The Magnificent Angkor Wat

Source aishifuPix

Angkor is a vernacular form of the Khmer word Nokor which is a corruption of the Sanskrit word Nagara, while wat is the Khmer word for temple. Prior to this time the temple was known as Preah Pisnulok, after the posthumous title of its founder,Suryavarman II.

Source cornstaruk

As the best-preserved temple at the site, it is the only one to have remained a significant religious centre since its foundation—first Hindu, dedicated to Vishnu, then Buddhist. The temple is the epitome of the high classical style of Khmer architecture. Today, the Angkor Wat is as much a symbol of Cambodia as the Taj Mahal is to India, and a major source of tourism. Infact, the Angkor Wat is on Cambodia’s national flag.

Source alex.ch

Angkor Wat is surrounded by a 200 m. wide moat, crossed by a bridge on the west. At the end of the bridge is a 200 m. long entrance structure: three central towers flanked on the north and south by a long, pillared corridors that end in entrance gateways opening flat on the ground. An enclosing wall stretches from these gateways around the temple compound.

Source electrostatico

Angkor Wat combines two basic plans of Khmer temple architecture: the temple mountain and the later galleried temple, based on early South Indian architecture, with key features such as the Jagati. It is designed to represent Mount Meru, home of the devas in Hindu mythology: within the moat and an outer wall 3.6 kilometres long are three rectangular galleries, each raised above the next.

source dawvon

Angkor Wat is unusual among the Angkor temples in that although it was somewhat neglected after the 16th century it was never completely abandoned, its preservation being due in part to the fact that its moat also provided some protection from encroachment by the jungle.