The next day, after visiting the Queen's Palace in the morning, we came to Wat Angkor in the afternoon.
Angkor Wat, also known as Angkor Lesser, is commonly referred to as "Angkor Wat". It is the largest, best-preserved and most recognizable building in the Angkor ruins. Because of its grand scale, perfect symmetry, balanced proportions, and exquisite reliefs, it is known as the Four Wonders of the Ancient East along with the Great Wall of China, the Taj Mahal in India and the Thousand Buddha Altar in Indonesia.
Angkor Temple entrance and moat
Entrance to Angkor Temple
Wat Angkor, the original name was Vrah Vishnulok, meaning "Temple of Vishnu". The ancient Chinese book is called "Sangxiang Buddha House". It is the pinnacle of classical Khmer architecture and the largest temple in the world. The main hall covers an area of 40,000 square meters, and the main tower is 65 meters high.
In front of the lotus pond, you can see Wat Angkor
The three pagodas on the flag of Cambodia are the front images of Wat Angkor.
A stone path leads to the West Pagoda Gate of Wat Angkor
Wat Angkor was founded in the mid-12th century to worship the Hindu god Vishnu and became a Buddhist temple in the late 13th century.
In the middle of the 12th century, King Suyevarman II of Chenla made his capital Angkor. Suyvarman II believed in Vishnu, and Divakara, the Brahmin chief priest who crowned the king, designed the temple for the king to be dedicated to Vishnu, which was named the "Temple of Vishnu".
In the Song Dynasty, Zhao Ru wrote in the Zhufan Zhi that the name of the national capital at that time was "Lu'e". Lokor comes from the Sanskrit word nagara, the capital. In the 16th century, the temple was called "Angkor Wat"; "Angkor", from nagara, Wat means "temple" in Khmer, and "Angkor Wat" means "temple capital". In the second year of Yuan Zhen (1296), Emperor Yuanchengzong Temur sent Zhou Daguan as an envoy to Zhenla. Zhou Daguan and his mission were stationed in Angkor for a year, and after returning to China, Zhou Daguan wrote a report on the customs and folk conditions of Chenla "Records of Zhenla Customs". The "Records of Chenla Customs" called Angkor Wat "Luban Tomb", and said that after the king's death, there was a tower to bury, which shows that Angkor Wat is the imperial tomb.
The sutra pavilion next to the lotus pond
Angkor Wat consists of four corridors (each corridor is divided into two wings), the west temple, the main entrance, the triple cloister and five minarets centered on the central minaret of the main hall. The main building of Wat Angkor has a three-storey platform that rises one by one, symbolizing Mount Meru, located in the center of the world in Hindu mythology. The temple is surrounded by the ancient city river, symbolizing the Aral Sea that surrounds Mount Meru.
Sketch of Angkor Temple
Wat Angkor: Four small pagodas guard the central main tower
The 800-meter-circumference corridor of the first platform is covered with reliefs telling religious stories, and the first and second floors are connected by a gallery of a thousand Buddhas, which once enshrined hundreds of Buddha statues, but they were badly destroyed and many of the remaining ones are mutilated.
Entrance to the northwest corner of the first cloister of Angkor Temple
First cloister
The reliefs at Wat Angkor are extremely delicate and authentic. There are reliefs on the inner walls of the cloister and on the columns, stone walls, cornerstones, window lintels, and balustrades. The content is mainly about the legend of the Hindu god Vishnu, based on the Indian epics "Mahabharata" and "Ramayana" and the Hindu myth "Milk Sea", but also secular scenes such as war, royal travel, cooking, crafts, agricultural activities, etc., and the decorative motifs are based on animal and plant themes.
Relief on the wall of the first cloister
First cloister vault
The sutra pavilion in the first cloister
The second platform is 7 meters higher than the first and has a circumference of about 430 meters. The second and third layers of reliefs have a stronger decorative atmosphere.
Ruins of the Holy Pond
Second corridor
The third floor is square in shape and 75 meters long, which is the highest level of the temple, and four small towers guard the central main tower, symbolizing Mount Meru, a sacred place in Hindu mythology located at the center of the world.
The steps leading to the main tower are called the "Steps to Heaven" and are 13 meters high and almost perpendicular to the ground.
"Stairway to Heaven" to the main tower
Climbing the Stairway to Heaven is difficult and dangerous, and in 1973 a pair of French female tourists accidentally lost their footing and fell to their death during the climb. In his grief, her husband donated money to repair the handrail on the west side of the steps to avoid a repeat of the tragedy. Since then, this side of the ladder has also been called the "love ladder".
In January 2018, when we visited Wat Angkor, the "Stairway to Heaven" was fenced and it was no longer possible to go to the third platform. I don't know if I can still climb now.
A fenced "Stairway to Heaven"
The third cloister and small tower are high above
Wat Angkor is the pinnacle of classical Khmer architecture, which combines the two basic layouts of Khmer temple architecture: the altar and the cloister. At the top of the altar stand five pagodas arranged in a five-point plum blossom pattern, symbolizing the five peaks of Mount Meru.
Wat Angkor at sunset
Visitors take a group photo with the on-site staff
Foreign tourists pose for a photo with Cambodian police officers visiting Angkor Temple on the West Tapon platform
Cambodia is a country that believes in the snake god, and legend has it that the five-headed serpent is the god of water, the seven-headed serpent is the protective deity, and the hydra is the supreme royal symbol. In the mysterious ruins of Angkor Wat, the moat in the city and so on are full of totems of the seven-headed snake.
Statue of the seven-headed snake by the moat of Angkor Temple