility. Angkor Wat consists of a towering complex of terraces and small buildings that are arranged in a series of three diminishing storeys and surmounted by five towers believed to represent the five peaks of Mt. Meru, the home of the gods and centre of the Hindu universe. The roofed and unroofed structures are covered with bands of finely carved stone sculptures. The walls are covered with carved reliefs that illustrate Hindu mythology, principally scenes relating to the god Viṣṇu. The mass of bas-relief carving is of the highest quality and constitutes the longest continuous bas-relief in the world. At the start of the 13th century, the Angkor and the Khmer empire started to decline and Angkor Wat was turned into a Buddhist temple. Eventually the area, covered in thick jungles, became isolated from the rest of the country. Angkor Wat was then rediscovered by Western scholars in 1860 and a restoration programme begun. Very little damage has been done to the complex as a result of the bloody civil war that terrorized Cambodia in the second half of the 20th century, though many Buddhist monks who lived in the Angkor temples were massacred. Today, archaeologists from all over the world are actively involved in the restoration process of the temples, although theft of artefacts from the extensive site for sale on the black market is a continuing problem.