Why Was Angkor Wat Built?
For centuries, the city of Angkor was unknown to the world except for the people who lived nearby ... boding the question "Why was Angkor Wat built?" It was, at one time, a huge city and home to up to 750,000 people. Its core complex—nearly 120 square miles—housed hundreds of temples, yet was hidden in the jungle and unseen by most of the world. The city that surrounded it was larger still, but was completely overtaken by the plant life that grew on its timbers. The temple structures survived because they were made of stone, not wood.
Angkor Wat is considered to be the finest remaining example of Khmer architecture. Some people include it in the seven wonders of the world. It is an important part of Cambodian culture, even appearing on their flag. The structure is imposingly large; one of its towers reaches nearly 700 feet tall. Angkor Wat covers an area of 500 acres, and is surrounded by a moat that is 656 wide and travels over three miles around the perimeter of the temple. The walls are covered with relief; towers and pillars are decorated with intricately carved lotus blossoms; carvings of people and deity adorn every structure. The overall structure resembles Mount Meru, home of the Hindu gods.
Why Was Angkor Wat Built?
Angkor Wat is an ancient site, built nine centuries ago. (Sometimes, people refer to the entire temple area, home to nearly 1000 temples, as Angkor Wat, but Angkor Wat is one temple among the many.)
The people who built the complex, the Khmer civilization, built Angkor Wat as both a tomb and a monument to their leader, Suryavarman II, in advance of his death - answering the question of why was Angkor Wat built.
The site was dedicated to Vishnu, the chief Hindu god who was thought to protect the universe. By affiliating himself with Vishnu, the king was able to assert greater authority over the governed. After all, to anger the king was to anger one of the chief gods of Hinduism.
The temple was built when the Khmer Empire was at its zenith, with authority over Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, and part of Thailand. Angkor Wat served as the king’s temple and as his capitol, and many people made pilgrimages to the Angkor complex to worship at Angkor Wat. Sometime in the fourteenth or fifteenth century, the royal family converted from Hinduism to Buddhism, but the Hindu influence is still evident through the Angkor Wat complex.
When the Khmer Empire began its decline in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, the people left the city and the temple. The area was subject to frequent invasions from the Thais, and a civilization in decline cannot effectively defend itself. The Khmer people moved their capitol to Phnom Penh, which remains the capitol of Cambodia to this day.
Over time, the jungle reclaimed the Angkor complex. The palaces and homes of the city surrounding the temple complex were made of wood, so they did not survive the jungle’s reclamation. However, the temple complex, including Angkor Wat, was made of stone, and thus stands to this day.
After the Khmer left Angkor Wat, Buddhist monks remained in the area and cared for the structures. A Khmer king returned to the area late in the sixteenth century briefly. Europeans “discovered” the Angkor Wat when the French surveyed the new area of their colonization. To their credit, the French have spent vast amounts of time and money restoring and repairing Angkor Wat. Unfortunately, much of the tourist money has not reached the people of Cambodia.
Angkor Wat is an active religious site today, not just a ruin of a civilization from the past. Buddhist monks and nuns worship at the temple even now. It is also a top international tourist site, drawing thousands of visitors every year. One of the highlights of a trip to Angkor Wat is watching the sunset from the top of the temple, well above the treetops. It makes a memorable trip to Angkor Wat truly unforgettable.