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Angkor Wat

For the band, see Angkor Wat (band). For the Yes song, see Union (Yes album).

Angkor Wat
អង្គរវត្ត
Front side of the main complex
Angkor Wat is located in Cambodia
Angkor Wat
Location in Cambodia
LocationSiem Reap, Cambodia
Coordinates13°24′45″N 103°52′0″E / 13.41250°N 103.86667°E / 13.41250; 103.86667
Altitude65 m (213 ft)
History
BuilderStarted by Suryavarman II Completed by Jayavarman VII
Founded1150[1]
CulturesKhmer Empire
Architecture
Architectural stylesKhmer (Angkor Wat style)
Official nameAngkor
TypeCultural
Criteriai, ii, iii, iv
Designated1992 (16th session)
Reference no.668
RegionAsia and the Pacific
This article contains Khmer text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Khmer script.
This article contains Indic text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks or boxes, misplaced vowels or missing conjuncts instead of Indic text.

Angkor Wat (/ˌæŋkɔːr ˈwɒt/; Khmer: អង្គរវត្ត, "City/Capital of Temples") is a Hindu-Buddhist temple complex in Cambodia, located on a site measuring 162.6 hectares (1,626,000 m2; 402 acres). It resides within the ancient Khmer capital city of Angkor. Guinness World Records considers it as the largest religious structure in the world.[2] Originally constructed as a Hindu temple dedicated to the god Vishnu for the Khmer Empire by King Suryavarman II during the 12th century, it was gradually transformed into a Buddhist temple towards the end of the century; as such, it is also described as a "Hindu-Buddhist" temple.[3][4]

Angkor Wat was built at the behest of the Khmer king Suryavarman II[5] in the early 12th century in Yaśodharapura (Khmer: យសោធរបុរៈ, present-day Angkor), the capital of the Khmer Empire, as his state temple and eventual mausoleum. Angkor Wat combines two basic plans of Khmer temple architecture: the temple-mountain and the later galleried temple. It is designed to represent Mount Meru, home of the devas in Hindu mythology: within a moat more than 5 kilometres (3 mi) long[6] and an outer wall 3.6 kilometres (2.2 mi) long are three rectangular galleries, each raised above the next. At the centre of the temple stands a quincunx of towers. Unlike most Angkorian temples, Angkor Wat is oriented to the west; scholars are divided as to the significance of this. The temple is admired for the grandeur and harmony of the architecture, its extensive bas-reliefs, and for the numerous devatas adorning its walls. The modern name Angkor Wat, alternatively Nokor Wat,[7] means "Temple City" or "City of Temples" in Khmer. Angkor (អង្គរ ângkôr), meaning "city" or "capital city", is a vernacular form of the word nokor (នគរ nôkôr), which comes from the Sanskrit/Pali word nagara (Devanāgarī: नगर).[8] Wat (វត្ត vôtt) is the word for "temple grounds", also derived from Sanskrit/Pali vāṭa (Devanāgarī: वाट), meaning "enclosure".[9]

The original name of the temple was Vrah Viṣṇuloka or Parama Viṣṇuloka meaning "the sacred dwelling of Vishnu".[10][11]

  1. ^ Miksic, John; Yian, Goh (14 October 2016). Ancient Southeast Asia. Routledge. p. 378. ISBN 9781317279044. Archived from the original on 11 April 2023. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
  2. ^ "Largest religious structure". Guinness World Records. Archived from the original on 16 October 2021. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  3. ^ Atlas of the World's Religions. Oxford university press. p. 93.
  4. ^ Ashley M. Richter (8 September 2009). "Recycling Monuments: The Hinduism/Buddhism Switch at Angkor". CyArk. Archived from the original on 30 June 2019. Retrieved 7 June 2015.
  5. ^ Higham, C. (2014). Early Mainland Southeast Asia. Bangkok: River Books Co., Ltd. pp. 372, 378–379. ISBN 978-616-7339-44-3.
  6. ^ Jarus, Owen (5 April 2018). "Angkor Wat: History of Ancient Temple". Live Science. Purch. Archived from the original on 10 June 2023. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  7. ^ Khmer dictionary adopted from Khmer dictionary of Buddhist institute of Cambodia, p. 1424, pub. 2007
  8. ^ Chuon Nath Khmer Dictionary (1966, Buddhist Institute, Phnom Penh)
  9. ^ Cambodian-English Dictionary by Robert K. Headley, Kylin Chhor, Lam Kheng Lim, Lim Hak Kheang, and Chen Chun (1977, Catholic University Press)
  10. ^ Falser, Michael (16 December 2019). Angkor Wat – A Transcultural History of Heritage: Volume 1: Angkor in France. From Plaster Casts to Exhibition Pavilions. Volume 2: Angkor in Cambodia. From Jungle Find to Global Icon. Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. p. 12. ISBN 978-3-11-033584-2. Archived from the original on 31 October 2023. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
  11. ^ "Angkor Wat". www.apsaraauthority.gov.kh. Archived from the original on 24 October 2021. Retrieved 7 February 2021.