A view of the Angkor Wat Temple at sunrise
A view of the Angkor Wat Temple at sunrise
The image shows a spectacular view of the Angkor Wat Temple at sunrise from the pond situated on the northwest side of the temple.
The temple is built like a mountain with three floors, each of which is within a rectangular shaped enclosure. The enclosures are concentric, and the floors on the inner enclosures are at a level higher than the outer enclosures.
As you can see from the image, the topmost level has five cone-shaped towers, four of which are at the corner and the fifth one, which is taller than the rest, is in the middle. The first level has the main entrance flanked on either side by a gallery surrounding the lowermost enclosure. The second level also has a rectangular gallery surrounding the middle enclosure with gopuras at the corners of this gallery.
Angkor Wat was built by King Suryavarman II in the 12th century at the height of Khmer civilization. The temple was originally dedicated to Vishnu, one of the Trimurti (Trinity) of Hinduism. Although the predecessors of Suryavarman II were devotees of Shiva, he became a devotee of Vishnu for an unknown reason. The temple became a Buddhist monument later and underwent some changes.
Related Pages
– Angkor Wat, Angkor Wat Bas-Reliefs, Angkor Thom, Bayon, Ta Prohm, Banteay Srei
– Phnom Kulen, Tonlé Sap, Cambodia
– Bali, Prambanan, Borobudur, Indonesia
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