Angkor Wat

[ edit ] Angkor Wat was commissioned by the Khmer king Suryavarman II (ruled 1113– c. 1150 ) in the early 12th century in Yaśodharapura (present-day Angkor), the capital of the Khmer Empire . The construction of the temple commenced in 1122 CE and was completed in 1150 CE. The temple complex was constructed on the suggestion of Divākarapaṇḍita (1040– c. 1120 ). The temple was dedicated to Hindu god Vishnu and the original religious motifs were derived from Hinduism . It was built as the king's state temple in the capital city. Historians have often thought that Angkor Wat served as a “temple-city,” but modern analyses of the site suggest that it housed a population of between 3,000 and 4,300 residents. As there are no foundation stela or any contemporary inscriptions referring to the temple's name that have been found, its original name is unknown and it may have been known as Vrah Viṣṇuloka after the presiding deity. The work on the temple ceased after the king's death, leaving some of the bas-relief decoration unfinished.

[ edit ] Main article: Angkor Wat Equinox Plan of Angkor Wat The general layout of Angkor Wat with its central structure in the middle A detailed plan of the central structure Angkor Wat is a unique combination of the temple mountain (the standard design for the empire's state temples) and the later plan of concentric galleries , most of which were originally derived from religious beliefs of Hinduism. Angkor Wat also served a practical purpose for the Khmer Empire as well, with its dam and resulting moats serving as both connections to the Angkor water network and a means of storing water between the monsoon and dry seasons of the region. The construction of Angkor Wat suggests that there was a celestial significance with certain features of the temple. This is observed in the temple's east–west orientation, and lines of sight from terraces within the temple that show specific towers to be at the precise location of the solstice at sunrise. The Angkor Wat temple's main tower aligns with the morning sun of the spring equinox . The temple is a representation of Mount Meru , the home of the gods according to Hindu mythology : the central quincunx of towers symbolise the five peaks of the mountain, and the walls and moat symbolise the surrounding mountain ranges and ocean. Access to the upper areas of the temple was progressively more exclusive, with the laity being admitted only to the lowest level. An aerial view of Angkor Wat Unlike most Khmer temples, Angkor Wat is oriented to the west rather than the east. This has led scholars including Maurice Glaize and George Coedès to hypothesize that Suryavarman intended it to serve as his funerary temple. Further evidence for this view is provided by the bas-reliefs , which proceed in a counter-clockwise direction— prasavya in Hindu terminology—as this is the reverse of the normal order. Rituals take place in reverse order during Brahminic funeral services. Archaeologist Charles Higham also describes a container that may have been a funerary jar that was recovered from the central tower. Freeman and Jacques, however, note that several other temples of Angkor depart from the typical eastern orientation, and suggest that

[ edit ] By the 12th century, Khmer architects had become skilled and confident in the use of sandstone rather than brick or laterite as the main building material. Using SAP2000 , a popular and effective structural analysis tool, graywacke , a durable sandstone usually found in or near water, has been found to make up much of the structures. Recent LIDAR scans have also revealed that the temple was built upon roughly 3 million cubic meters of fill. Most of the visible areas are made of Kulen sandstone blocks, while laterite was used for the outer wall and 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. When doing the base construction, they would focus on bedding plane orientation due to its high structural rigidity characteristics. The monument was made of five to ten million sandstone blocks with a maximum weight of 1.5 tons each. The sandstone was quarried and transported from Mount Kulen, a quarry approximately 40 km (25 mi) northeast. The route has been suggested to span 35 km (22 mi) along a canal towards Tonlé Sap lake, another 35 km (22 mi) crossing the lake, and finally 15 km (9 mi) against the current along Siem Reap River , making a total journey of 90 km (55 mi). In 2011, Etsuo Uchida and Ichita Shimoda of Waseda University in Tokyo discovered a shorter 35 km (22 mi) canal connecting Mount Kulen and Angkor Wat using satellite imagery and believe that the Khmer used this route instead. Through radiocarbon dating, evidence indicates that throughout Angkor Wat's occupation, it was regularly maintained with wooden architectural parts being replaced. Most of the surfaces, columns, lintels and roofs are carved with reliefs illustrating scenes from Indian literature including unicorns, griffins, winged dragons pulling chariots, as well as warriors following an elephant-mounted leader, and celestial dancing girls with elaborate hairstyles. Others depicted boats and other architectural structures. The gallery wall is decorated with almost 1,000 m 2 (11,000 sq ft) of bas reliefs. Holes on some of the Angkor walls indicate that they may have been decorated w