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History
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The initial design and construction
of the temple took place in
the first half of the 12th century,
during the reign of Suryavarman
II (ruled 1113–c. 1150).
Dedicated to Vishnu, it was
built as the king's state temple
and capital city. As neither
the foundation stela nor any
contemporary inscriptions referring
to the temple have been found,
its original name is unknown,
but it may have been known as
Vrah Vishnulok after the presiding
deity. It is located 5.5 km
north of the modern town of
Siem Reap, and a short distance
south and slightly east of the
previous capital, which was
centred on the Baphuon. Work
seems to have ended on the king's
death, with some of the bas-reliefs
unfinished. In 1177 Angkor was
sacked by the Chams, the traditional
enemies of the Khmer. Thereafter
the empire was restored by a
new king, Jayavarman VII, who
established a new capital and
state temple (Angkor Thom and
the Bayon respectively) a few
kilometres to the north.
In the 14th or 15th century
the temple was converted to
Theravada Buddhist use, which
continues to the present day.
Angkor Wat is unusual among
the Angkor temples in that although
it was somewhat neglected after
the 16th century it was never
completely abandoned. Its moat
also provided some protection
from encroachment by the jungle.
Around this time the temple
was known as Preah Pisnulok,
after the posthumous title of
Suryavarman. The modern name,
in use by the 16th century,
means "City Temple":
Angkor is a vernacular form
of the word nokor which comes
from the Sanskrit word nagara
(capital), while wat is the
Khmer word for temple.One of
the first Western visitors to
the temple was Antonio da Magdalena,
a Portuguese monk who visited
in 1586 and said that it "is
of such extraordinary construction
that it is not possible to describe
it with a pen, particularly
since it is like no other building
in the world. It has towers
and decoration and all the refinements
which the human genius can conceive
of". However, the temple
was popularised in the West
only in the mid-19th century
on the publication of Henri
Mouhot's travel notes. The French
explorer wrote of it:
One of these temples—a
rival to that of Solomon, and
erected by some ancient Michelangelo—might
take an honourable place beside
our most beautiful buildings.
It is grander than anything
left to us by Greece or Rome,
and presents a sad contrast
to the state of barbarism in
which the nation is now plunged.
Mouhot, like other early Western
visitors, was unable to believe
that the Khmers could have built
the temple, and mistakenly dated
it to around the same era as
Rome. The true history of Angkor
Wat was pieced together only
from stylistic and epigraphic
evidence accumulated during
the subsequent clearing and
restoration work carried out
across the whole Angkor site.
Angkor Wat required considerable
restoration in the 20th century,
mainly the removal of accumulated
earth and vegetation. Work was
interrupted by the civil war
and Khmer Rouge control of the
country during the 1970s and
1980s, but relatively little
damage was done during this
period other than the theft
and destruction of mostly post-Angkorian
statues.
The temple has become a symbol
of Cambodia, and is a source
of great national pride. A depiction
of Angkor Wat has been a part
of every Cambodian national
flag since the introduction
of the first version circa 1863—the
only building to appear on any
national flag. In January 2003
riots erupted in Phnom Penh
when a false rumour circulated
that a Thai soap opera actress
had claimed that Angkor Wat
belonged to Thailand.
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Style
Angkor Wat is the prime example of the
classical style of Khmer architecture—the
Angkor Wat style—to which it has given
its name. By the 12th century Khmer architects
had become more skilled and confident in
the use of sandstone (rather than brick
or laterite) as the main building material.
The Angkor Wat style was followed by that
of the Bayon period, in which quality was
often sacrificed to quantity. Other temples
in the style are Banteay Samré, Thommanon,
Chao Say Tevoda and the early temples of
Preah Pithu at Angkor; outside Angkor, Beng
Mealea and parts of Phanom Rung and Phimai.Angkor
Wat has drawn praise above all for the harmony
of its design, which has been compared to
the architecture of ancient Greece or Rome.
According to Maurice Glaize, a mid-20th-century
conservator of Angkor, the temple "attains
a classic perfection by the restrained monumentality
of its finely balanced elements and the
precise arrangement of its proportions.
It is a work of power, unity and style."Architecturally,
the elements characteristic of the style
include: the ogival, redented towers shaped
like lotus buds; half-galleries to broaden
passageways; axial galleries connecting
enclosures; and the cruciform terraces which
appear along the main axis of the temple.
Most of the visible areas are of sandstone
blocks, while laterite was used for the
outer wall and for hidden structural parts.
The binding agent used to join the blocks
is yet to be identified, although natural
resins or slaked lime have been suggested.
Other elements of the design have been destroyed
by looting and the passage of time, including
gilded stucco on the towers, gilding on
some figures on the bas-reliefs, and wooden
ceiling panels and doors. Typical decorative
elements are devatas (or apsaras), bas-reliefs,
and on pediments extensive garlands and
narrative scenes. Statuary is conservative,
being more static and less graceful than
earlier work.
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| TESTIMONIAL |
Neeta & Jatin Lodaya
Mumbai |
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"365 tours - their personalized
research and holiday logistics planning assisted us
in fulfilling our dream of a well packed "must
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| Angkor
Wat |
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| Hailed as one
of the supreme architectural triumphs of all time, Angkor
Wat is one of the greatest religious monuments of all
time. See how much you know about this fascinating complex |
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