![]() 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. The temple has become a symbol of Cambodia, and is a source of great pride for the country's people. 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 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.Īngkor Wat required considerable restoration in the 20th century, mainly the removal of accumulated earth and vegetation. 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 Cambodian flag includes a depiction of Angkor Wat. 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. 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. ![]() However, the temple was popularised in the West only in the mid-19th century on the publication of Henri Mouhot's travel notes. It has towers and decoration and all the refinements which the human genius can conceive of". 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. 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. Around this time the temple was known as Preah Pisnulok, after the posthumous title of Suryavarman. Its moat also provided some protection from encroachment by the jungle. Angkor Wat is unusual among the Angkor temples in that although it was somewhat neglected after the 16th century it was never completely abandoned. In the 14th or 15th century the temple was converted to Theravada Buddhist use, which continues to the present day. As well as for the grandeur and harmony of the architecture, the temple is admired for its extensive bas-reliefs and for the numerous devatas adorning its walls.Īccording to Guinness World Records, it is the largest religious structure in the world.Īn 1866 photograph of Angkor Wat by Emile Gsell. Unlike most Angkorian temples, Angkor Wat is oriented to the west scholars are divided as to the significance of this. At the centre of the temple stands a quincunx of towers. It is designed to represent Mount Meru, home of the gods in Hindu mythology: within a moat and an outer wall 3.6 km (2.2 miles) long are three rectangular galleries, each raised above the next. Angkor Wat combines two basic plans of Khmer temple architecture: the temple mountain and the later galleried temples. It has become a symbol of Cambodia, appearing on its national flag, and it is the country's prime attraction for visitors. The temple is the epitome of the high classical style of Khmer architecture. The largest and best-preserved temple at the site, it is the only one to have remained a significant religious centre-first Hindu, then Buddhist-since its foundation. The main entrance to the temple proper, seen from the eastern end of the Naga causewayĪngkor Wat (or Angkor Vat) is a temple at Angkor, Cambodia, built for king Suryavarman II in the early 12th century as his state temple and capital city.
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