Building Date: Early or Mid 12th century, between 1113-1150
Religion: Hindu
Style: Angkor Wat
King: Suryavarman II, 1113 – 1150
Location: On the small circuit.
Angkor Wat is a biggest Khmer temple complex on the earth. The temple was constructed by King Suryavarman II in early 12th century in Yasodharapura (present-day Angkor), the main city for the Khmer Empire, as his state temple and ultimate mausoleum. Breaking from the Shaivism traditions of prior kings, Angkor Wat was rather devoted to Vishnu. As the best-preserved temple at the site, it's the only one to have remained a substantial spiritual centre since its foundation - first Hindu, devoted to the god Vishnu, then Buddhist.
The temple is at the top of the high classical style of Khmer architecture. It has become a symbol of Cambodia, appearing on its national flag, and it is the country's prime attraction for visitors. Angkor Wat mixes two basic plans of Khmer temple architecture: the temple mountain and the later galleried temple, based on early South Indian Hindu architecture, with key features like the Jagati. It's designed to represent Mount Meru, home of the devas in Hindu mythology: with a moat and an outer wall 3.6 kilometres (2.2 mi) long are three rectangular galleries, each raised above the next. In the middle of the temple stands a quincunx of towers.
Click to Watch Video
Unlike most Angkorian temples, Angkor Wat is oriented to the west. The temple is admired for the grandeur and harmony of the architecture, its extensive bas-reliefs, and for the many devatas decorating its walls. The current name, Angkor Wat, means "City Temple" in Khmer; Angkor, meaning "city" or "capital city", is a vernacular form of the word nokor, which comes from the Sanskrit word nagar. Wat is the Khmer word for "temple grounds", derived from the Pali word "vatta". Before this time the temple was known as Preah Pisnulok (Vara Vishnuloka in Sanskrit), after the posthumous title of its founder.
King Suryavarman II, the creator of Angkor Wat
Angkor Wat is located 5.5 kilometres (3.4 mi) north of the modern city of Siem Reap, and a short distance south and slightly east of the prior capital, that was centred at Baphuon. It's within a area of Cambodia where it has an significant group of ancient constructions. It's the southernmost of Angkor's main sites. The initial construction and designs of the temple occurred in the first half of the 12th century, in the reign of Suryavarman II (ruled 1113 - c. 1150). Devoted to Vishnu, it had been constructed as the king's state temple and capital city.
As neither the basis stela nor any contemporary inscriptions referring to the temple have been found, its original name is unknown, however it was known as Vrah Vishnu-lok ( literally "Holy Vishnu'-Location'", Old Khmer' Cl. Sanskrit). once the presiding deity. Work seems to have ended shortly after the king's death, leaving several of the bas-relief adornment incomplete. In 1177, around 27 years following the death of Suryavarman II, Angkor had been sacked from the Chams, the regular opponents of the Khmer. Afterwards the empire was restored by a new king, Jayavarman VII, who established a new capital and state temple (Angkor Thom and the Bayon respectively) a few kms to the north.
In the late 13th century, Angkor Wat gradually changed from Hindu to Theravada Buddhist use, which continues to the present day. One from the first Western visitors to the temple was Antonio da Madalena, a Portuguese monk who visited in 1586 and declared it "is of such incredible construction that it's difficult to explain it with a pen, in particular as it is like no other building in the world. It has towers and adornment and all sorts of the refinements that the human genius can conceive of." During the mid 19th century the temple was visited by the French naturalist and explorer, Henri Mouhot, who popularized the site in the West through the publication of travel notes, in which he wrote: "One of these temples-a rival to that of Solomon, and constructed by some ancient Michelangelo-might take an honorable place beside our most incredible constructions.
Click to Watch Video
It's grander compared to anything left to us by Greece or Rome, and presents a sad contrast to the state of barbarism where the nation is now stepped." Mouhot, like other early Western visitors, thought it was difficult to believe that the Khmers could have built the temple, and wrongly dated it close to the same era as Rome. The real history of Angkor Wat was pieced together only from stylistic and epigraphic evidence accrued in the subsequent clearing and restoration work completed throughout the whole Angkor site. There were no normal dwellings or homes or other signs of settlement including cooking utensils, weapons, or items of clothing usually discovered at ancient sites. Rather there is a proof of the monuments themselves.
Facade of Angkor Wat, a drawing by Henri Mouhot
French postcard about Angkor Wat in 1911
Angkor Wat needed substantial repair within the twentieth century, primarily removing accumulated earth and vegetation. Work was disrupted by the civil war and Khmer Rouge control over the nation in the 1970s and 1980s, however relatively little damage was done during this time period apart from the theft and destruction of mostly post-Angkorian statues. The temple is the powerful symbol of Cambodia, and it is a resource of superb national pride which has factored into Cambodia's diplomatic relations with France, the United States and its neighbor Thailand.
A portrayal of Angkor Wat is a part of Cambodian national flags as the release of the first version circa 1863. From the larger heritage and even transcultural perspective, nevertheless, the temple of Angkor Wat not only became a symbol of national pride sui generis but also had been inscribed into a larger politico-cultural process of French-colonial heritage production where the unique temple site was presented in French colonial and universal exhibitions in Paris and Marseille between 1889 and 1937.
The wonderful artistic heritage of Angkor Wat along with other Khmer ancient monuments in the Angkor area led straight to France adopting Cambodia as a protectorate on 11 August 1863 and invading Siam to take control of the ruins. This quickly led to Cambodia reclaiming lands at the northwestern corner of the country which had been under Siamese (Thai) control since 1351 AD (Manich Jumsai 2001), or by some accounts, 1431 AD. Cambodia gained independence from France on 9 November 1953 and has controlled Angkor Wat since that time. During the midst of the Vietnam War, Chief of State Norodom Sihanouk hosted Jacqueline Kennedy in Cambodia to fulfill her "lifelong dream of seeing Angkor Wat."
Detailed plan of the structure
Angkor Wat is a unique combination of the temple mountain, the standard style of the empire's state temples, the afterwards plan of concentric galleries, and influences from Orissa and also the Chola of Tamil Nadu, India. The temple is really a representation of Mount Meru, the house of the gods: the central quincunx of towers represents the 5 peaks of the mountain, and also the walls and moat surrounding mountain ranges and ocean.
Unlike the majority of Khmer temples, Angkor Wat is actually oriented to the west instead of the east. This has led many (including Glaize and George Coedès) to summarize that Suryavarman intended it to serve as his funerary temple.
Click to Watch Video
Further proof in this view is offered by the bas-reliefs, which proceed in a counter-clockwise direction-prasavya in Hindu terminology-as this is the reverse of the normal order. The archaeologist Charles Higham also explains a container which might have been a funerary jar that was recovered from the central tower. It was nominated by some as the greatest expenditure of energy on the disposal of a corpse. Freeman and Jacques, however, observe that few other temples of Angkor depart from the typical eastern orientation, and declare that Angkor Wat's alignment was because of its devotion to Vishnu, who was associated with the west.
A further meaning of Angkor Wat was suggested by Eleanor Mannikka. Drawing on the temple's alignment and dimensions, and on the content and arrangement of the bas-reliefs, she argues that the construction symbolizes a stated new era of peace under King Suryavarman II: "as the measurements of solar and lunar time cycles were included in the sacred space of Angkor Wat, this divine mandate to rule was anchored to consecrated chambers and corridors meant to perpetuate the king's power and to honor and placate the deities manifest in the heavens above." Mannikka's recommendations have been obtained with a combination of interest and scepticism in academic circles. She distances herself from the speculations of others, such as Graham Hancock, that Angkor Wat is part of a representation of the constellation Draco. Read more: Angkor wat part 2
Direct links to Angkor Wat:
Angkorwat Part 1
Angkorwat Part 2
Angkorwat Part1 3
Religion: Hindu
Style: Angkor Wat
King: Suryavarman II, 1113 – 1150
Location: On the small circuit.
Angkor Wat is a biggest Khmer temple complex on the earth. The temple was constructed by King Suryavarman II in early 12th century in Yasodharapura (present-day Angkor), the main city for the Khmer Empire, as his state temple and ultimate mausoleum. Breaking from the Shaivism traditions of prior kings, Angkor Wat was rather devoted to Vishnu. As the best-preserved temple at the site, it's the only one to have remained a substantial spiritual centre since its foundation - first Hindu, devoted to the god Vishnu, then Buddhist.
The temple is at the top of the high classical style of Khmer architecture. It has become a symbol of Cambodia, appearing on its national flag, and it is the country's prime attraction for visitors. Angkor Wat mixes two basic plans of Khmer temple architecture: the temple mountain and the later galleried temple, based on early South Indian Hindu architecture, with key features like the Jagati. It's designed to represent Mount Meru, home of the devas in Hindu mythology: with a moat and an outer wall 3.6 kilometres (2.2 mi) long are three rectangular galleries, each raised above the next. In the middle of the temple stands a quincunx of towers.
Unlike most Angkorian temples, Angkor Wat is oriented to the west. The temple is admired for the grandeur and harmony of the architecture, its extensive bas-reliefs, and for the many devatas decorating its walls. The current name, Angkor Wat, means "City Temple" in Khmer; Angkor, meaning "city" or "capital city", is a vernacular form of the word nokor, which comes from the Sanskrit word nagar. Wat is the Khmer word for "temple grounds", derived from the Pali word "vatta". Before this time the temple was known as Preah Pisnulok (Vara Vishnuloka in Sanskrit), after the posthumous title of its founder.
King Suryavarman II, the creator of Angkor Wat
Angkor Wat is located 5.5 kilometres (3.4 mi) north of the modern city of Siem Reap, and a short distance south and slightly east of the prior capital, that was centred at Baphuon. It's within a area of Cambodia where it has an significant group of ancient constructions. It's the southernmost of Angkor's main sites. The initial construction and designs of the temple occurred in the first half of the 12th century, in the reign of Suryavarman II (ruled 1113 - c. 1150). Devoted to Vishnu, it had been constructed as the king's state temple and capital city.
As neither the basis stela nor any contemporary inscriptions referring to the temple have been found, its original name is unknown, however it was known as Vrah Vishnu-lok ( literally "Holy Vishnu'-Location'", Old Khmer' Cl. Sanskrit). once the presiding deity. Work seems to have ended shortly after the king's death, leaving several of the bas-relief adornment incomplete. In 1177, around 27 years following the death of Suryavarman II, Angkor had been sacked from the Chams, the regular opponents of the Khmer. Afterwards the empire was restored by a new king, Jayavarman VII, who established a new capital and state temple (Angkor Thom and the Bayon respectively) a few kms to the north.
In the late 13th century, Angkor Wat gradually changed from Hindu to Theravada Buddhist use, which continues to the present day. One from the first Western visitors to the temple was Antonio da Madalena, a Portuguese monk who visited in 1586 and declared it "is of such incredible construction that it's difficult to explain it with a pen, in particular as it is like no other building in the world. It has towers and adornment and all sorts of the refinements that the human genius can conceive of." During the mid 19th century the temple was visited by the French naturalist and explorer, Henri Mouhot, who popularized the site in the West through the publication of travel notes, in which he wrote: "One of these temples-a rival to that of Solomon, and constructed by some ancient Michelangelo-might take an honorable place beside our most incredible constructions.
It's grander compared to anything left to us by Greece or Rome, and presents a sad contrast to the state of barbarism where the nation is now stepped." Mouhot, like other early Western visitors, thought it was difficult to believe that the Khmers could have built the temple, and wrongly dated it close to the same era as Rome. The real history of Angkor Wat was pieced together only from stylistic and epigraphic evidence accrued in the subsequent clearing and restoration work completed throughout the whole Angkor site. There were no normal dwellings or homes or other signs of settlement including cooking utensils, weapons, or items of clothing usually discovered at ancient sites. Rather there is a proof of the monuments themselves.
Facade of Angkor Wat, a drawing by Henri Mouhot
French postcard about Angkor Wat in 1911
Angkor Wat needed substantial repair within the twentieth century, primarily removing accumulated earth and vegetation. Work was disrupted by the civil war and Khmer Rouge control over the nation in the 1970s and 1980s, however relatively little damage was done during this time period apart from the theft and destruction of mostly post-Angkorian statues. The temple is the powerful symbol of Cambodia, and it is a resource of superb national pride which has factored into Cambodia's diplomatic relations with France, the United States and its neighbor Thailand.
A portrayal of Angkor Wat is a part of Cambodian national flags as the release of the first version circa 1863. From the larger heritage and even transcultural perspective, nevertheless, the temple of Angkor Wat not only became a symbol of national pride sui generis but also had been inscribed into a larger politico-cultural process of French-colonial heritage production where the unique temple site was presented in French colonial and universal exhibitions in Paris and Marseille between 1889 and 1937.
The wonderful artistic heritage of Angkor Wat along with other Khmer ancient monuments in the Angkor area led straight to France adopting Cambodia as a protectorate on 11 August 1863 and invading Siam to take control of the ruins. This quickly led to Cambodia reclaiming lands at the northwestern corner of the country which had been under Siamese (Thai) control since 1351 AD (Manich Jumsai 2001), or by some accounts, 1431 AD. Cambodia gained independence from France on 9 November 1953 and has controlled Angkor Wat since that time. During the midst of the Vietnam War, Chief of State Norodom Sihanouk hosted Jacqueline Kennedy in Cambodia to fulfill her "lifelong dream of seeing Angkor Wat."
Detailed plan of the structure
Angkor Wat is a unique combination of the temple mountain, the standard style of the empire's state temples, the afterwards plan of concentric galleries, and influences from Orissa and also the Chola of Tamil Nadu, India. The temple is really a representation of Mount Meru, the house of the gods: the central quincunx of towers represents the 5 peaks of the mountain, and also the walls and moat surrounding mountain ranges and ocean.
Unlike the majority of Khmer temples, Angkor Wat is actually oriented to the west instead of the east. This has led many (including Glaize and George Coedès) to summarize that Suryavarman intended it to serve as his funerary temple.
Further proof in this view is offered by the bas-reliefs, which proceed in a counter-clockwise direction-prasavya in Hindu terminology-as this is the reverse of the normal order. The archaeologist Charles Higham also explains a container which might have been a funerary jar that was recovered from the central tower. It was nominated by some as the greatest expenditure of energy on the disposal of a corpse. Freeman and Jacques, however, observe that few other temples of Angkor depart from the typical eastern orientation, and declare that Angkor Wat's alignment was because of its devotion to Vishnu, who was associated with the west.
A further meaning of Angkor Wat was suggested by Eleanor Mannikka. Drawing on the temple's alignment and dimensions, and on the content and arrangement of the bas-reliefs, she argues that the construction symbolizes a stated new era of peace under King Suryavarman II: "as the measurements of solar and lunar time cycles were included in the sacred space of Angkor Wat, this divine mandate to rule was anchored to consecrated chambers and corridors meant to perpetuate the king's power and to honor and placate the deities manifest in the heavens above." Mannikka's recommendations have been obtained with a combination of interest and scepticism in academic circles. She distances herself from the speculations of others, such as Graham Hancock, that Angkor Wat is part of a representation of the constellation Draco. Read more: Angkor wat part 2
Direct links to Angkor Wat:
Angkorwat Part 1
Angkorwat Part 2
Angkorwat Part1 3
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDelete