Built from 1113 during the reign of King Suryavarman II, Angkor Wat took well over 30 years to complete and was dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu. In size alone Angkor Wat is breathtaking. The outer walls stretch for 1.5km east to west and 1.3km north to south, and the walls are encircled by a beautiful moat almost 200m wide — the entire site takes in some 200 hectares.
Unusually for a Khmer temple, Angkor Wat is orientated to the west. As the west is symbolically associated both with death and Vishnu, some debate has flared over the purpose of the complex — tomb or temple? The prevalent opinion is that Angkor Wat was both — a temple to Vishnu and a tomb for its creator, Suryavarman II.
Like all temple mountains, Angkor Wat is a model of the divine — playing out Hindu mythology in both its construction and spectacular bas reliefs. At the centre of the Hindu (and Buddhist) universe sits Mount Meru, a holy peak some 750,000km high on the mythical continent Jambudvipa. Atop the mountain sits the home of Brahma and other gods of both religions. At Angkor Wat, this mountain is represented by Angkor’s central tower which in turn is surrounded by smaller peaks, then the continents are represented by the outer courtyards and finally the ocean is illustrated with the moat. A naga bridge allowed people to cross from the land of mortals to that of the Gods — the sandstone causeway that you see today running across the moat from the west.
In walking across Angkor’s naga bridge and entering the complex, you are traversing the ocean from the real world to that of the gods — stepping from continent to continent and then scaling a peak some 750,000km high — there’s no escalator.
At the time of its construction the outer walls would have encircled not just the central temple but also a city of considerable size along with the palace. As these buildings were wooden, nothing remains, although some remnants of the road within the city were traced out as part of restoration work. Angkor’s most famous custodian, Frenchman Maurice Glazier, commented that of all the Angkorian monuments, Angkor Wat, protected by its large moat, was the best placed to withstand the onslaught of the jungle. This protection was further assisted by the fact that since the mid-13th century, Angkor Wat remained in use as a place of Buddhist worship. A temple remains within its grounds to this day, supplying a steady flow of saffron clad monks for your holiday snaps.
When approaching from the west, one needs to cross the moat via the still-being-restored sandstone causeway to the outer (western) gopura. Before entering the gopura, take a quick diversion to the south where a grand statue of Vishnu stands. With its saffron drapery, it’s particularly photogenic in late afternoon.
After passing through the gopura, you reach the most stunning of Angkor Wat’s many viewpoints. Delayed until the last moment, as you step through the doorway you’re treated to an absolute visual feast as the central temple is revealed in all of its splendour. From the western gopura, walk down the central walkway which is flanked by two libraries, the northern one of which is being restored, and to the two ponds. If you’re arriving for dawn, the view from the northwest corner of the northern pond is the better of the two pond views. Following dawn, most tend to hustle into the central temple and climb to its apex. We’d suggest you instead do a loop through the galleries that encircle the monument first, saving the climb for later. Not only will you have the galleries largely to yourself, but by the time you’ve finished (a full circuit at a slow pace takes an hour or so) the interior central temple will not be so crowded as many will have moved on to the Bayon.
