A labor of love by a devout king with an edifice complex, Angkor Wat remains a significant source of pride for the Cambodians descended from Suryavarman II’s subjects.
Built in the early 12th century, Angkor Wat is still Cambodia’s best-preserved temple: not just a relic of history, but a continuing center for religious worship through centuries of war and benign neglect.
Angkor Wat is a representation of the Hindu home of the gods: the towers in the center stand in for the sacred Mount Meru’s peaks. Appropriately for a model of the divine, the temple’s breathtaking beauty manifests in every inch of the structure – from the intricate bas-reliefs on the walls to the wide moat that reflects the towers reaching out to the sky.
