45 Mind-Blowing Angkor Wat Facts: Revealing Facts About The Buddhist Temple

Angkor Wat, also known as 'Temple City' or 'City of Temples', is located in northwest Cambodia.

This complex is today known as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is a popular tourist attraction in Cambodia. It serves as a national emblem for the Cambodian government and a holy site for Cambodian Buddhism.

Angkor Wat is the world's biggest religious complex by land area, covering 401.7 ac(162.6 ha), or about three times the size of the Vatican City. A quincunx of four towers surrounds a center spire that rises to a height of 213 ft(65 m) above the ground at the temple's heart.

The temple is divided into three rectangular galleries, each of which is elevated over the one before it. It is surrounded by a 2.2 mi(3.6 km) long outer wall and a 3 mi(5 km) long moat.

The lofty towers styled like lotus buds, the cruciform terrace at the front of the central building, and the steep stairs are all known features of Angkor Wat.

The temple was built on a terrace that rose above the ancient city of Angkor. Angkor Wat's principal temple is ringed by a moat that defended the region from unexpected invaders.

Angkor Wat was intermittently ignored after the 16th century, yet unlike many other ancient temples in the area and overseas, it was never fully abandoned. One explanation for this might be that the temple served as a barrier between humans and the wild.

Angkor Wat became known to the Western world when one of the earliest Western explorers, Portugal's António da Madalena, saw the temple in 1586, although it was never really rediscovered. The Kingdom of Cambodia had already crumbled by the time Madalena arrived.

Another European visit sparked a flurry of excursions to Cambodia. Angkor Wat has been the subject of much inquiry since then.

Expeditions from many nations have sought to unlock the mysteries of the main temple, and millions of visitors from across the world have gone to Cambodia. As a result, Angkor Wat continues to astonish and inspire awe.

Angkor Wat's History

Let's look at some interesting Angkor history facts!

• Angkor Wat temple complex is located 3.4 mi(5.5 km) north of Siem Reap, the contemporary capital of Cambodia. It is southeast of Baphuon, the former capital of Cambodia.
• It is the southernmost of Angkor's principal historic site, located in a region of Cambodia with an important collection of ancient Angkorian temples.
• According to Hindu mythology, Indra ordered the building of Angkor Wat as a Hindu temple for his son, Precha Ket Mealea.
• Some thought that the temple was built in a single night by a heavenly architect, according to 13th-century Chinese explorer, Zhou Daguan.
• During the reign of Suryavarman II, the temple was designed and built for the first time in the first portion of the 12th century as a funerary temple.
• Hinduism was the source of all the ancient religious themes present in the temple grounds of the Angkor complex.
• Angkor Wat was consecrated to God Vishnu, breaking with the Shaiva custom of past rulers. It served as the king's state temple as well as the capital city.
• The temple's original name is unclear since neither the foundation stela nor any contemporaneous inscriptions relating to it have been discovered. It may have been called 'Varah Vishnu-Lok' after the reigning god.
• Work seemed to have stopped soon after King Suryavarman II's death, leaving part of the central towers' ornamentation incomplete.
• The terms 'Vrah Viuloka' and 'Parama Viuloka' literally mean, 'The king who has gone to the supreme world of Vishnu', and they are used to honor Suryavarman II's memory and splendor.
• Angkor was besieged by the Chams, the Khmer's traditional adversaries, in 1177, around 27 years after Suryavarman II's death.
• Following that, a new monarch, King Jayavarman VII, reestablished the empire by establishing a new city and state temple(Angkor Thom and Bayon temple, respectively), a few kilometers north, and devoted it to Buddhism, since the king thought the Hindu gods had failed him.
• As a result, Angkor Wat was progressively changed into a Buddhist site, with Buddhist art replacing numerous Hindu monuments that carry symbolic values.
• Angkor Wat eventually transitioned from a Hindu center of devotion for God Vishnu to a sacred dwelling for Buddhism by the end of the 12th century, a process that continues to this day.
• Angkor Wat is unique among the Angkor temples of Angkor Thom in that it was never totally abandoned, despite being neglected after the 16th century.
• Cambodia declared independence from France on November 9, 1953, and has ruled over Angkor Wat ever since.
• It is possible to conclude that this particular temple of Angkor Wat was crucial in the establishment of the contemporary and eventually globalized idea of constructed cultural heritage from the colonial era forward until the site's designation as UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1992.

Angkor Wat Architectural Style

Angkor Wat carries extremely high artistic significance and is a unique blend of the temple mountain(the usual design for the empire's imperial temples) and the later layout of concentric galleries. The majority was initially inspired by Hindu religious beliefs.

• The architecture of Angkor Wat shows that some aspects of the temple had a heavenly significance.
• The east-west orientation of the temple, as well as lines of sight from terraces inside the temple, indicate particular towers to be at the exact site of the dawn on a solstice.
• The temple is a portrayal of Mount Meru, according to Hindu mythology, the abode of the gods: the center quincunx of five towers represents the mountain's five summits, while the outer walls and moat of Angkor represent the neighboring mountain ranges and ocean. The temple's higher levels became more restricted, with the laity only allowing access to the lowest level.
• The main tower of the Angkor Wat temple is aligned with the rising light of the spring equinox.
• Angkor Wat, unlike other Khmer temples of the empire, is oriented west rather than east.
• Many people, like Maurice Glaize and George Coedès, believe Suryavarman of Khmer Empire wanted it to be his last resting place.
• The bas-relief, which moves in a counter-clock direction(prasavya in Hindu terminology), as this is the opposite of the typical sequence, gives more support for this viewpoint. During Brahminic funeral ceremonies, rituals were performed in reverse order.
• Angkor Wat is the most famous example of the Angkor Wat style of Khmer Empire architecture, after which it was named.
• By the 12th century, Khmer builders had mastered the use of sandstone as the primary construction material(rather than brick or laterite).
• The exterior temple walls and concealed structural components are made of laterite, whereas the majority of the exposed portions of Angkor are made of sandstone blocks.
• Although slaked lime or natural resins have been proposed, the binding agent utilized to unite the blocks has yet to be found.
• The ogival(redented towers fashioned like lotus buds), half-galleries to enlarge passages, axial galleries linking enclosures, and the cruciform terraces that occur along the temple's main axis are all architectural aspects that define the style.
• Devatas(or apsaras) are common ornamental features, as are bas-reliefs, elaborate garlands, and narrative scenarios on pediments of the temples.
• Angkor Wat's statues are considered conservative since they are more immobile and less elegant than previous art.
• Other parts of the design, such as gilded stucco on the towers, gilding on certain figures on the bas-reliefs, and wood ceiling panels and doors, have been lost by theft and passage of time.

The Significance Of Angkor Wat

The Angkor Wat complex is significant for several reasons. They are:

• It was the first temple dedicated to Lord Vishnu built by the Khmer people, signaling a departure from their ancient beliefs.
• The temple was constructed to depict Mount Meru, a revered Hindu spot where the deity Brahma resides with the Devas and has nine towers that reach over 196 ft(60 m) in height. The main temple is a three-level pyramid with a moat encircling it.
• The fact that Angkor Wat exactly coincides with the constellation Draco, as it appeared in the sky around the spring equinox of the year 10,500 BC, is perhaps its most stunning feature.
• It is indisputable that Angkor Wat was built to blend in with the surrounding environment of the Angkor period; many speculate on the importance of this and how it could have been done in a time before modern technology.
• The temple's incredible degree of intricacy reveals that its creators aspired to achieve a deeper connection with the cosmos by using what they considered to be divine numerology.
• Angkor Wat was not designed to satisfy the vanity of a tyrant but rather to aid people in making a palpable relationship with god. Based on ancient astrological findings, each measurement is linked to the next, and it has even been suggested that Angkor Wat is a kind of very complex calendar or cosmic clock.

The Empire That Constructed Angkor Wat

The Khmer Empire, which constructed Angkor Wat and other magnificent temples near Siem Reap, ruled much of Southeast Asia at its peak.

• The Khmers governed everything from what is now Myanmar in the west, to a tiny strip of territory along the Vietnamese coast of the Pacific Ocean in the east.
• Between the years 802 and 1431 CE, they ruled for 600 years. Hundreds of gorgeous, beautifully carved temples were erected during this period by the Khmers.
• The majority started as Hindu temples, but many have since been converted to Buddhist structures. As shown by diverse sculptures and statues constructed at different historical periods, people shifted back and forth between the two religions many times.
• The most magnificent and intricate of these temples is indeed the Angkor Wat. The term 'Temple City' or 'Capital City Temple' is the meaning of its name in the Khmer language.
• The reign of the Khmer Empire was a watershed moment in Southeast Asia's cultural, religious, and artistic growth.
• All empires, however, eventually crumbled. Drought and intrusions from neighboring peoples, notably Siam, eventually doomed the Khmer Empire.
• The name 'Siem Reap', for the city closest to Angkor Wat, meaning 'Siam is conquered', is ironic. The people of Siam would conquer the Khmer Empire, in the end.
• The beautiful structures, on the other hand, are still standing today, testaments to the Khmers' creativity, engineering, and military skill.