Angkor Wat - Part 1

Today we headed off to visit the temples of Angkor.

 

My sweet baby at breakfast

Our first stop was Angkor Wat. 

Angkor Wat, meaning "Temple City" or "City of Temples" in Khmer, is the largest Buddist temple complex and the largest religious monument in the world. The temple was built by the Tamil king Suryavarman II in the early 12th century, as his state temple and eventual mausoleum. Breaking from the Shaivism tradition of previous kings, Angkor Wat was instead dedicated to Vishnu. As the best-preserved temple at the site, it is the only one to have remained a significant religious center since its foundation – first Hindu, then Buddhist.

It is designed to represent Mount Meru, home of the devas in Hindu mythology: within a moat and an outer wall 2.2 miles long are three rectangular galleries, each raised above the next.  Unlike most Angkorian temples, Angkor Wat is oriented to the west, but the reasoning and significance is unknown. The temple is admired for the grandeur and harmony of the architecture, its extensive bas-reliefs, and for the numerous devatas on its walls.

 One of the large bas-reliefs in the temple depicting a war scene.

 "The name of this cruciform gallery - Preah Poan or the 'Thousand Buddhas' - dates from the Middle Period when the prestige of Angkor Wat spread across Buddhist Asia.  Over the course of time the faithful erected here a great number of Buddha statues in stone, wood or metal, whence the gallery's name.  Some of the statues are still in place, others are exhibited or kept in conservation storehouses.  Others have been lost forever.  The majority of Angkor Wat's 41 inscriptions dating from the Middle Period are found here, on the stone pillars of Preah Poan.  Largely in Khmer, sometimes including Pali phrases, they date primarily from the 16th to the 18th centuries and record pious works - such as the liberation of indentured servants - performed at the temple by pilgrims, including members of the royal family.