Angkor Wat

Angkor Wat ('City/Capital of Temples') is a Vaishnava Hindu and Theravada Buddhist temple complex in Siem Reap, Cambodia, and the largest religious complex in the world. Located on a site measuring 162.6 hectares (1.6 km2, 401.8 acres) within the ancient capital of Angkor, it was constructed between 1113 and 1150 CE during the reign of the Khmer king Suryavarman II as a Hindu temple dedicated to Vishnu. From the late 13th century onward, the complex was gradually transformed into a Buddhist temple and has remained an active center of Buddhist worship for centuries. Angkor Wat is noted for its monumental scale, extensive bas-reliefs, and architectural unity characteristics of Khmer architecture. Unlike most Angkorian temples, it is oriented toward the west. It is a symbol of Cambodia and appears on the Cambodian national flag. The temple was commissioned by Suryavarman II in Yaśodharapura, the capital of the Khmer Empire, as a state temple and is generally considered to have been intended as his mausoleum. Its architectural design combines the temple-mountain and galleried temple forms characteristic of Khmer architecture. The overall layout is commonly interpreted as a symbolic representation of Mount Meru, a cosmological concept shared by both Hindu and Buddhist traditions. The complex is surrounded by a broad moat and enclosed by an outer wall, within whic

Archaeological site data from Wikidata (CC0). Summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).