Angkor in brief
Angkor lies near the town of Siem Reap in northwestern Cambodia. From about 802 CE, when the king Jayavarman II proclaimed a new kingdom, until the 15th century, Khmer kings built a succession of capitals and temples across a plain of about 1,000 square kilometres. The remains include Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom and the Bayon, and hundreds of other temples. UNESCO listed Angkor in 1992.
Angkor Wat
Angkor Wat was built in the early 12th century by King Suryavarman II (reigned about 1113 to 1150) as a temple for the Hindu god Vishnu, and probably also as his own funeral monument. It is a stepped temple mountain with five towers, symbolising Mount Meru, the home of the gods, surrounded by a moat about 190 metres wide. It is the largest religious monument in the world. Its walls are carved with kilometres of reliefs showing scenes from Hindu epics, historical battles, and the heavens and hells. It later became a Buddhist temple, and has been in use ever since, and it appears on the Cambodian flag.
Angkor Thom and the Bayon
King Jayavarman VII (reigned about 1181 to 1218) built a new walled capital, Angkor Thom, and in its centre the Bayon, a Buddhist temple with towers carved with more than 200 huge smiling faces. He also built Ta Prohm, where trees grow over the ruins, and many hospitals, roads and rest houses.
A city of water
The Khmer built a large system of reservoirs (barays), canals and dykes to control the monsoon rains and water the rice fields. The West Baray is about 8 kilometres long. Laser scanning (lidar) from the air, which sees through the forest, was used from 2012 and revealed that the city was much bigger than thought, with streets, ponds and house mounds spread over large areas, including a lost city on the Kulen plateau. Some researchers estimate that the water system could have supported 750,000 to a million people, though the real population is debated.
Decline
The empire weakened from the 13th century. Traditionally, the Thai kingdom of Ayutthaya captured Angkor in 1431, and the court moved south to the Phnom Penh area. Studies of tree rings show severe droughts in the 14th and 15th centuries, alternating with heavy monsoons, which may have damaged the water system. Trade moved to the coast. Angkor Wat itself was never abandoned.
Rediscovery
The French naturalist Henri Mouhot visited in 1860, and his writings made Angkor famous in Europe. The ruins were studied and restored by the French school of the Far East, and since the 1990s by international teams.
Visiting
Angkor Archaeological Park is among the major sites of Southeast Asia. A pass is needed, valid for one, three or seven days. Sunrise over Angkor Wat is very popular. See also Machu Picchu.
Sources
- Coe, M. D. and Evans, D. (2018). Angkor and the Khmer Civilization. Thames and Hudson.
- Evans, D. and others (2013). Uncovering archaeological landscapes at Angkor using lidar. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 110: 12595 to 12600.
- Buckley, B. M. and others (2010). Climate as a contributing factor in the demise of Angkor, Cambodia. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 107: 6748 to 6752.
- UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Angkor.