Angkor

For the temple, see Angkor Wat.

search and debate, newly identied agricultural systems

in the Angkor area may have supported up to one million
people.[7]

Angkor (Khmer: , Capital City)[1][2] was the capital city of Khmer Empire, which ourished from approximately the 9th to 15th centuries. Angkor was a megacity supporting at least 0.1% of the global population during 1010-1220. The city houses the magnicent Angkor
Wat, one of Cambodias popular tourist attractions.

1 Historical overview

The word Angkor is derived from the Sanskrit nagara

(), meaning city.[3] The Angkorian period began in
AD 802, when the Khmer Hindu monarch Jayavarman II
declared himself a universal monarch and god-king,
and lasted until the late 14th century, rst falling under Ayutthayan suzerainty in 1351. A Khmer rebellion
against Siamese authority resulted in the 1431 sacking of
Angkor by Ayutthaya, causing its population to migrate
south to Longvek.
The ruins of Angkor are located amid forests and farmland north of the Great Lake (Tonl Sap) and south of the
Kulen Hills, near modern-day Siem Reap city (1324N,
10351E), in Siem Reap Province. The temples of the
Angkor area number over one thousand, ranging in scale
Map of the Angkor region
from nondescript piles of brick rubble scattered through
rice elds to the Angkor Wat, said to be the worlds
largest single religious monument. Many of the temples at Angkor have been restored, and together, they
comprise the most signicant site of Khmer architecture.
Visitors approach two million annually, and the entire expanse, including Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom is collectively protected as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The popularity of the site among tourists presents multiple challenges to the preservation of the ruins.
In 2007, an international team of researchers using satellite photographs and other modern techniques concluded
that Angkor had been the largest pre-industrial city in the
world, with an elaborate infrastructure system connecting
an urban sprawl of at least 1,000 square kilometres (390
sq mi) to the well-known temples at its core.[4] Angkor
is considered to be a hydraulic city because it had a
complicated water management network, which was used
for systematically stabilizing, storing, and dispersing water throughout the area.[5] This network is believed to
have been used for irrigation in order to oset the unpredictable monsoon season and to also support the increasing population.[4] The closest rival to Angkor, the
Mayan city of Tikal in Guatemala, was between 100 and
150 square kilometres (39 and 58 sq mi) in total size.[6]
Although the size of its population remains a topic of re-

Angkor Wat at sunrise

1.1 Seat of the Khmer Empire

The Angkorian period may have begun shortly after 800
AD, when the Khmer King Jayavarman II announced
the independence of Kambujadesa (Cambodia) from Java
and established his capital of Hariharalaya (now known
as Roluos) at the northern end of Tonl Sap. Through a
program of military campaigns, alliances, marriages and
land grants, he achieved a unication of the country bordered by China to the north, Champa (now Central Viet1

1 HISTORICAL OVERVIEW
fed from the baray. He also built numerous other Hindu
temples and ashrams, or retreats for ascetics.[14]

Gate into Angkor Thom

Over the next 300 years, between 900 and 1200, the
Khmer Empire produced some of the worlds most magnicent architectural masterpieces in the area known as
Angkor. Most are concentrated in an area approximately
15 miles (24 km) east to west and 5 miles (8.0 km)
north to south, although the Angkor Archaeological Park,
which administers the area, includes sites as far away as
Kbal Spean, about 30 miles (48 km) to the north. Some
72 major temples or other buildings are found within this
area, and the remains of several hundred additional minor temple sites are scattered throughout the landscape
beyond. Because of the low-density and dispersed nature of the medieval Khmer settlement pattern, Angkor
lacks a formal boundary, and its extent is therefore difcult to determine. However, a specic area of at least
1,000 km2 (390 sq mi) beyond the major temples is dened by a complex system of infrastructure, including
roads and canals that indicate a high degree of connectivity and functional integration with the urban core. In
terms of spatial extent (although not in terms of population), this makes it the largest urban agglomeration in
recorded history prior to the Industrial Revolution, easily
surpassing the nearest claim by the Mayan city of Tikal.[4]
At its peak, the city occupied an area greater than modern
Paris, and its buildings use far more stone than all of the
Egyptian structures combined.[15]

nam) to the east, the ocean to the south and a place iden- 1.2 Construction of Angkor Wat
tied by a stone inscription as the land of cardamoms
and mangoes" to the west. In 802, Jayavarman articulated For more details on this topic, see Angkor Wat.
his new status by declaring himself universal monarch
The principal temple of the Angkorian region,
(chakravartin) and, in a move that was to be imitated by
his successors and that linked him to the cult of Siva,
taking on the epithet of god-king (devaraja).[8] Before
Jayavarman, Cambodia had consisted of a number of politically independent principalities collectively known to
the Chinese by the names Funan and Chenla.[9]
In 889, Yasovarman ascended to the throne.[10] A great
king and an accomplished builder, he was celebrated
by one inscription as a lion-man; he tore the enemy
with the claws of his grandeur; his teeth were his policies; his eyes were the Veda.[11] Near the old capital of
Hariharalaya, Yasovarman constructed a new city, called
Yaodharapura.[12]:350 In the tradition of his predecessors, he also constructed a massive reservoir called baray.
The signicance of such reservoirs has been debated by
modern scholars, some of whom have seen in them a
means of irrigating rice elds, and others of whom have
regarded them as religiously charged symbols of the great
mythological oceans surrounding Mount Meru, the abode
of the gods. The mountain, in turn, was represented by an
elevated temple, in which the god-king was represented
by a lingam.[13] In accordance with this cosmic symbolism, Yasovarman built his central temple on a low hill
known as Phnom Bakheng, surrounding it with a moat

Buddhist monks at Angkor

Angkor Wat, was built between 1113 and 1150 by King

Suryavarman II. Suryavarman ascended to the throne after prevailing in a battle with a rival prince. An inscription says that, in the course of combat, Suryavarman leapt
onto his rivals war elephant and killed him, just as the
mythical bird-man Garuda slays a serpent.[16]
After consolidating his political position through military campaigns, diplomacy, and a rm domestic administration, Suryavarman launched into the construction of
Angkor Wat as his personal temple mausoleum. Break-

1.4

Zhou Daguan

ing with the tradition of the Khmer kings, and inuenced

perhaps by the concurrent rise of Vaisnavism in India, he
dedicated the temple to Vishnu rather than to Siva. With
walls nearly half a mile long on each side, Angkor Wat
grandly portrays the Hindu cosmology, with the central
towers representing Mount Meru, home of the gods; the
outer walls, the mountains enclosing the world; and the
moat, the oceans beyond. The traditional theme of identifying the Khmer devaraja with the gods, and his residence
with that of the celestials, is very much in evidence. The
measurements themselves of the temple and its parts in
relation to one another have cosmological signicance.[17]
Suryavarman had the walls of the temple decorated with
bas reliefs depicting not only scenes from mythology, but
also from the life of his own imperial court. In one of the
scenes, the king himself is portrayed as larger in size than
his subjects, sitting cross-legged on an elevated throne
and holding court, while a bevy of attendants make him
comfortable with the aid of parasols and fans.

in killing the reigning king. However, a Khmer prince

who was to become King Jayavarman VII rallied his people and defeated the Cham in battles on the lake and on
the land. In 1181, Jayavarman assumed the throne. He
was to be the greatest of the Angkorian kings.[18] Over
the ruins of Yaodharapura, Jayavarman constructed the
walled city of Angkor Thom, as well as its geographic and
spiritual center, the temple known as the Bayon. Basreliefs at the Bayon depict not only the kings battles
with the Cham, but also scenes from the life of Khmer
villagers and courtiers. Jayavarman oversaw the period
of Angkors most prolic construction, which included
building of the well-known temples of Ta Prohm and
Preah Khan, dedicating them to his parents.[19] This massive program of construction coincided with a transition
in the state religion from Hinduism to Mahayana Buddhism, since Jayavarman himself had adopted the latter
as his personal faith. During Jayavarmans reign, Hindu
temples were altered to display images of the Buddha,
and Angkor Wat briey became a Buddhist shrine. Following his death, the revival of Hinduism as the state religion included a large-scale campaign of desecrating Bud1.3 Jayavarman VII
dhist images, and continued until Theravada Buddhism
became established as the lands dominant religion from
Main article: Jayavarman VII
Following the death of Suryavarman around 1150 AD, the 14th century.[20]

Reliefs at Prasat Bayon

1.4 Zhou Daguan

Portrait of Jayavarman VII on display at Musee Guimet, Paris

the kingdom fell into a period of internal strife. Its

neighbors to the east, the Cham of what is now southern Vietnam, took advantage of the situation in 1177
to launch a water-borne invasion up the Mekong River
and across Tonl Sap. The Cham forces were successful in sacking the Khmer capital of Yaodharapura and

The year 1296 marked the arrival at Angkor of the Chinese diplomat Zhou Daguan. Zhous one-year sojourn in
the Khmer capital during the reign of King Indravarman
III is historically signicant, because he penned a stillsurviving account, The Customs of Cambodia, of approximately 40 pages detailing his observations of Khmer society. Some of the topics he addressed in the account were
those of religion, justice, kingship, agriculture, slavery,
birds, vegetables, bathing, clothing, tools, draft animals,

1 HISTORICAL OVERVIEW

and commerce. In one passage, he described a royal procession consisting of soldiers, numerous servant women
and concubines, ministers and princes, and nally, the
sovereign, standing on an elephant, holding his sacred
sword in his hand. Together with the inscriptions that
have been found on Angkorian stelae, temples and other
monuments, and with the bas-reliefs at the Bayon and
Angkor Wat, Zhous journal is the most important source
of information about everyday life at Angkor. Filled with
vivid anecdotes and sometimes incredulous observations
of a civilization that struck Zhou as colorful and exotic,
it is an entertaining travel memoir as well.[21]

strength of Angkor at the time of Zhou Daguan toward

the end of the 13th century. In his memoirs, Zhou reported that the country had been completely devastated
by such a war, in which the entire population had been
obligated to participate.[23] After the collapse of Angkor
in 1431, many statues were taken to the Ayutthaya capital of Ayutthaya in the west,[12]:139140 while others departed for the new center of Khmer society at Longvek
further south, though the ocial capital later moved, rst
to Oudong around 45 kilometres (28 mi) from Phnom
Penh in Ponhea Leu District, and then to the present site
of Phnom Penh.

1.5

1.5.2 Erosion of the state religion

End of the Angkorian period

The end of the Angkorian period is generally set as 1431,

the year Angkor was sacked and looted by Ayutthaya invaders, though the civilization already had been in decline
in the 13th and 14th centuries.[12]:139140[22]:236237 During the course of the 15th century, nearly all of Angkor
was abandoned, except for Angkor Wat, which remained
a Buddhist shrine. Several theories have been advanced
to account for the decline and abandonment of Angkor:
1.5.1

War with the Ayutthaya Kingdom

Some scholars have connected the decline of Angkor with

the conversion of the Khmer Empire to Theravada Buddhism following the reign of Jayavarman VII, arguing that
this religious transition eroded the Hindu conception of
kingship that undergirded the Angkorian civilization.[24]
According to Angkor scholar George Coeds, Theravada
Buddhisms denial of the ultimate reality of the individual served to sap the vitality of the royal personality cult
which had provided the inspiration for the grand monuments of Angkor.[25] The vast expanse of temples required an equally large body of workers to maintain them;
at Ta Prohm, a stone carving states that 12,640 people
serviced that single temple complex. Not only could the
spread of Buddhism have eroded this workforce, but it
could have also aected the estimated 300,000 agricultural workers required to feed them all.[26]
1.5.3 Neglect of public works
According to George Coeds, the weakening of Angkors
royal government by ongoing war and the erosion of the
cult of the devaraja undermined the governments ability
to engage in important public works, such as the construction and maintenance of the waterways essential for irrigation of the rice elds upon which Angkors large population depended for its sustenance. As a result, Angkorian
civilization suered from a reduced economic base, and
the population was forced to scatter.[27]
1.5.4 Natural disaster

Other scholars attempting to account for the rapid decline

and abandonment of Angkor have hypothesized natural
disasters such as disease (Bubonic Plague), earthquakes,
inundations, or drastic climate changes as the relevant
agents of destruction.[27] A study of tree rings in Vietnam, produced a record of early monsoons that passed
Map of the Khmer Empire (in red) in 900 AD
through this area. From this study, we can tell that durIt is widely believed that the abandonment of the Khmer ing the 14th-15th centuries monsoons were weakened and
capital occurred as a result of Ayutthaya invasions. On- eventually followed by extreme ooding. Their inabilgoing wars with the Siamese were already sapping the ity to adapt their ooding infrastructure may have led to

1.6

Restoration, preservation, and threats

Reliefs at Angkor Wat

its eventual decline.[28] Recent research by Australian archaeologists suggests that the decline may have been due
to a shortage of water caused by the transition from the
Medieval Warm Period to the Little Ice Age.[29] LDEO
dendrochronological research has established tree-ring
chronologies indicating severe periods of drought across
mainland Southeast Asia in the early 15th century, raising the possibility that Angkors canals and reservoirs ran
dry and ended expansion of available farmland.[30]

1.6

Restoration, preservation, and threats

Preah Khan temple ruins

Cambodian work is carried out by the Authority for the

Protection and Management of Angkor and the Region
of Siem Reap (APSARA), created in 1995. Some temples have been carefully taken apart stone by stone and
reassembled on concrete foundations, in accordance with
the method of anastylosis. World Monuments Fund has
aided Preah Khan, the Churning of the Sea of Milk (a 49meter-long bas-relief frieze in Angkor Wat), Ta Som, and
Phnom Bakheng. International tourism to Angkor has increased signicantly in recent years, with visitor numbers
reaching around 2 million a year by 2014;[34] this poses
additional conservation problems but has also provided
nancial assistance to the restoration eort.[35]

A 16th century Portuguese friar, Antnio da Madalena,

was the rst European visitor that visited Angkor Wat
in 1586. By 17th century, Angkor Wat was not completely abandoned. Fourteen inscriptions from the 17th 1.6.1 Water-table dropping
century testify to Japanese settlements alongside those
of the remaining Khmer.[31] The best-known inscription
With the increased growth in tourism at Angkor, new
tells of Ukondafu Kazufusa, who celebrated the Khmer
hotels and restaurants are being built to accommodate
New Year there in 1632.[32]
such growth. Each new construction project drills unWhile Angkor was known to the local Khmer and was derground to reach the water table, which has a limshown to European visitors; Henri Mouhot in 1860 and ited storage capacity. This demand on the water table
Anna Leonowens in 1865,[33] it remained cloaked by the could undermine the stability of the sandy soils under
forest until the end of the 19th century. European arche- the monuments at Angkor, leading to cracks, ssures and
ologists such as Louis Delaporte and ethnologists such collapses.[36] Making matters worse, the peak tourist seaas Adolf Bastian visited the site and popularized the site son corresponds with Cambodias dry season, which leads
in Europe. This eventually led to a long restoration pro- to excessive pumping of ground water when it is least recess by French archaeologists. From 1907 to 1970, work plenished naturally.[37]
was under the direction of the cole franaise d'ExtrmeOrient, which cleared away the forest, repaired foundations, and installed drains to protect the buildings from
water damage. In addition, scholars associated with the 1.6.2 Looting
school including George Coeds, Maurice Glaize, Paul
Mus, Philippe Stern and others initiated a program of his- Looting has been an ever-growing threat to the Angkor
torical scholarship and interpretation that is fundamental archaeological landscape. According to APSARA, the
to the current understanding of Angkor.
ocial Cambodian agency charged with overseeing the
Work resumed after the end of the Cambodian Civil War
and, since 1993, has been jointly co-ordinated by India,
Germany, Japan and UNESCO through the International
Co-ordinating Committee on the Safeguarding and Development of the Historic Site of Angkor (ICC), while

management of Angkor, vandalism has multiplied at a

phenomenal rate, employing local populations to carry
out the actual thefts, heavily armed intermediaries transport objects, often in tanks or armored personnel carriers,
often for sale across the Cambodian border.[38]

6
1.6.3

2
Unsustainable tourism

RELIGIOUS HISTORY

society.

Several religious movements contributed to the historical

The increasing number of tourists, around two million development of religion at Angkor:
per year,[37] exerts pressure on the archaeological sites
at Angkor by walking and climbing on the (mostly) sand Indigenous religious cults, including those centered
stone monuments at Angkor. This direct pressure creon worship of the ancestors and of the lingam;
ated by unchecked tourism is expected to cause signi A royal cult of personality, identifying the king with
cant damage to the monuments in the future.[39]
the deity, characteristic not only of Angkor, but of
In sites such as Angkor, tourism is inevitable. Therefore,
other Indic civilizations in southeast Asia, such as
the site management team cannot exclusively manage the
Champa and Java;
site. The team has to manage the ow of people. Millions
Hinduism, especially Shaivism, the form of Hinof people visit Angkor each year, making the manageduism focused on the worship of Shiva and the
ment of this ow vital to the quickly decaying structures.
lingam as the symbol of Shiva, but also Vaishnavism,
Western tourism to Angkor began in the 1970s.[40] The
the form of Hinduism focussed on the worship of
sandstone monuments and Angkor are not made for this
Vishnu;
type of heightened tourism. Moving forward, UNESCO
and local authorities at the site are in the process of cre Buddhism, in both its Mahayana and Theravada vaating a sustainable plan for the future of the site. Since
rieties.
1992, UNESCO has moved towards conserving Angkor.
Thousands of new archaeological sites have been discovered by UNESCO, and the organization has moved to- 2.1 Pre-Angkorian religion
wards protected cultural zones. Two decades later, over
1000 people are employed full-time at the site for cultural sensitivity reasons. Part of this movement to limit
the impacts of tourism has been to only open certain areas of the site. However, much of the 1992 precautionary measures and calls for future enforcement have fallen
through. Globally, and locally, the policy-making has
been successful. But the implementation has failed. This
implementation has failed for a number of reasons. First,
there are conicts of interest in Cambodia. While the
site is culturally important to them, Cambodia is a poor
country. Its GDP is marginally larger than Afghanistans.
Tourism is a vital part to the Cambodian economy, and
shutting down parts of Angkor, the largest tourist destination in the country, is not an option. A second reason Dedicated by Rajendravarman in 948 A.D., Baksei Chamkrong
stems from the governments inability to organize around is a temple-pyramid that housed a statue of Shiva
the site. The Cambodian government has failed in organizing a robust team of cultural specialists and archaeol- The religion of pre-Angkorian Cambodia, known to the
Chinese as Funan (1st century AD to ca. 550) and Chenla
ogists to service the site.
(ca. 550 - ca. 800 AD), included elements of Hinduism,
Buddhism and indigenous ancestor cults.[43]

Religious history

Historical Angkor was more than a site for religious art

and architecture. It was the site of vast cities that served
all the needs of the Khmer people. Aside from a few old
bridges, however, all of the remaining monuments are
religious edices. In Angkorian times, all non-religious
buildings, including the residence of the king himself,
were constructed of perishable materials, such as wood,
because only the gods had a right to residences made
of stone.[41] Similarly, the vast majority of the surviving stone inscriptions are about the religious foundations
of kings and other potentates.[42] As a result, it is easier
to write the history of Angkorian state religion than it is
to write that of just about any other aspect of Angkorian

Temples from the period of Chenla bear stone inscriptions, in both Sanskrit and Khmer, naming both Hindu
and local ancestral deities, with Shiva supreme among
the former.[44] The cult of Harihara was prominent; Buddhism was not, because, as reported by the Chinese pilgrim Yi Jing, a wicked king had destroyed it.[45] Characteristic of the religion of Chenla also was the cult of the
lingam, or stone phallus that patronized and guaranteed
fertility to the community in which it was located.[46]

2.2 Shiva and the lingam

The Khmer king Jayavarman II, whose assumption of
power around 800 AD marks the beginning of the Angkorian period, established his capital at a place called

2.3

Vaishnavism

Hariharalaya (today known as Roluos), at the northern

end of the great lake, Tonl Sap.[47] Harihara is the name
of a deity that combines the essence of Vishnu (Hari)
with that of Shiva (Hara) and that was much favored by
the Khmer kings.[46] Jayavarman IIs adoption of the epithet devaraja (god-king) signied the monarchs special
connection with Shiva.[48]
The beginning of the Angkorian period was also marked
by changes in religious architecture. During the reign
of Jayavarman II, the single-chambered sanctuaries typical of Chenla gave way to temples constructed as a series of raised platforms bearing multiple towers.[47] Increasingly impressive temple pyramids came to represent
Mount Meru, the home of the Hindu gods, with the moats
surrounding the temples representing the mythological
oceans.[49]

7
vara.[54]

2.3 Vaishnavism
In the early days of Angkor, the worship of Vishnu was
secondary to that of Shiva. The relationship seems to
have changed with the construction of Angkor Wat by
King Suryavarman II as his personal mausoleum at the
beginning of the 12th century. The central religious image of Angkor Wat was an image of Vishnu, and an inscription identies Suryavarman as Paramavishnuloka,
or he who enters the heavenly world of Vishnu.[55] Religious syncretism, however, remained thoroughgoing in
Khmer society: the state religion of Shaivism was not
necessarily abrogated by Suryavarmans turn to Vishnu,
and the temple may well have housed a royal lingam.[52]
Furthermore, the turn to Vaishnavism did not abrogate
the royal personality cult of Angkor. by which the reigning king was identied with the deity. According to
Angkor scholar Georges Coeds, Angkor Wat is, if you
like, a vaishnavite sanctuary, but the Vishnu venerated
there was not the ancient Hindu deity nor even one of
the deitys traditional incarnations, but the king Suryavarman II posthumously identied with Vishnu, consubstantial with him, residing in a mausoleum decorated with the
graceful gures of apsaras just like Vishnu in his celestial palace.[56] Suryavarman proclaimed his identity with
Vishnu, just as his predecessors had claimed consubstantiation with Shiva.

An 11th- or 12th-century Cambodian bronze statue of Vishnu

Typically, a lingam served as the central religious image of the Angkorian temple-mountain. The templemountain was the center of the city, and the lingam in
the main sanctuary was the focus of the temple.[50] The
name of the central lingam was the name of the king
himself, combined with the sux -esvara, which designated Shiva.[51] Through the worship of the lingam, the
king was identied with Shiva, and Shaivism became the
state religion.[52] Thus, an inscription dated 881 AD indicates that king Indravarman I erected a lingam named
Indresvara.[53] Another inscription tells us that Indravarman erected eight lingams in his courts and that they
were named for the eight elements of Shiva.[53] Similarly, Rajendravarman, whose reign began in 944 AD,
constructed the temple of Pre Rup, the central tower of
which housed the royal lingam called Rajendrabhadres-

Face towers of the Bayon represent the king as the Bodhisattva

Lokesvara.

2.4 Mahayana Buddhism

In the last quarter of the 12th century, King Jayavarman
VII departed radically from the tradition of his predecessors when he adopted Mahayana Buddhism as his personal faith. Jayavarman also made Buddhism the state
religion of his kingdom when he constructed the Buddhist temple known as the Bayon at the heart of his new
capital city of Angkor Thom. In the famous face towers of the Bayon, the king represented himself as the
bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara moved by compassion for his
subjects.[57] Thus, Jayavarman was able to perpetuate the

4 TERMS AND PHRASES

royal personality cult of Angkor, while identifying the di- Khan, Preah Ko, Preah Palilay, Preah Pithu, Pre Rup,
vine component of the cult with the bodhisattva rather Spean Thma, Srah Srang, Ta Nei, Ta Prohm, Ta Som,
than with Shiva.[58]
Ta Keo, Terrace of the Elephants, Terrace of the Leper
King, Thommanon, West Baray, West Mebon. Another
city at Mahendraparvata was discovered in 2013.[63]

2.5

Hindu restoration

The Hindu restoration began around 1243 AD, with the

death of Jayavarman VIIs successor, Indravarman II. The
next king, Jayavarman VIII, was a Shaivite iconoclast who
specialized in destroying Buddhist images and in reestablishing the Hindu shrines that his illustrious predecessor
had converted to Buddhism. During the restoration, the
Bayon was made a temple to Shiva, and its central 3.6
meter tall statue of the Buddha was cast to the bottom of
a nearby well. Everywhere, cultist statues of the Buddha
were replaced by lingams.[59]

2.6

Religious pluralism

When Chinese traveller Zhou Daguan came to Angkor

in AD 1296, he found what he took to be three separate religious groups. The dominant religion was that
of Theravada Buddhism. Zhou observed that the monks
had shaven heads and wore yellow robes.[60] The Buddhist temples impressed Zhou with their simplicity. He
noted that the images of Buddha were made of gilded
plaster.[61] The other two groups identied by Zhou appear to have been those of the Brahmans and of the
Shaivites. About the Brahmans, Zhou had little to say,
except that they were often employed as high ocials.[61]
Of the Shaivites, whom he called "Taoists", Zhou wrote,
the only image which they revere is a block of stone analogous to the stone found in shrines of the god of the soil
in China.[61]

2.7

Theravada Buddhism

During the course of the 13th century, Theravada

Buddhism transmitted through the Mon kingdoms of
Dvaravati and Haripunchai made its appearance at
Angkor. Gradually, it became the dominant religion
of Cambodia, displacing both Mahayana Buddhism and
Shaivism.[62] The practice of Theravada Buddhism at
Angkor continues until this day.

Archaeological sites

The area of Angkor has many signicant archaeological sites, including the following: Angkor Thom, Angkor
Wat, Baksei Chamkrong, Banteay Kdei, Banteay Samr,
Banteay Srei, Baphuon, the Bayon, Chau Say Tevoda,
East Baray, East Mebon, Kbal Spean, the Khleangs, Krol
Ko, Lolei, Neak Pean, Phimeanakas, Phnom Bakheng,
Phnom Krom, Prasat Ak Yum, Prasat Kravan, Preah

4 Terms and phrases

Angkor (
) is a Khmer word meaning city.
It is a corrupted form of nokor which derives from
the Sanskrit nagara.
Banteay (
) is a Khmer term meaning
"citadel" or fortress that is also applied to walled
temples.
Baray (
) literally means open space or
wide plain but in Khmer architecture refers to an
articial reservoir.
Esvara, or Isvara, (
~
) is a sux referring to the god Shiva, especially its omnipotence,
freedom and independence.
Gopura is a Sanskrit term () meaning entrance pavilion or gateway.
Jaya (
~
) is a prex derived from Sanskrit
meaning victory.
Phnom (

) is a Khmer word meaning mountain.

Prasat (
) is a Khmer term derived from
Sanskrit prsda and usually meaning monument
or palace and, by extension, ancient temple.
Preah (
) is a Khmer term meaning God,
King or exalted. It can also be a prex meaning sacred or holy. Derived from Sanskrit vara.
(Preah Khan means sacred sword.)
Srei () is a Khmer term with two possible meanings. Derived from Sanskrit str () it means
woman, derived from Sanskrit sir () it means
beauty, splendor or glory.

Ta ( ) is a Khmer word meaning grandfather,

or under some circumstances ancestor. (Ta Prohm
means Ancestor Brahma. Neak ta means ancestors or ancestral spirits.)
Thom ( ) is a Khmer word meaning large.
(Angkor Thom means large city.)
Varman (
) is a sux, from Sanskrit varman, meaning shield or protector. (Suryavarman means protected by Surya, the sun-god.)
Wat (
) is a Khmer word, derived from the
Pali , vatta,[1] meaning (Buddhist) temple.
(Angkor Wat means temple city.)

See also
Angkor National Museum
Architecture of Cambodia
Funan
Hindu temple architecture
Greater India

[15] http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/specials/
ancient-mysteries/angkor-wat-temples/
[16] Higham, The Civilization of Angkor, pp.112 .; Chandler,
A History of Cambodia, p.49.
[17] Chandler, A History of Cambodia, p.50 f.
[18] Higham, The Civilization of Angkor, pp.120 .
[19] Tom St John Gray, Angkor Wat: Temple of Boom, World
Archeology, 7 November 2011.
[20] Higham, The Civilization of Angkor, p.116.

Footnotes

[21] Higham, The Civilization of Angkor, pp.134 .; Chandler,

A History of Cambodia, pp.71 .

[1] Headly, Robert K.; Chhor, Kylin; Lim, Lam Kheng;

Kheang, Lim Hak; Chun, Chen. 1977. CambodianEnglish Dictionary. Bureau of Special Research in Modern Languages. The Catholic University of America
Press. Washington, D.C. ISBN 0-8132-0509-3

[22] Cds, George (1968). The Indianized states of Southeast

Asia. University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 9780824803681.

[2] Chuon Nath Khmer Dictionary (1966, Buddhist Institute,

Phnom Penh)

[25] Coeds, Pour mieux comprendre Angkor, pp.64-65.

[3] Benfey, Theodor (1866). A Sanskrit-English Dictionary:

With References to the Best Edition of Sanskrit Author and
Etymologies and Camparisons of Cognate Words Chiey
in Greek, Latin, Gothic, and Anglo-Saxon (reprint ed.).
Asian Educational Services. pp. 453, 464. ISBN
8120603702. Retrieved 17 January 2016.
[4] Evans et al., A comprehensive archaeological map of
the worlds largest pre-industrial settlement complex
at Angkor, Cambodia, Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences of the USA, August 23, 2007.
[5] Evans, D., Pottier, C., Fletcher, R., Hensley, S., Tapley,
I., Milne, A., & Barbetti, M. (2007). A comprehensive
archaeological map of the worlds largest pre-industrial
settlement complex at Angkor, Cambodia. Proceedings
of the National Academy of Sciences, 104(36), 1427714282.
[6] Map reveals ancient urban sprawl, BBC News, 14 August
2007.
[7] Metropolis: Angkor, the worlds rst mega-city, The Independent, August 15, 2007
[8] Higham, The Civilization of Angkor, pp.53 .; Chandler,
A History of Cambodia, p.34 .
[9] Chandler, A History of Cambodia, p.26; Coeds, Pour
mieux comprendre Angkor, p.4.
[10] Higham, The Civilization of Angkor, pp.63 .
[11] Chandler, A History of Cambodia, p.40.
[12] Higham, C., 2001, The Civilization of Angkor, London:
Weidenfeld & Nicolson, ISBN 9781842125847
[13] Coeds, Pour mieux comprendre Angkor, p.10.
[14] Higham, The Civilization of Angkor, p.60; Chandler, A
History of Cambodia, p.38 f.

[23] Coeds, Pour mieux comprendre Angkor, p.32.

[24] Chandler, A History of Cambodia, p.78 .

[26] Richard Stone, Divining Angkor, National Geographic,

July 2009.
[27] Coeds, Pour mieux comprendre Angkor, p.30.
[28] Buckley, B. M., Anchukaitis, K. J., Penny, D., Fletcher,
R., Cook, E. R., Sano, M., ... & Hong, T. M. (2010).
Climate as a contributing factor in the demise of Angkor,
Cambodia. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 107(15), 6748-6752.
[29] AAP (14 March 2007). Climate change killed ancient
city. NEWS.com.au. Retrieved 12 November 2009.
[30] Nelson, Andy (10 November 2009). The secret life of
ancient trees. Christian Science Monitor. Archived from
the original on 12 November 2009. Retrieved 12 November 2009.
[31] Masako Fukawa, Stan Fukawa (6 Nov 2014). Japanese
Diaspora - Cambodia. Discover Nikkei. Retrieved 18
October 2015.
[32] History of Cambodia, Post-Angkor Era (1431 - present
day)". Cambodia Travel. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
[33] Leonowens, Anna, An Englishwoman in the Siamese
Court, 1870
[34] Lawrie, Ben. Beyond Angkor: How lasers revealed a lost
city. bbc.co.uk. BBC. Retrieved September 23, 2014.
[35] Tourist invasion threatens to ruin glories of Angkor, The
Observer.
[36] Sharp, Rob (14 March 2008). Heritage Site in Peril:
Angkor Wat is Falling Down. The Independent.
[37] Ben Doherty, Private water raiding threatens Angkors
temples built on sand, The Guardian, 27 September 2010
[38] Perlez, Jane (March 21, 2005). Siem Reap Journal; A
Cruel Race to Loot the Splendor That Was Angkor. The
New York Times.

10

[39] Watson, Paul (July 19, 2008). Too Much Adoration at

Cambodias Angkor Temples. Los Angeles Times.
[40] Wagner, Jonathan C. (1995). Environmental planning
for a world heritage site: Case study of Angkor, Cambodia.. Journal of Environmental Planning & Management
Vol. 38(3)
[41] Coeds, Pour mieux comprendre Angkor, p.18.
[42] Coeds, Pour mieux comprendre Angkor, p.2.
[43] Chandler, A History of Cambodia, pp.19-20.
[44] Higham, The Civilization of Angkor, p.46.
[45] Coeds, The Indianized States of Southeast Asia, p.73f.
[46] Chandler, A History of Cambodia, p.20.
[47] Higham, The Civilization of Angkor, p.57.
[48] Chandler, A History of Cambodia, p.34.
[49] Higham, The Civilization of Angkor, p.9, 60.
[50] Stern, Le temple-montagne khmr, p.615.
[51] Stern, Le temple-montagne khmr, p.612.
[52] Stern, Le temple-montagne khmr, p.616.
[53] Higham, The Civilization of Angkor, p.63.
[54] Higham, The Civilization of Angkor, pp.73.
[55] Higham, The Civilization of Angkor, p.118.
[56] Coeds, Pour mieux comprendre Angkor, p.63.
[57] Higham, The Civilization of Angkor, p.121.
[58] Coeds, Pour mieux comprendre Angkor, p.62.
[59] Higham, The Civilization of Angkor, p.133.
[60] Higham, The Civilization of Angkor, p.137.
[61] Chandler, A History of Cambodia, p.72.
[62] Coeds, Pour mieux comprendre Angkor, p.19.

EXTERNAL LINKS

Forbes, Andrew; Henley, David (2011). Angkor,

Eighth Wonder of the World.
Chiang Mai:
Cognoscenti Books. ASIN: B0085RYW0O
Freeman, Michael; Jacques, Claude (1999). Ancient
Angkor. Trumbull, Conn.: Weatherhill. ISBN 08348-0426-3.
Higham, Charles (2001).
The Civilization of
Angkor. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Petrotchenko, Michel (2014). Focusing on the
Angkor Temples: The Guidebook, 383 pages,
Amarin Printing and Publishing, 3rd edition, ISBN
978 616 361 118 5
Stern, Philippe (1934). Le temple-montagne
khmr, le culte du linga et le Devaraja, Bulletin de
l'cole franaise dExtrme-Orient 34, pp. 611616.
National Review: In Pol Pot Land: Ruins of varying
types Sept 29, 2003.
UNESCO: International Programme for the Preservation of Angkor Accessed 17 May 2005.
Climate change killed ancient city. The Australian. 2007-03-14. Retrieved 2007-03-16.
Smith, Justine (2007-02-25). Tourist invasion
threatens to ruin glories of Angkor. London: The
Observer.
Dayton, Leigh (2007-08-14). Angkor engineered
own end. The Australian. Retrieved 2007-08-14.
Map reveals ancient urban sprawl. BBC News.
2007-08-14.
Pescali, Piergiorgio (2010). Indocina. Bologna:
Emil. ISBN 978-88-96026-42-7.
Wagner, Jonathan (1992). Environmental planning
for a world heritage site: Case study of Angkor,
Cambodia. Journal of Environmental Planning &
Management Vol 38(3) pp. 419.

[63] Murdoch, Lindsay (2013-06-14). The lost city. The

Age.

8 External links
7

References
Audric, John (1972). Angkor and the Khmer Empire. London: R. Hale. ISBN 0-7091-2945-9.
Chandler, David (1992). A History of Cambodia.
Boulder: Westview Press.
Coeds, George (1968). The Indianized States of
Southeast Asia. Honolulu: East West Center Press.
Coeds, George (1943). Pour mieux comprendre
Angkor. Hanoi: Imprimerie d'Extrme Orient.

Google Maps Map centered on Angkor Wat, with

the Tonle Sap at the bottom
Greater Angkor Project International research
project investigating the settlement context of the
temples at Angkor
GreatAngkor Khmer temples, maps and photos
www.theangkorguide.com Illustrated online guide
to Angkor with plans and maps
Angkor Wat High-resolution NASA image

11
Bulletin de l'Ecole franaise d'Extrme-Orient,
1901-1936. Now online at gallica.bnf.fr, this
journal documents cutting-edge early 20th-century
French scholarship on Angkor and other topics related to Asian civilizations.
The World Monuments Fund in Angkor - background, interactive map, travel tips, panoramas, ecards
Angkor digital media archive - Photos, laser scans,
panoramas of Angkor Wat and Banteay Kdei from
a CyArk/Sophia University partnership
Royal Angkor Foundation - Foundation concerned
with the safeguarding and the development of the
cultural site of Angkor. In charge of various cultural
projects.
Images from Angkor - Images from Angkor.
Coordinates: 1326N 10350E / 13.433N 103.833E

12

9 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

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Whobot, JLaTondre, TLSuda, A bit iy, SmackBot, WilliamThweatt, PiCo, BionicWilliam, Delldot, Paxse, Jkp1187, Yamaguchi ,
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Pinethicket, Jusses2, Riccardo.fabris, TheStrayCat, Cowlibob, Bobby122, RjwilmsiBot, JD10000BC, BlackxxArrow, CalicoCatLover, Zujine, DASHBot, EmausBot, John of Reading, Rottha, Ekajatik, Tommy2010, Guighost, Italia2006, Thaisupun2010, H3llBot, L0ngpar1sh,
Mcmatter, Nanoshiva, Donner60, ClueBot NG, CocuBot, MelbourneStar, This lousy T-shirt, KnightxxArrow, SumerianPrince, Arabsalam, Iusethis, Chaiyasurya, Helpful Pixie Bot, BG19bot, Ymblanter, PhnomPencil, Insidiae, Dexbot, SantoshBot, Magentic Manifestations, Anantamahajan, Frosty, Mervat Salman, Jaxartes, Antosic, Pi3.124, Johan373, Nadesu, Large Noses, Daraveung, Parabolooidal,
SovanDara18, Sundgauvien38, Catdogbirdi, Lizzy8127, Hurlej, XXTrollingMadmanXx, Stamamil, KasparBot, Seawind and Anonymous:
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