Angkor Wat

Angkor Wat was built in the early 12th c. by King Suryavarman II as a Vishnu state temple, then gradually reimagined as a Buddhist sanctuary, mirroring Cambodia’s shifting sacred life. A vast moat frames a strict cosmic diagram: five lotus towers rising like Mount Meru, galleries aligned to sun and season, and bas-reliefs that unfold the Mahabharata and other epics in disciplined Khmer stone. Part imperial proclamation, part living shrine, it endures as the country’s most resonant image of devotion and memory.