Angkor Wat is a spectacular temple in southwest Cambodia, built
by the vanished Khmer empire. It was constructed during the reign
of king Suryavarman II, who ruled from 1113 to at least 1145. In
those days, it was customary for the Khmer Empire to maintain a
state temple at the heart of the city. However, when Suryavarman
assumed power, the existing Baphuon state temple was dedicated to
Shiva. Suryavarman worshiped Vishnu, and wished to honor him with
a new temple south of the existing capital. This new state temple
came to be called Angkor Wat, meaning "The city that is a temple."
 The
land occupied by the temple measures 1300 meters north-south, and
1500 meters east-west. Unlike other Khmer temples, the entrance
faces west toward Vishnu. A person entering the temple first approaches
an entrance causeway that takes him across the 200 meter wide moat.
On the opposite shore is an entrance pavilion measuring 230 meters
north-south. Its central bays have three passages that elephants
could fit through for royal processions. Past the entrance gate
is a long causeway that runs for over 300 meters, decorated with
mythical snake-like animals called naga. On either side are isolated
buildings called "libraries" though their true function
is unknown (image 7). Near the temple are two small pools.
The actual temple sits on a sandstone plinth a meter above the
ground. Its perimeter is decorated with naga balustrades (image
18, foreground). The outer wall of the temple is called the "first
enclosure," and sits on a plinth 3.3 meters high. A continuous
gallery runs along the outside face of the wall (image 16). The
inner face is decorated with 700 meters of continuous bas reliefs.
 Just
to the east of the west gate of the first enclosure is a series
of four rooms arranged in a cruciform(images 22-24). Each room is
surrounded by a continuous gallery and has a sunken floor where
ponds used to be. The southern arm of the cross was once called
the "Gallery of a thousand Buddhas" because until very
recently, the Khmer faithful left Buddha statues here. Most of these
were destroyed during the recent civil war. North and south of the
"western cruciform" are two more "libraries."
The second enclosure rests on a base 5.8 meters high. It is linked
to the Western Cruciform by a series of stairs. Inside this courtyard
are still more "libraries," smaller than the previous
ones.
The inner enclosure rests on a two-tiered pyramid 11 meters tall.
The stairs are extremely steep (see image 31). The upper terrace
has a continuous gallery that encloses an inner cruciform of four
rooms. Five towers jut from the upper tier in a quincunx arrangement
(like five dots on a pair of dice). The cruciform used to contain
a number of separate shrines, but they look like passageways now
since the wooden doors are gone. The central tower is 65 meters
above ground level.
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