Angkor Wat is the largest religious building in the world and one of the New Seven Wonders of the World.
Angkor Wat
It is reported that this is a temple built by the Khmer Empire, which ruled most of the Indochina Peninsula in the 12th century, to represent the heavenly world on the ground.
Its huge scale and delicate reliefs are the art of stone, which even modern architects admire. Plus Angkor Wat has 1,800 7-ton pillars, more than 260 stone-built rooms, surrounded by a huge artificial lake.
But such a place turned out to be built in the 12th century, which can be called the new seven wonders of the world... But Angkor Wat, of this magnitude, has been lost to world history for more than 500 years and was once thought to be just a legendary city.
Angkor Wat
Not only that, but it is said that at that time it was rumored that Angkor Wat was called a cursed city, and people who found it would inevitably die "urban weirdness".
In the 12th century, Angkor Wat, the capital of the Khmer Empire and royal palace of Southeast Asia, a large city with a population of 1 million, was buried in a dense forest, and where did the megaliths that make up the city come from?
In this article, let's take a look at the rumors about Angkor Wat.
It is said that Angkor Wat, built in the 12th century, is known again by the French biologist Henri Mouault. Henry Muo visited Cambodia in 1860 in order to explore. He surveyed the forest with the local guide, but when he reached some areas, the local guide refused to accompany him on the grounds that he absolutely could not enter.
Henry Moor
This is because of the legend of the ghost city located deep in the jungle, and this legend goes like this.
Hundreds of years ago, the clans dedicated to the serpent god founded a huge city, where there was a rebellion, when about 1 million people were killed, leaving only their souls and becoming the ghost city.
Therefore, if you go to that city, you will hear strange cries and screams from someone, and people who find the city will also suffer from inexplicable diseases and die. This rumor is a legend that has been passed down by Cambodia's aborigines for hundreds of years, so no one wants to go deep into the jungle.
Angkor Wat
But Henry Moort thought it was just a common quirk and paid an additional fee to the tour guide to continue exploring. That's when he witnessed an astonishing scene.
That is to discover the legendary ghost city. It is said that Henry Muo was amazed by the scene in front of him. Because it is made of huge stones and is second only to the city buildings.
Moreover, he could intuitively understand that this was Angkor Wat, which was recorded in the archives. So how did the Frenchman Henry Muo know about Angkor Wat?
Zhou Daguan
In fact, Angkor Wat has been recorded for a long time. In the 1280s, the Yuan Dynasty invaded the Khmer Empire in Cambodia. After that, in order to record Cambodia in detail, Yuan Dynasty trader Zhou Daguan was sent as an envoy. At that time, Zhou Da saw Angkor Wat and based on the scenes he saw, wrote the Records of Chenla Customs, which is the first record of Angkor Wat.
Moreover, its content was translated into French and its existence spread in the Western world. Therefore, Henry Muo also knew about Angkor Wat, and intuited that the ghost city found in the jungle was the Angkor Wat recorded in the book.
Henri Mouault, who returned to France, recorded the huge city he saw with detailed content and sketches, and left a book. Henry Muo's record of Angkor Wat..."It is comparable to King Solomon's temple, carved by a great sculptor like Michelangelo. It is more solemn than what the ancient Greeks and Romans built."
True La Customs
However, at that time, Europeans did not consider Cambodia to have a highly developed civilization and therefore did not believe the words of Henry Muo. Add to this the fact that Henry Mu'au died of malaria less than a year after returning to France, so no one has explained this.
But a few years later, French explorer and artist Louis de la Porte decided that Henry Muo's words seemed true, so he began to explore Cambodia, and finally the ghost city of Angkor Wat was resurfaced after more than 500 years.
But after the existence of Angkor Wat was revealed, the mystery expanded further. One of the most confusing questions is, how exactly did this huge city come about?
Angkor Wat
Angkor Wat is 1.5 kilometers long from east to west and 1.3 kilometers from north to south. Although there are no adhesives or auxiliary materials, only made with a combination, it is still so strong until today, about 1,000 years later.
But what's the strange thing here? As mentioned earlier, Angkor Wat was buried in the jungle and was known as the legendary city for 500 years. That is, there is no place around where you can carry stones. Angkor Wat was built with about 10 million stones... Although the number is surprising, there is a brick that weighs about 1.5 tons, so the question of what technique was used to move these stones at that time also increased.
Angkor Wat
But some studies have shown that in 2012 Angkor Wat was previously a city built on a huge canal. According to the published content, about 50 quarries were discovered in the area around Angkor Wat, and through the analysis of satellite photos, hundreds of canals and roads connecting quarries and monasteries were learned.
In a word, stones were carried by boat along the canal. In this regard, the research team said: "The secret of the ancient architects who were able to quickly build Angkor Wat lies in the canal, and the long-standing mystery associated with Angkor Wat has finally been solved. ”
As such, the mystery about how to move huge stones though scientifically proven ... But there is actually a mystery that cannot be solved. That's the one who disappeared.
Jayavarman II
According to records, the population of Angkor Wat is about 1 million people... Doubts arise from here.
Although Angkor Wat is huge, it is not enough to accommodate 1 million people. But in 2016, amazing research results were published.
The content is that there is a huge medieval city underground in the mountains near Angkor Wat. The team found the city using aerial laser scanning. Presumably, this is the Mahondra Pavata, built by Jayavarman II, who founded the kingdom.
Angkor Wat
The city's waterways and roads are connected to Angkor Wat, which also serves as proof that Angkor Wat was once inhabited by a large population.
But there is one more doubt. With such a large population, how did people not know about the existence of Angkor Wat for five hundred years, where did so many people disappear?
There are several hypotheses about this question. Annihilated by the Siamese ethnic group bordering the Khmer Empire, or collapsed due to civil war for religious reasons ... and so on are assumptions that focus on humanistic explanations.
Angkor Wat
However, due to the lack of clear literature, the cause of the demise remains a mystery to this day. In addition, new assumptions emerged in 2018. The content is that the reason for the demise of Angkor Wat is the climate.
The research team mobilized archaeological data from the relevant areas, modeled the existing irrigation systems such as waterways, moats, and reservoirs, analyzed rainfall data, and tested what would happen if floods that were presumed to occur around the end of the 14th century were applied to urban models.
As a result, some analysts believe that the irrigation system has collapsed sharply. Simply put, successive floods made it impossible for the city to grow crops, and the residents of Angkor Wat all left the city.
Angkor Wat
What's more, Angkor Wat was built on a canal and is more vulnerable to flooding, so this is a credible claim. But this is all hypothesis, and there are many opinions about why the many people around Angkor Wat disappeared to this day.
One of the most beautiful buildings in the world and one of the New Seven Wonders of the World, Angkor Wat is now a beloved tourist attraction and an important archaeological site due to its exotic scenery intertwined with tropical rainforests.
As mentioned earlier, there are also clues to solve in several mysteries of Angkor Wat. However, there are mysteries to find answers to. That's the fundamental question... Where the construction techniques of Angkor Wat come from.
Angkor Wat
The story of the construction of Angkor Wat remains unsolved long ago, the technology that could move hundreds of thousands of tons of stone, the Grand Canal system, and the elaborate carving patterns that modern construction experts are surprised by where they flowed in.
Not only that, but it is said that Angkor Wat was completed about 37 years after the start of construction... But it was difficult to complete a city of this size and sophistication in 37 years with modern technology, so it had to be wondered what technology was used to make it possible.
The heavenly world on earth, and the Angkor Wat, which has been hidden in the jungle for more than 500 years, is considered to be the strange story of the city... Angkor Wat is also printed on the Cambodian flag, which is considered the symbol and pride of Cambodia, and it is said that the restoration and rehabilitation of the country is continuing, and I hope that one day the hidden truth of Angkor Wat will be revealed.