2. NAME: PRASAT ANGKOR WAT
COUNTRY: COMBODIA
LOCATION: ANGKOR, SIEM REAP PROVINCE
PRIMAMRY DEITY: VISHNU
ARCHITECTURAL STYLES: KHMER, DRAVADIAN
BUILT IN: 12TH CENTURY
CREATOR: SURYAVARMAN 11
3. Angkor Wat, located at 13°24′45″N 103°52′0″E, is a unique combination of the temple mountain, the
standard design for the empire's state temples, the later plan of concentric galleries, and influences
from Orissa and the Chola of Tamil Nadu, India. The temple is a representation of Mount Meru, the
home of the gods: the central quincunx of towers symbolises the five peaks of the mountain, and the
walls and moat the surrounding mountain ranges and ocean.[14] Access to the upper areas of the
temple was progressively more exclusive, with the laity being admitted only to the lowest level.
4. Angkor Wat, or "city temple", lies 6 kilometres from
Siem Reap in Cambodia. It was built by King
Survayarman II in the late 12th century, at a time when
Angkor reached the peak of its influence and power.
Dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu, Angkor Wat is the
only temple erected under this monarch's rule and
scholars disagree as to whether it was built as his state
temple or his funerary tomb.
It has a unique orientation, unlike other Angkor
Temples it is west facing instead of east facing-
coinciding with the symbolism between the setting sun
and death. Works at Angkor Wat seem to have ended
soon after the King's death.
5. In the late 13th century King Sindravarman succeeded the throne and changed
the empire's religion from Hinduism to Theravada Buddhism. Thanks to
continuous occupation of the temple, it was preserved in very good condition
and avoided the destruction that other temples suffered after the mysterious
abandonment of Angkor as the empire's capital in the 14th century.
6. While the Europeans were writing at different times about the discovery of the
"lost city", Angkor Wat and the other Angkor Temples were already known to the
Buddhist monks that cared for them from the 15th to the 19th centuries. It is in
part thanks to them that Angkor Wat remains mostly intact. In the 16th century
a Khmer court returned briefly to Angkor to restore it as a Buddhist shrine.
Angkor Wat temple in 1866.
7. General plan of Angkor Wat with Detailed plan of the central structure
central structure in the middle
8. After
several invasions from the foreign countries and a weakening of the
Khmer empire, the temples of Angkor were run over by the jungle.
Sandstone has eroded and the structures have become weak.
Bat droppings have also significantly damaged the temples.
The Khmer rouge damaged large parts of the temples-decapitating the
Hindu gods etc.
A popular temple that earned
its popularity in Angkor Wat
History just "recently":
Ta Prohm temple is famous
for being swallowed by giant
trees.
9. ARCHITECTURE
Angkor Wat is the prime example of the classical style of Khmer architecture—
the Angkor Wat style—to which it has given its name. By the 12th century Khmer
architects had become skilled and confident in the use of sandstone (rather than brick
or laterite) as the main building material. Most of the visible areas are of sandstone
blocks, while laterite was used for the outer wall and for hidden structural parts. The
binding agent used to join the blocks is yet to be identified, although
natural resins or slaked lime have been suggested.
The temple attains a classic perfection by the restrained monumentality of its finely
balanced elements and the precise arrangement of its proportions. It is a work of
power, unity and style.
10. Upper gallery at
Angkor Wat
Architecturally, the elements characteristic of the style include:
the ogival, redented towers shaped like lotus buds; half-
galleries to broaden passageways; axial galleries connecting
enclosures; and the cruciform terraces which appear along the
main axis of the temple.
11. Old trees on the mysterious relic to
empyrean.
Defender?
Or destroyer……
12. The most noted is Bayon, one of the most famous Angkorian temples, with its
216 four-faced Buddha statues. Angkor Wat history was forever changed by this
move, as Hinduism is now but a minority religion in Cambodia.
14. Thick lips, Wide noses, and Long
ears,
with such an imposing
appearance,
they are looking at you,
eyes slightly downward.
Ubiquitous…
——Angkor Thom
15. There are series of basso-relievo on the cloister of Angkor Wat.
This is the most popular one “Churning of the Ocean of Milk”
——Angkor Wat
16. In Angkor Wat, Hindu basso-relievo exist everywhere.
What we see today has endured years of history. ——Angkor Wat
