Angkor Wat

2022-11-11T10:18:20Z

ShrSmiSarSzh: /* Features */

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Short description|Temple complex in Cambodia}}
{{pp-move-indef}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2017}}
{{Infobox ancient site
| native_name = {{lang|km|អង្គរវត្ត}}
| image = Ankor Wat temple.jpg
| alt =
| caption = Front side of the main complex
| map_type = Cambodia
| map_caption = Location in Cambodia
| coordinates = {{coord|13|24|45|N|103|52|0|E|type:landmark_region:KH|display=inline,title}}
| location = [[Siem Reap]], [[Cambodia]]
| altitude_m = 65
| architectural_styles = [[Khmer architecture|Khmer]] (Angkor Wat style)
| built = 12th century<ref name="NG-Photo-AW">{{Cite web|url=http://www.nationalgeographic.org/photo/angkor-wat-cambodia-990/|title=Angkor Wat|last=Society|first=National Geographic|date=2013-03-01|website=National Geographic Society|language=en|access-date=2020-04-23}}</ref>
| builder = Started by [[Suryavarman II]] Completed by [[Jayavarman VII]]
| cultures = [[Khmer Empire]]
| website =
| embedded = {{designation list | embed=yes
| designation1 = WHS
| designation1_offname = Angkor
| designation1_type = Cultural
| designation1_criteria = i, ii, iii, iv
| designation1_number = [https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/668 668]
| designation1_date = 1992 {{small|(16th [[World Heritage Committee|session]])}}
| designation1_free1name = Region
| designation1_free1value = [[List of World Heritage Sites in Asia|Asia and the Pacific]]
}}
}}
{{Contains special characters|Khmer}}
{{Contains special characters|Indic}}

'''Angkor Wat''' ({{IPAc-en|ˌ|æ|ŋ|k|ɔːr|_|ˈ|w|ɒ|t}}; {{lang-km|អង្គរវត្ត}}, "City/Capital of Temples") is a temple complex in [[Cambodia]] and is the largest religious monument in the world,<ref name="NG-Photo-AW"/> on a site measuring {{convert|162.6|ha|m2 acre}}.<ref name="Guinness">{{cite web|title=Largest religious structure|work=Guinness World Records|url=http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/largest-religious-structure/|accessdate=29 April 2016}}</ref> Originally constructed as a [[Hinduism|Hindu]] temple<ref name="NG-Photo-AW"/> dedicated to the god [[Vishnu]] for the [[Khmer Empire]] by King [[Suryavarman II]], it was gradually transformed into a [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] temple towards the end of the 12th century; as such, it is also described as a "Hindu-Buddhist" temple.<ref>{{cite book|title=Atlas of the World's Religions|page=93|publisher=Oxford university press}}</ref><ref name="cyark">{{cite web|url=http://www.cyark.org/news/recycling-monuments-the-hinduismbuddhism-switch-at-angkor|title=Recycling Monuments: The Hinduism/Buddhism Switch at Angkor|author=Ashley M. Richter|date=8 September 2009|publisher=[[CyArk]]|accessdate=7 June 2015}}</ref>

Angkor Wat was built at the behest of the Khmer King [[Suryavarman II]]<ref name=Higham1>{{cite book |author=Higham, C. |date= 2014 |title= Early Mainland Southeast Asia |location= Bangkok |publisher= River Books Co., Ltd. |isbn= 978-616-7339-44-3 |pages=372, 378–379}}</ref> in the early 12th century in [[Yaśodharapura]] ({{lang-km|យសោធរបុរៈ}}, present-day [[Angkor]]), the capital of the [[Khmer Empire]], as his state temple and eventual mausoleum. Angkor Wat combines two basic plans of Khmer temple architecture: the [[Khmer architecture#Temple mountain|temple-mountain]] and the later [[Khmer architecture#Gallery|galleried temple]]. It is designed to represent [[Mount Meru]], home of the [[Deva (Hinduism)|devas]] in [[Hindu mythology]]: within a [[moat]] more than 5 kilometres (3 mi) long<ref name=Jarus2018>{{cite news |last1=Jarus |first1=Owen |title=Angkor Wat: History of Ancient Temple |url=https://www.livescience.com/23841-angkor-wat.html |accessdate=28 July 2018 |work=Live Science |publisher=Purch |date=5 April 2018}}</ref> and an outer wall {{convert|3.6|km|mi|1}} long are three rectangular galleries, each raised above the next. At the centre of the temple stands a [[quincunx]] of towers. Unlike most Angkorian temples, Angkor Wat is oriented to the west; scholars are divided as to the significance of this. The temple is admired for the grandeur and harmony of the architecture, its extensive [[Relief#Bas-relief or low relief|bas-reliefs]], and for the numerous [[devata]]s adorning its
The modern name Angkor Wat, alternatively Nokor Wat,<ref>Khmer dictionary adopted from Khmer dictionary of Buddhist institute of Cambodia, p. 1424, pub. 2007</ref> means "Temple City" or "City of Temples" in [[Khmer language|Khmer]]. ''Angkor'' ({{lang|km|អង្គរ}} {{transliteration|km|ângkôr}}) meaning "city" or "capital city", is a vernacular form of the word ''nokor'' ({{lang|km|នគរ}} {{transliteration|km|nôkôr}}), which comes from the [[Sanskrit]]/[[Pali]] word ''nagara'' ([[Devanāgarī]]: नगर).<ref name=Nath>Chuon Nath Khmer Dictionary (1966, Buddhist Institute, Phnom Penh)</ref> ''[[Wat]]'' ({{lang|km|វត្ត}} {{transliteration|km|vôtt}}) is the word for "temple grounds", also derived from Sanskrit/Pali ''vāṭa'' ([[Devanāgarī]]: वाट), meaning "enclosure".<ref name=Headley77>Cambodian-English Dictionary by Robert K. Headley, Kylin Chhor, Lam Kheng Lim, Lim Hak Kheang, and Chen Chun (1977, Catholic University Press)</ref>

The original name of the temple was Vrah Viṣṇuloka or Parama Viṣṇuloka meaning "the sacred dwelling of [[Vishnu]]."<ref name="Falser">{{Cite book|last=Falser|first=Michael|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wjrEDwAAQBAJ&q=Vrah+Visnuloka+Parama+Visnuloka&pg=PA12|title=Angkor Wat – A Transcultural History of Heritage: Volume 1: Angkor in France. From Plaster Casts to Exhibition Pavilions. Volume 2: Angkor in Cambodia. From Jungle Find to Global Icon|date=16 December 2019|publisher=Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG|isbn=978-3-11-033584-2|language=en|page=12}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|title=Angkor Wat|url=http://www.apsaraauthority.gov.kh/?page=detail&menu1=218&menu2=745&menu3=746&ctype=article&id=746&lg=en|access-date=7 February 2021|website=www.apsaraauthority.gov.kh}}</ref>

==History==
[[File:Suryavarman_II.jpg|thumb|King [[Suryavarman II]], the builder of Angkor Wat]]
Angkor Wat lies {{convert|5.5|km|mi|frac=4}} north of the modern town of [[Siem Reap]], and a short distance south and slightly east of the previous capital, which was centred at [[Baphuon]]. In an area of Cambodia where there is an essential group of ancient structures, it is the southernmost of Angkor's main sites.{{citation needed|date=March 2021}}

The construction of Angkor Wat took place over a period of 28 years from 1122 – 1150 CE during the reign of King [[Suryavarman II]] (ruled 1113 – {{circa|1150}}).<ref name="Ancient Southeast Asia">{{cite book |last1=Miksic |first1=John |last2=Yian |first2=Goh |title=Ancient Southeast Asia |date=14 October 2016 |publisher=Routledge |page=378 |isbn=9781317279044 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Ancient_Southeast_Asia/zjklDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=suryavarman+chola+mother&pg=PA376&printsec=frontcover |access-date=4 July 2022}}</ref> The [[brahmin]] by the name of Divākarapaṇḍita (1040 – {{circa|1120}}) was responsible for urging [[Suryavarman II]] to construct the temple.<ref>Divākarapaṇḍita. (n.d.). Britannica. Retrieved March 19, 2022, from https://www.britannica.com/biography/Divakarapandita</ref> All of the original religious motifs at Angkor Wat derived from [[Hinduism]].<ref name="britannica.com">{{Cite web|title=Angkor Wat {{!}} Description, Location, History, Restoration, & Facts|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Angkor-Wat|access-date=7 February 2021|website=Encyclopedia Britannica}}</ref> Breaking from the [[Shaivism|Shaiva]] tradition of previous kings, Angkor Wat was instead dedicated to [[Vishnu]]. It was built as the king's state temple and capital city. As neither the foundation [[Stele|stela]] nor any contemporary inscriptions referring to the temple have been found, its original name is unknown, but it may have been known as "Varah Vishnu-[[Loka|lok]]" after the presiding deity. Work seems to have ended shortly after the king's death, leaving some of the [[Relief#Bas-relief or low relief|bas-relief]] decoration unfinished.<ref name="Ohio">{{cite web |url= http://huntingtonarchive.osu.edu/seasia/angkor.html|title=Angkor Wat, 1113–1150 |access-date=27 April 2008 |publisher=College of the Arts, The Ohio State University |work=The Huntington Archive of Buddhist and Related Art}}</ref> The term ''Vrah Viṣṇuloka'' or ''Parama Viṣṇuloka'' literally means "The king who has gone to the supreme world of Vishnu", which refer to Suryavarman II posthumously and intend to venerate his glory and memory.<ref name="Falser"/>

In 1177, approximately 27 years after the death of [[Suryavarman II]], Angkor was sacked by the [[Champa|Chams]], the traditional enemies of the Khmer.<ref>{{cite book|last= Coedès|first= George|author-link= George Coedès|editor= Walter F. Vella|others= trans.Susan Brown Cowing|title= The Indianized States of Southeast Asia|date= 1968|publisher= University of Hawaii Press|isbn= 978-0-8248-0368-1 |page=164}}</ref> Thereafter 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 kilometers north, dedicated to Buddhism, because the king believed that the Hindu gods had failed him. Angkor Wat was therefore also gradually converted into a Buddhist site, and many Hindu sculptures were replaced by Buddhist art.<ref name="britannica.com"/>
{{Multiple image
| align = right | direction = horizontal |total_width=400
| image1 = Facade of Angkor Wat.jpg
| caption1 =Facade of Angkor Wat, a drawing by [[Henri Mouhot]], c. 1860
| image2 = AngkorWat_Delaporte1880.jpg
| caption2 = Sketch of Angkor Wat, a drawing by [[Louis Delaporte]], c. 1880
}}
[[File:De drie torens van den tempel van Angkor-Wat.jpg|thumb|Early photograph of Angkor Wat in 1866, taken by [[Emile Gsell]]]]

Towards the end of the 12th century, Angkor Wat gradually transformed from a Hindu centre of worship to [[Buddhism]], which continues to the present day.<ref name="cyark">{{cite web|url=http://www.cyark.org/news/recycling-monuments-the-hinduismbuddhism-switch-at-angkor|title=Recycling Monuments: The Hinduism/Buddhism Switch at Angkor|author=Ashley M. Richter|date=8 September 2009|publisher=[[CyArk]]|accessdate=7 June 2015}}</ref> Angkor Wat is unusual among the Angkor temples in that although it was largely neglected after the 16th century, it was never completely abandoned.<ref>Glaize, ''The Monuments of the Angkor Group'' p. 59.</ref> Fourteen inscriptions dated from the 17th century, discovered in the Angkor area, testify to [[Japanese people|Japanese]] Buddhist pilgrims that had established small settlements alongside Khmer locals.<ref name="Nikkei">{{cite web |title =Japanese Diaspora – Cambodia | author = Masako Fukawa | author2 = Stan Fukawa |date = 6 November 2014 | website = Discover Nikkei | url =http://www.discovernikkei.org/en/journal/2014/11/6/japanese-diaspora-cambodia/ | access-date =18 October 2015}}</ref> At that time, the temple was thought by the Japanese visitors to be the famed [[Jetavana]] garden of the [[Buddha]], which was originally located in the kingdom of [[Magadha]], India.<ref>{{cite journal | title = Au-dela du plan Japonais du XVII siècle d'Angkor Vat, (A XVII century Japanese map of Angkor Wat) |author = Abdoul-Carime Nasir |url =http://aefek.free.fr/iso_album/carteangkor_jetavana.pdf | language =fr |access-date =18 October 2015 | journal=Bulletin de l'AEFEK}}</ref> The best-known inscription tells of [[Ukondayu Kazufusa]], who celebrated the [[Khmer New Year]] at Angkor Wat in 1632.<ref>{{cite web | title = History of Cambodia, Post-Angkor Era (1431 – present day) | work = Cambodia Travel |url =http://www.cambodia-travel.com/khmer/post-angkor.htm |access-date =18 October 2015}}</ref>
[[File:Buddhist monks in front of the Angkor Wat.jpg|thumb|Buddhist monks in front of the reflection pool at Angkor Wat, Cambodia]]
One of the first Western visitors to the temple was [[António da Madalena]], a [[Portugal|Portuguese]] friar who visited in 1586 and said that it "is of such extraordinary construction that it is not possible to describe it with a pen, particularly since it is like no other building in the world. It has towers and decoration and all the refinements which the human genius can conceive of."<ref>Higham, ''The Civilization of Angkor'' pp. 1–2.</ref>

In 1622, ''[[The Poem of Angkor Wat]]'' composed in Khmer verse describes the beauty of Angkor Wat and creates a legend around the construction of the complex, supposedly a divine castle built for legendary Khmer king Preah Ket Mealea by Hindu god Preah Pisnukar (or Braḥ Bisṇukār, [[Vishvakarma]]n), as Suryavarman II had already vanished from people's minds.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kim |first=Jinah |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=badNAQAAMAAJ&q=Ketumala+angkor |title=Reading Angkor Wat: A History of Oscillating Identity |date=2001 |publisher=University of California, Berkeley |pages=31 |language=en}}</ref>

In 1860, with the help of French missionary Father Charles-Émile Bouillevaux, the temple was effectively rediscovered by the French naturalist and explorer [[Henri Mouhot]], who popularised the site in the West through the publication of travel notes, in which he wrote:{{cquote|One of these temples, a rival to that of [[Solomon's Temple|Solomon]], and erected by some ancient [[Michelangelo]], might take an honorable place beside our most beautiful buildings. It is grander than anything left to us by [[Ancient Greece|Greece]] or [[Ancient Rome|Rome]], and presents a sad contrast to the state of barbarism in which the nation is now plunged.<ref>Quoted in [http://www.cambodianview.com/documents/articles/Brief_Presentation.pdf Brief Presentation by Venerable Vodano Sophan Seng] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060823131709/http://www.cambodianview.com/documents/articles/Brief_Presentation.pdf |date=23 August 2006 }}</ref>
}}

In 1861 German anthropologist [[Adolf Bastian]] undertook a four-year trip to [[Southeast Asia]] and his account of this trip, ''The People of East Asia'' ran to six volumes. When Bastian finally published the studies and observations during his ''Journey through Cambodia to Cochinchina'' in Germany in 1868 - told in detail but uninspiredly, above all without a single one of his drawings of the Angkorian sites - this work hardly made an impression, while everyone was talking about [[Henri Mouhot]]'s posthumous work with vivid descriptions of [[Angkor]], ''Travels in the Central Parts of Indo-China, Siam, Cambodia and Laos'', published in 1864 through the [[Royal Geographical Society]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=2014-01-19 |title=Das Geheimnis von Angkor Wat |language=de-DE |work=Der Tagesspiegel Online |url=https://www.tagesspiegel.de/gesellschaft/kambodscha-das-geheimnis-von-angkor-wat/9349890.html |access-date=2022-03-17 |issn=1865-2263}}</ref>

There were no ordinary dwellings or houses or other signs of settlement, including cooking utensils, weapons, or items of clothing usually found at ancient sites. Instead, there is only evidence of the monuments themselves.<ref name="Southeast Asia 1995 p. 67-99">''Time Life Lost Civilizations series: Southeast Asia: A Past Regained'' (1995). pp. 67–99</ref>
[[File:Expo 1931 Angkor nuit.jpg|thumb|The grand replica of Angkor Wat at the [[Paris Colonial Exposition]] (1931) represented the immense grandeur of the [[French protectorate of Cambodia]].]]

The artistic legacy of Angkor Wat and other Khmer monuments in the [[Angkor]] region led directly to France adopting Cambodia as a [[protectorate]] on 11 August 1863 and invading [[Rattanakosin Kingdom (1782–1932)|Siam]] to take control of the ruins. This quickly led to Cambodia reclaiming lands in the northwestern corner of the country such as the areas of Siem Reap, [[Battambang]] and [[Sisophon]] which were under Siamese rule from 1795 to 1907.<ref>Penny Edwards (2007).''Cambodge: The Cultivation of a Nation, 1860–1945'' {{ISBN|978-0-8248-2923-0}}</ref><ref>KARNJANATAWE, K. (2015, November 26). See the sights of Sa Kaeo. Bangkok Post. Retrieved April 5, 2022, from https://www.bangkokpost.com/travel/777225/see-the-sights-of-sa-kaeo</ref>

Angkor Wat's aesthetics were on display in the plaster cast museum of [[Louis Delaporte]] called ''musée Indo-chinois'' which existed in the Parisian [[Musée d'Ethnographie du Trocadéro|Trocadero Palace]] from c.1880 to the mid-1920s.<ref>Falser, Michael (2013). [http://www.riha-journal.org/articles/2013/2013-apr-jun/falser-musee-indo-chinois ''From Gaillon to Sanchi, from Vézelay to Angkor Wat. The Musée Indo-Chinois in Paris: A Transcultural Perspective on Architectural Museums.''].</ref>

The 20th century saw a considerable restoration of Angkor Wat.<ref name="multiref1">Glaize p. 59.</ref> Gradually teams of laborers and archeologists pushed back the jungle and exposed the expanses of stone, permitting the sun to once again illuminate the dark corners of the temple. Angkor Wat caught the attention and imagination of a wider audience in Europe when the pavilion of [[French protectorate of Cambodia]], as part of [[French Indochina]], recreated the life-size replica of Angkor Wat during [[Paris Colonial Exposition]] in 1931.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://transversal.at/transversal/1007/kuster/en|title=On the international colonial exhibition in Paris 1931 {{!}} transversal texts
|first=Brigitta |last=Kuster |website=transversal.at|access-date=23 April 2020}}</ref>

Cambodia gained independence from France on 9 November 1953 and has controlled Angkor Wat since that time. It is safe to say that from the colonial period onwards until the site's nomination as [[UNESCO World Heritage]] in 1992, this specific temple of Angkor Wat was instrumental in the formation of the modern and gradually globalised concept of built cultural heritage.<ref>Falser, Michael: Clearing the Path towards Civilization – 150 Years of "Saving Angkor". In: Michael Falser (ed.) Cultural Heritage as Civilizing Mission. From Decay to Recovery. Springer: Heidelberg, New York, pp. 279–346.</ref>

[[File:Bullet holes at angkor wat.jpg|thumb|right|Bullet holes left by a shoot-out between the [[Khmer Rouge]] and Vietnamese forces at Angkor Wat]]
Restoration work was interrupted by the [[Cambodian Civil War]] and [[Khmer Rouge]] control of the country during the 1970s and 1980s, but relatively little damage was done during this period. Camping Khmer Rouge forces used whatever wood remained in the building structures for firewood, and a shoot-out between Khmer Rouge and Vietnamese forces put a few bullet holes in a bas relief. Far more damage was done after the wars, by [[art thieves]] working out of Thailand, which, in the late 1980s and early 1990s, claimed almost every head that could be lopped off the structures, including reconstructions.<ref name="Angkor Battle">{{cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9hAteN7ddW0C&q=Angkor+Wat+Khmer+Rouge+war&pg=PA52|title=The Battle of Angkor Wat |magazine=New Scientist|pages=52–57|date=14 October 1989 |author=Russell Ciochon |author2=Jamie James |name-list-style=amp|access-date=22 November 2015}}</ref>

The temple is a powerful symbol of Cambodia, and is a source of great national pride that has factored into Cambodia's diplomatic relations with France, the United States, and its neighbour Thailand. A depiction of Angkor Wat has been a part of [[Flag of Cambodia|Cambodian national flags]] since the introduction of the first version circa 1863.<ref>Flags of the World, [http://flagspot.net/flags/kh_hstry.html Cambodian Flag History]</ref> From a larger historical and even transcultural perspective, however, the temple of Angkor Wat did not become a symbol of national pride ''sui generis'' but had been inscribed into a larger politico-cultural process of French-colonial heritage production in which the original temple site was presented in French colonial and universal exhibitions in Paris and Marseille between 1889 and 1937.<ref>Falser, Michael (2011). [http://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/ojs/index.php/transcultural/article/view/9083 ''Krishna and the Plaster Cast. Translating the Cambodian Temple of Angkor Wat in the French Colonial Period''].</ref>

In December 2015, it was announced that a research team from [[University of Sydney]] had found a previously unseen ensemble of buried towers built and demolished during the construction of Angkor Wat, as well as a massive structure of unknown purpose on its south side and wooden fortifications. The findings also include evidence of low-density residential occupation in the region, with a road grid, ponds, and mounds. These indicate that the temple precinct, bounded by moat and wall, may not have been used exclusively by the priestly elite, as was previously thought. The team used [[LiDAR]], [[ground-penetrating radar]] and targeted excavation to map Angkor Wat.<ref name="sydney">{{cite web | url =http://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/news/2015/12/09/new-discoveries-redefine-angkor-wat-s-history.html|title=Recent research has transformed archaeologists' understanding of Angkor Wat and its surroundings|publisher=University of Sydney| date=9 December 2015| access-date =10 December 2015}}</ref>

According to a myth, the construction of Angkor Wat was ordered by [[Indra]] to serve as a palace for his son Precha Ket Mealea.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HAZrFhvqnTkC|title=Asiatic Mythology:A Detailed Description and Explanation of the Mythologies of All the Great Nations of Asia|author1= J. Hackin|author2= Clayment Huart|author3= Raymonde Linossier|author4= H. de Wilman Grabowska|author5= Charles-Henri Marchal|author6= Henri Maspero|author7= Serge Eliseev|date=1932|page=194|isbn=978-81-206-0920-4}}</ref> According to the 13th-century Chinese traveller [[Zhou Daguan]], some believed that the temple was constructed in a single night by a divine architect.<ref>{{cite book|title= A Record of Cambodia: The Land and Its People|author=Daguan Zhou|others=Translated by Peter Harris|publisher=Silkworm Books|date=2007}}</ref>

==Architecture==

===Site and plan===
{{main|Angkor Wat Equinox}}
{{multiple image
| align = right | direction = horizontal |total_width=330
| header_align = center | header = Plan of Angkor Wat
| image1 = Angkor Wat M2.png
| alt1 =
| caption1 = The general layout of Angkor Wat with its central structure in the middle
| image2 = Angkor Wat M3.png
| alt2 =
| caption2 = A detailed plan of the central structure
}}

Angkor Wat is a unique combination of the [[Khmer architecture#Temple mountain|temple mountain]] (the standard design for the empire's state temples) and the later plan of concentric [[Khmer architecture#Gallery|galleries]], most of which were derived from religious beliefs of [[Hinduism]] originally.<ref name="britannica.com"/> The construction of Angkor Wat also suggests that there was a celestial significance with certain features of the temple. This is observed in the temple's east–west orientation, and lines of sight from terraces within the temple that show specific towers to be at the precise location of the sunrise on a solstice.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Fleming |first1=Stuart |title=Science Scope: The City of Angkor Wat: A Royal Observatory on Life? |journal=Archaeology |date=1985 |volume=38 |issue=1 |pages=62–72 |jstor=41731666}}</ref> The temple is a representation of [[Mount Meru]], the home of the gods according to [[Hindu]] mythology: the central [[quincunx]] of towers symbolises the five peaks of the mountain, and the walls and moat symbolize the surrounding mountain ranges and ocean.<ref name="multiref2">Freeman and Jacques p. 48.</ref> Access to the upper areas of the temple was progressively more exclusive, with the laity being admitted only to the lowest level.<ref>Glaize p. 62.</ref>

[[File:Angkor-Wat-from-the-air.JPG|thumb|An aerial view of Angkor Wat]]

The Angkor Wat temple's main tower aligns to the morning sun of the [[Angkor Wat Equinox|spring equinox]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/world/how-countries-around-the-world-celebrate-the-spring-equinox/ss-BBKsKZB#image=20|title=How countries around the world celebrate the spring equinox|website=www.msn.com|language=en-CA|access-date=4 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181004185657/https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/world/how-countries-around-the-world-celebrate-the-spring-equinox/ss-BBKsKZB#image=20|archive-date=4 October 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.art-and-archaeology.com/seasia/angkorwat/awsite.html|title=Ankgor Wat, Cambodia|website=www.art-and-archaeology.com|access-date=4 October 2018}}</ref> Unlike most Khmer temples, Angkor Wat is oriented to the west rather than the east. This has led many (including [[Maurice Glaize]] and [[George Coedès]]) to conclude that Suryavarman intended it to serve as his funerary temple.<ref name="Coedes">{{cite book|last= Coedès|first= George|author-link= George Coedès|editor= Walter F. Vella|others= trans.Susan Brown Cowing|title= The Indianized States of Southeast Asia|date= 1968|publisher= University of Hawaii Press|isbn= 978-0-8248-0368-1 |page=162 }}</ref><ref>The diplomatic envoy Zhou Da Guan sent by Emperor [[Temür Khan]] to Angkor in 1295 reported that the head of state was buried in a tower after his death, and he referred to Angkor Wat as a mausoleum</ref> Further evidence for this view is provided by the [[Relief#Bas-relief or low relief|bas-reliefs]], which proceed in a counter-clockwise direction—''[[Mandir|prasavya]]'' in [[Hindu]] terminology—as this is the reverse of the normal order. Rituals take place in reverse order during Brahminic funeral services.<ref name="multiref1" />

Archaeologist [[Charles Higham (archaeologist)|Charles Higham]] also describes a container which may have been a funerary jar which was recovered from the central tower.<ref name="multiref3">Higham, ''The Civilization of Angkor'' p. 118.</ref> It has been nominated by some as the greatest expenditure of energy on the disposal of a corpse.<ref name="Scarre p. 81-85">{{cite book |editor-last=Scarre |editor-first=Chris |year=1999 |title=The Seventy Wonders of the Ancient World |location=London |publisher=Thames & Hudson |pages=81–85}}</ref> Freeman and Jacques, however, note that several other temples of [[Angkor]] depart from the typical eastern orientation, and suggest that Angkor Wat's alignment was due to its dedication to [[Vishnu]], who was associated with the west.<ref name="multiref2" />

Drawing on the temple's alignment and dimensions, and on the content and arrangement of the bas-reliefs, researcher Eleanor Mannikka argues that the structure represents a claimed new era of peace under King [[Suryavarman II]]: "as the measurements of solar and lunar time cycles were built into 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 honour and placate the deities manifest in the heavens above."<ref>{{cite web |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720024524/http://huntingtonarchive.osu.edu/seasia/angkor.html |archive-date=20 July 2011|first= Eleanor|last= Mannikka|url= http://huntingtonarchive.osu.edu/seasia/angkor.html |title=Angkor Wat, 1113–1150}} (This page does not cite an author's name.)</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Stencel |first1=Robert |last2=Gifford |first2=Fred |last3=Morón |first3=Eleanor| title=Astronomy and Cosmology at Angkor Wat|journal=Science|volume= 193 |issue=4250 |date=1976|pages= 281–287 |doi=10.1126/science.193.4250.281 |pmid=17745714 |bibcode=1976Sci...193..281S }} (Mannikka, née Morón)</ref> Mannikka's suggestions have been received with a mixture of interest and scepticism in academic circles.<ref name="multiref3" /> She distances herself from the speculations of others, such as [[Graham Hancock]], that Angkor Wat is part of a representation of the constellation [[Draco (constellation)|Draco]].<ref>Transcript of [http://www.grahamhancock.com/horizon/horizon_script_2.htm Atlantis Reborn], broadcast [[BBC Two|BBC2]] 4 November 1999.</ref>

The oldest surviving plan of Angkor Wat dates to 1715 and is credited to Fujiwara Tadayoshi. The plan is stored in the Suifu Meitoku-kai Shokokan Museum in [[Mito, Ibaraki|Mito]], [[Japan]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ishizawa |first1=Yoshiaki |title=The World's Oldest Plan of Angkor Vat: The Japanese So-Called Jetavana, an Illustrated Plan of the Seventeenth Century |journal=UDAYA, Journal of Khmer Studies |date=2015 |volume=13 |page=50}}</ref>

===Style===
[[File:Angkor Vat (6931599619).jpg|thumb|right|Angkor Wat as viewed from the side]]
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 [[resin]]s or [[slaked lime]] has been suggested.<ref>[http://www.gacp-angkor.de/ German Apsara Conservation Project] Building Techniques, p. 5.</ref>

The temple has drawn praise above all for the harmony of its design. According to Maurice Glaize, a mid-20th-century conservator of Angkor, 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."<ref>Glaize p. 25.</ref>

[[File:Angkor_Wat_bas-reliefs_(9730508282).jpg|thumb|left|A fight scene on an Angkor Wat [[bas-relief]] mural. A man uses an elbow strike to the jaw of his opponent while enemies with spears approach.]]
Architecturally, the elements characteristic of the style include: the [[Ogive|ogival]], redented towers shaped like [[Nelumbo nucifera|lotus]] buds; half-[[Architecture of Cambodia#Gallery|galleries]] to broaden passageways; axial galleries connecting enclosures; and the cruciform terraces which appear along the main axis of the temple. Typical decorative elements are [[Architecture of Cambodia#Apsara and devata|devatas (or apsaras)]], [[bas-relief]]s, and on [[pediment]]s extensive garlands and narrative scenes. The statuary of Angkor Wat is considered conservative, being more static and less graceful than earlier work.<ref>APSARA authority, [http://www.autoriteapsara.org/en/angkor/art/styles/angkorian/angkor_vat.html Angkor Vat Style]</ref> Other elements of the design have been destroyed by looting and the passage of time, including [[gilding|gilded]] [[stucco]] on the towers, gilding on some figures on the bas-reliefs, and wooden ceiling panels and doors.<ref>Freeman and Jacques p. 29.</ref>

Architect Jacques Dumarçay believes the layout of Angkor Wat borrows Chinese influence in its system of galleries which join at right angles to form courtyards. However, the axial pattern embedded in the plan of Angkor Wat may be derived from [[Southeast Asian]] cosmology in combination with the [[mandala]] represented by the main temple.<ref name="Ancient Southeast Asia" />

===Features===

====Outer enclosure====
{{Multiple image
|total_width=360 |align= right |direction = horizontal |perrow=2/1
|image1=Buddhist Monk at Angkor Wat 1.jpg
|alt1=
|caption1=A view of the gates and west wall of the outer enclosure of Angkor Wat from across the moat
|image2= Angkor Wat 005.jpg
|alt2=
|caption2= The Northern library
|image3=Statue in Cambodia.jpg
|alt3=
|caption3=Ta Reach Statue at Angkor Wat,<ref name=":0b">{{Cite web|title=Ta Reach Statue at Angkor Wat in Angkor Archaeological Park, Cambodia|url=https://www.encirclephotos.com/image/ta-reach-statue-at-angkor-wat-in-angkor-archaeological-park-cambodia/|access-date=18 February 2021|website=Encircle Photos|language=en-US}}</ref> an Eight-Armed [[Vishnu]].
}}

The outer wall, {{convert|1024|m|ft|abbr=on}} by {{convert|802|m|ft|abbr=on}} and {{convert|4.5|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} high, is surrounded by a {{convert|30|m|ft|abbr=on}} apron of open ground and a moat {{convert|190|m|ft|abbr=on}} wide and over 5 kilometres (3 mi) in perimeter.<ref name=Jarus2018 /> The moat extends 1.5 kilometres from east to west and 1.3 kilometres from north to south.<ref name="Angkor Wat: An Introduction">{{cite journal |last1=Fletcher |first=Roland |first2=Damian |last2=Evans |first3=Christophe |last3=Pottier |first4=Chhay |last4=Rachna |title=Angkor Wat: An introduction |journal=Antiquity |date=December 2015 |volume=89 |issue=348 |page=1395 |doi=10.15184/aqy.2015.178 |s2cid=162553313 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/286412358 |access-date=27 March 2020 |via=ResearchGate}}</ref> Access to the temple is by an earth bank to the east and a sandstone causeway to the west; the latter, the main entrance, is a later addition, possibly replacing a wooden bridge.<ref name="multiref4">Freeman and Jacques p. 49.</ref> There are [[Architecture of Cambodia#Gopura|gopuras]] at each of the [[cardinal point]]s; the western is by far the largest and has three ruined towers. Glaize notes that this gopura both hides and echoes the form of the temple proper.<ref>Glaize p. 61.</ref>

Under the southern tower is a statue known as ''Ta Reach'', originally an eight-armed statue of Vishnu may have occupied the temple's central shrine.<ref name="multiref4" /> Galleries run between the towers and as far as two further entrances on either side of the gopura often referred to as "elephant gates", as they are large enough to admit those animals. These galleries have square pillars on the outer (west) side and a closed wall on the inner (east) side. The ceiling between the pillars is decorated with [[Nelumbo nucifera|lotus]] rosettes; the west face of the wall with dancing figures; and the east face of the wall with balustered windows, dancing male figures on prancing animals, and [[Architecture of Cambodia#Apsara and devata|devatas]], including (south of the entrance) the only one in the temple to be showing her teeth.

The outer wall encloses a space of 820,000 square metres (203 acres), which besides the temple proper was originally occupied by the city and, to the north of the temple, the royal palace. Like all secular buildings of Angkor, these were built of perishable materials rather than of stone, so nothing remains of them except the outlines of some of the streets.<ref name="Freeman and Jacques p. 50">Freeman and Jacques p. 50.</ref> Most of the area is now covered by forest. A {{convert|350|m|ft|abbr=on}} causeway connects the western gopura to the temple proper, with [[Architecture of Cambodia#Naga|naga]] balustrades and six sets of steps leading down to the city on either side. Each side also features a [[Architecture of Cambodia#Library|library]] with entrances at each cardinal point, in front of the third set of stairs from the entrance, and a pond between the library and the temple itself. The ponds are later additions to the design, as is the cruciform terrace guarded by lions connecting the causeway to the central structure.<ref name="Freeman and Jacques p. 50"/>

====Central structure====

The temple stands on a terrace raised higher than the city. It is made of three rectangular [[Architecture of Cambodia#Gallery|galleries]] rising to a central tower, each level higher than the last. The two inner galleries each have four large towers at their [[Cardinal direction|ordinal]] corners (that is, NW, NE, SE and SW) surrounding a higher fifth tower. This pattern is sometimes called a quincunx and represents the mountains of [[Mount Meru|Meru]]. Because the temple faces west, the features are all set back towards the east, leaving more space to be filled in each enclosure and gallery on the west side; for the same reason the west-facing steps are shallower than those on the other sides.

{{Multiple image
|total_width=300 |align= right |direction = horizontal |perrow=2/1
| image1 = Angkor Wat Tempel 34.jpg
| alt1 =
| caption1 = The central tower symbolizing the sacred [[Mount Meru]]
| image2 = Awatcornertower01.JPG
| alt2 =
| caption2 =One of the four corner towers of Angkor Wat
| image3= Angkor (IV).jpg
| alt3=
| caption3 =A view of the outer gallery of Angkor Wat
}}

Mannikka interprets the galleries as being dedicated to the king, [[Brahma]], the moon, and [[Vishnu]].<ref name="Ohio" /> Each gallery has a [[gopura]] at each of the points. The outer gallery measures {{convert|187|m|ft|abbr=on}} by {{convert|215|m|ft|abbr=on}}, with pavilions rather than towers at the corners. The gallery is open to the outside of the temple, with columned half-galleries extending and buttressing the structure. Connecting the outer gallery to the second enclosure on the west side is a cruciform cloister called ''Preah Poan'' (meaning "The Thousand Buddhas" Gallery).<ref name=":1" /> [[Gautama Buddha|Buddha]] images were left in the cloister by pilgrims over the centuries, although most have now been removed. This area has many inscriptions relating the good deeds of pilgrims, most written in [[Khmer language|Khmer]] but others in [[Burmese language|Burmese]] and Japanese. The four small courtyards marked out by the cloister may originally have been filled with water.<ref>Glaize p. 63.</ref> North and south of the cloister are [[Architecture of Cambodia#Library|libraries]].

Beyond, the second and inner galleries are connected to each other and to two flanking libraries by another cruciform terrace, again a later addition. From the second level upwards, [[Architecture of Cambodia#Apsara and devata|devatas]] abound on the walls, singly or in groups of up to four. The second-level enclosure is {{convert|100|m|ft|abbr=on}} by {{convert|115|m|ft|abbr=on}}, and may originally have been flooded to represent the [[ocean]] around [[Mount Meru]].<ref>Ray, ''Lonely Planet guide to Cambodia'' p. 195.</ref> Three sets of steps on each side lead up to the corner towers and gopuras of the inner gallery. The very steep stairways represent the difficulty of ascending to the kingdom of the gods.<ref>Ray p. 199.</ref> This inner gallery, called the ''Bakan'', is a {{convert|60|m|ft|abbr=on}} square with axial galleries connecting each gopura with the central shrine, and subsidiary shrines located below the corner towers.

The roofings of the galleries are decorated with the motif of the body of a snake ending in the heads of lions or [[garuda]]s. Carved [[Architecture of Cambodia#Lintels and pediments|lintels and pediments]] decorate the entrances to the galleries and to the shrines. The tower above the central shrine rises {{convert|43|m|ft|abbr=on}} to a height of {{convert|65|m|ft|abbr=on}} above the ground; unlike those of previous temple mountains, the central tower is raised above the surrounding four.<ref name="Briggs p. 199">Briggs p. 199.</ref> The shrine itself, originally occupied by a statue of Vishnu and open on each side, was walled in when the temple was converted to [[Theravada Buddhism]], the new walls featuring standing Buddhas. In 1934, the conservator George Trouvé excavated the pit beneath the central shrine: filled with sand and water it had already been robbed of its treasure, but he did find a sacred foundation deposit of [[gold leaf]] two metres above ground level.<ref>Glaize p. 65.</ref>

====Decoration====

Integrated with the architecture of the building, and one of the causes for its fame is Angkor Wat's extensive decoration, which predominantly takes the form of [[bas-relief]] friezes. The inner walls of the outer gallery bear a series of large-scale scenes mainly depicting episodes from the [[Hindu]] epics the [[Ramayana]] and the [[Mahabharata]]. Higham has called these "the greatest known linear arrangement of stone carving".<ref>Higham, ''Early Cultures of Mainland Southeast Asia'' p. 318.</ref> From the north-west corner anti-clockwise, the western gallery shows the Battle of Lanka (from the Ramayana, in which [[Rama]] defeats [[Ravana]]) and the [[Kurukshetra War|Battle of Kurukshetra]] (from the Mahabharata, showing the mutual annihilation of the [[Kaurava]] and [[Pandava]] clans). On the southern gallery follow the only historical scene, a procession of [[Suryavarman II]], then the 32 [[hell]]s and 37 [[heaven]]s of Hinduism.<ref>Glaize p. 68.</ref>

{{Multiple image|total_width=380 |direction = horizontal |
|image1=Angkor Wat - 047 Apsaras (8581709930).jpg
|alt1=
|image2=Awatoceanofmilk01.JPG
|alt2=
|footer= Left: [[Devatas]] are characteristic of the Angkor Wat style. Right: The bas-relief of the [[Samudra manthan|Churning of the Sea of Milk]] shows [[Vishnu]] in the centre, his turtle [[avatar]] [[Kurma]] below, [[asura]]s and [[deva (Hinduism)|devas]] to left and right, and [[apsaras]] and [[Indra]] above.
}}
On the eastern gallery is one of the most celebrated scenes, the [[Kurma|Churning of the Sea of Milk]], showing 92<ref>Glaize</ref> [[asura]]s and 88 [[deva (Hinduism)|devas]] using the serpent [[Vasuki (snake)|Vasuki]] to churn the sea under Vishnu's direction (Mannikka counts only 91 asuras, and explains the asymmetrical numbers as representing the number of days from the [[winter solstice]] to the [[spring equinox (Northern Hemisphere)|spring equinox]], and from the equinox to the summer [[solstice]]).<ref>Described in Michael Buckley, [http://www.veloasia.com/library/buckley/churning_milk.html The Churning of the Ocean of Milk]</ref> It is followed by Vishnu defeating [[asura]]s (a 16th-century addition). The northern gallery shows Krishna's victory over [[Banasura|Bana]] (where according to Glaize, "The workmanship is at its worst").<ref>Glaize p. 69.</ref>

Angkor Wat is decorated with depictions of [[apsaras]] and [[devata]]; there are more than 1,796 depictions of devata in the present research inventory.<ref>[http://www.devata.org/2010/02/angkor-wat-devata-inventory/ Angkor Wat devata inventory – February 2010] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100423123631/http://www.devata.org/2010/02/angkor-wat-devata-inventory/ |date=23 April 2010 }}</ref> Angkor Wat architects employed small apsara images ({{convert|30-40|cm|in|0|abbr=on|disp=or}}) as decorative motifs on pillars and walls. They incorporated larger devata images (all full-body portraits measuring approximately {{convert|95-110|cm|in|0|abbr=on|disp=or}}) more prominently at every level of the temple from the entry pavilion to the tops of the high towers. In 1927, Sappho Marchal published a study cataloging the remarkable diversity of their hair, headdresses, garments, stance, jewellery and decorative flowers, which Marchal concluded were based on actual practices of the Angkor period.<ref>Sappho Marchal, ''Khmer Costumes and Ornaments of the Devatas of Angkor Wat''.</ref>

===Construction techniques===
{{Multiple image|total_width=360 |direction = horizontal |align = right
|image1=Angkor Wat 13 11.JPG
|alt1=
|caption1=Corridor
|image2= Angkor-4+.JPG
|alt2=
|caption2= Decoration on the corner
}}

The monument was made out of five to ten million sandstone blocks with a maximum weight of 1.5 tons each.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.livescience.com/24440-angkor-wat-canals.html|title=Mystery of Angkor Wat Temple's Huge Stones Solved|date=31 October 2012|last=Ghose|first=Tia|work=livescience.com}}</ref> The entire city of [[Angkor]] used far greater amounts of stone than all the Egyptian pyramids combined and occupied an area significantly greater than modern-day [[Paris]]. Moreover, unlike the Egyptian pyramids, which use limestone quarried {{convert|0.5|km|mi|frac=8|abbr=on}} away, the entire city of Angkor was built with sandstone quarried {{convert|40|km|mi|abbr=on}} (or more) away.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/specials/ancient-mysteries/angkor-wat-temples/|title=Lost City of Angkor Wat|work=National Geographic}}</ref> This sandstone had to be transported from Mount Kulen, a quarry approximately {{convert|25|mi|km|order=flip}} northeast.<ref name="Quarries and transportation routes">{{cite journal| first1 = Etsuo | last1 = Uchida | first2 = Ichita | last2 = Shimoda | title = Quarries and transportation routes of Angkor monument sandstone blocks | journal = Journal of Archaeological Science | volume = 40 | issue = 2 | date = 2013 | doi = 10.1016/j.jas.2012.09.036 | issn = 0305-4403 | pages = 1158–1164}}</ref>

The route has been suggested to span {{convert|35|km|mi}} along a canal towards [[Tonlé Sap]] lake, another {{convert|35|km|mi}} crossing the lake, and finally {{convert|15|km|mi|0}} against the current along [[Siem Reap River]], making a total journey of {{convert|90|km|mi|round=5}}. However, Etsuo Uchida and Ichita Shimoda of [[Waseda University]] in [[Tokyo]], Japan have discovered in 2011 a shorter {{convert|35|km|mi|adj=on}} canal connecting Mount Kulen and Angkor Wat using satellite imagery. The two believe that the Khmer used this route instead.<ref name="Quarries and transportation routes"/>

[[File:Apsara Relief Sculpture on Angkor Wat Temple Wall Feb 10 2000.jpg|alt=Devata Sculpture on Wall at Angkor Wat|thumb|upright|Devata Sculpture on Wall at Angkor Wat]]
Virtually all of its surfaces, columns, lintels, and even roofs are carved. There are kilometres of reliefs illustrating scenes from [[Indian literature]] including unicorns, griffins, winged dragons pulling chariots as well as warriors following an elephant-mounted leader and celestial dancing girls with elaborate hairstyles. The gallery wall alone is decorated with almost {{cvt|1,000|sqm}} of bas reliefs. Holes on some of the Angkor walls indicate that they may have been decorated with bronze sheets. These were highly prized in ancient times and were a prime target for robbers.<ref name="ReferenceA">"Lost Worlds of the Kama Sutra" History channel</ref>

While excavating Khajuraho, Alex Evans, a stonemason and sculptor, recreated a stone sculpture under {{convert|4|ft|m|order=flip|1}}, this took about 60 days to carve.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> Roger Hopkins and Mark Lehner also conducted experiments to quarry limestone which took 12 quarrymen 22 days to quarry about 400 tons of stone.<ref>Lehner, Mark (1997). ''The Complete Pyramids'', London: Thames and Hudson, pp. 202–225 {{ISBN|0-500-05084-8}}.</ref> The labour force to quarry, transport, carve and install so much sandstone must have run into the thousands including many highly skilled artisans. The skills required to carve these sculptures were developed hundreds of years earlier, as demonstrated by some artefacts that have been dated to the seventh century, before the Khmer came to power.<ref name="Southeast Asia 1995 p. 67-99"/><ref name="Scarre p. 81-85"/>

==Angkor Wat in the present==

===Restoration and conservation===
[[File:Angkor Wat naga and guardian lion.JPG|thumb|right|The restored head of a [[nāga]] beside an unrestored lion at the start of the causeway leading to the entrance of Angkor Wat. The contrast of restored and unrestored figures is deliberate. The major restoration of the causeway was first initiated in the 1960s by the French.]]
As with most other ancient temples in Cambodia, Angkor Wat has faced extensive damage and deterioration by a combination of plant overgrowth, fungi, ground movements, war damage and theft. The war damage to Angkor Wat's temples however has been very limited, compared to the rest of Cambodia's temple ruins, and it has also received the most attentive restoration.<ref name="Angkor Battle"/>

The restoration of Angkor Wat in the modern era began with the establishment of the Conservation d'Angkor (Angkor Conservancy) by the [[École française d'Extrême-Orient]] (EFEO) in 1908; before that date, activities at the site were primarily concerned with exploration.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wmf.org/sites/default/files/wmf_publication/Considerations_for_the_Conservation_and_Preservation_of_the_Historic_City_of_Angkor_Report_I.pdf |title=Considerations for the Conservation and Presentation of the. Historic City of Angkor |work=World Monuments Fund |page=65 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110516174411/http://www.wmf.org/sites/default/files/wmf_publication/Considerations_for_the_Conservation_and_Preservation_of_the_Historic_City_of_Angkor_Report_I.pdf |archive-date=16 May 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.efeo.fr/base.php?code=217 |title=The Siem Reap Centre, Cambodia |publisher=EFEO}}</ref> The Conservation d'Angkor was responsible for the research, conservation, and restoration activities carried out at Angkor until the early 1970s,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.autoriteapsara.org/en/angkor/history/conservation.html |title=The Modern Period: The creation of the Angkor Conservation |work=APSARA Authority }}</ref> and a major restoration of Angkor was undertaken in the 1960s.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5UTelRMB4BAC&pg=PA157 |title=Cambodia |page=157 |date=2010|publisher=Lonely Planet |isbn= 978-1-74179-457-1}}</ref>

Work on Angkor was abandoned during [[Democratic Kampuchea|the Khmer Rouge era]] and the Conservation d'Angkor was disbanded in 1975.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UWKTmJ8iR84C&pg=PA220 |title=Asian Heritage Management: Contexts, Concerns, and Prospects|editor= Kapila D. Silva|editor2= Neel Kamal Chapagain |pages=220–221|publisher=Routledge |date= 2013 |isbn=978-0-415-52054-6 }}</ref> Between 1986 and 1992, the [[Archaeological Survey of India]] carried out restoration work on the temple,<ref>{{cite web |url= http://asi.nic.in/asi_abroad.asp|title= Activities Abroad#Cambodia|publisher=Archaeological Survey of India}}</ref> as France did not recognise the Cambodian government at the time. Criticisms have been raised about both the early French restoration attempts and particularly the later Indian work, with concerns over damage done to the stone surface by the use of chemicals and cement.<ref name="Angkor Battle"/><ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.nytimes.com/1992/06/21/magazine/washing-buddha-s-face.html |title=Washing Buddha's Face|author=Phillip Shenon |date= 21 June 1992 |work=[[The New York Times]] }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3ofDt_8kyYcC&pg=PA223 |title=Asian Heritage Management: Contexts, Concerns, and Prospects|editor= Kapila D. Silva|editor2= Neel Kamal Chapagain |page=223|publisher=Routledge |date= 2013 |isbn= 978-0-415-52054-6 }}</ref>

In 1992, following an appeal for help by [[Norodom Sihanouk]], Angkor Wat was listed in UNESCO's [[World Heritage in Danger]] (later removed in 2004) and [[World Heritage Site]] together with an appeal by UNESCO to the international community to save Angkor.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zIMECAAAQBAJ&pg=PA253 |title= Cultural Heritage as Civilizing Mission: From Decay to Recovery|editor= Michael Falser |page=253 |publisher=Springer International |isbn= 978-3-319-13638-7 |year= 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1miIRLRaLEoC&pg=PA290 |title=Poverty Alleviation and Environmental Law|author= Albert Mumma|author2= Susan Smith |page=290 |publisher=ElgarOnline |isbn=978-1-78100-329-9 |year=2012}}</ref> Zoning of the area was set up to protect the Angkor site in 1994,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.autoriteapsara.org/en/apsara/about_apsara/legal_texts/decree3.html |title=Royal Decree establishing Protected Cultural Zones |work=APSARA }}</ref> [[APSARA]] was established in 1995 to protect and manage the area, and a law to protect Cambodian heritage was passed in 1996.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1W6BWEWdJWQC&pg=PA123 |title= Marketing Heritage: Archaeology and the Consumption of the Past|author= Yorke M. Rowan|author2= Uzi Baram |page=123 |publisher=AltaMira Press|date= 2004 |isbn=978-0-7591-0342-9 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=Hing Thoraxy|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20010303123306/http://www.lideekhmer.org.kh/publication_roundtable5.htm|archive-date= 3 March 2001 |url=http://www.lideekhmer.org.kh/publication_roundtable5.htm |title=Achievement of "APSARA}}</ref>

A number of countries such as France, Japan and China are currently involved in various Angkor Wat conservation projects. The [[German Apsara Conservation Project]] (GACP) is working to protect the [[Architecture of Cambodia#Apsaras and devatas|devatas]], and other bas-reliefs which decorate the temple, from damage. The organisation's survey found that around 20% of the devatas were in very poor condition, mainly because of natural erosion and deterioration of the stone but in part also due to earlier restoration efforts.<ref>[http://ospiti.thunder.it/gacp German Apsara Conservation Project] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050205015542/http://ospiti.thunder.it/gacp/ |date=5 February 2005 }}, Conservation, Risk Map, p. 2.</ref> Other work involves the repair of collapsed sections of the structure, and prevention of further collapse: the west facade of the upper level, for example, has been buttressed by scaffolding since 2002,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.autoriteapsara.org/en/apsara/about_apsara/publication/yashodhara/yashodhara_6.html
|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120526071420/http://www.autoriteapsara.org/en/apsara/about_apsara/publication/yashodhara/yashodhara_6.html
|url-status=dead
|archive-date=26 May 2012
|title=Infrastructures in Angkor Park
|access-date=25 April 2008
|work=Yashodhara no. 6: January – June 2002
|publisher=APSARA Authority
}}</ref> while a Japanese team completed restoration of the north library of the outer enclosure in 2005.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.autoriteapsara.org/en/apsara/about_apsara/news/angkorvat_ceremony.html |title=The Completion of the Restoration Work of the Northern Library of Angkor Wat |access-date=25 April 2008 |date=3 June 2005 |publisher=APSARA Authority}}</ref>

[[File:WMF Angkor Wat.ogv|A [[World Monuments Fund]] video on conservation of Angkor Wat|thumb]]

Microbial biofilms have been found degrading sandstone at Angkor Wat, Preah Khan, and the Bayon and West Prasat in Angkor. The dehydration- and radiation-resistant filamentous cyanobacteria can produce organic acids that degrade the stone. A dark filamentous fungus was found in internal and external [[Preah Khan]] samples, while the alga ''[[Trentepohlia (alga)|Trentepohlia]]'' was found only in samples taken from external, pink-stained stone at Preah Khan.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Microbial biofilms on the sandstone monuments of the Angkor Wat Complex, Cambodia|journal=Current Microbiology|date=Feb 2012|pages=85–92|volume=64|author1=Gaylarde CC|author2=Rodríguez CH|author3=Navarro-Noya YE|author4=Ortega-Morales BO|doi=10.1007/s00284-011-0034-y|pmid=22006074|issue=2|s2cid=14062354}}</ref> Replicas have been made to replace some of the lost or damaged sculptures.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-19279491 |title=Restoring ancient monuments at Cambodia's Angkor Wat|author= Guy De Launey|date=21 August 2012 |work=BBC }}</ref>

===Tourism===
{{See also|Tourism in Cambodia}}[[File:Buddhist monk and tourist at Angkor Wat.jpg|thumb|Buddhist monks giving blessings to a tourist]]
Since the 1990s, Angkor Wat has become a major tourist destination. In 1993, there were only 7,650 visitors to the site;<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/feb/25/travel.travelnews |title= Tourist invasion threatens to ruin glories of Angkor Wat |author=Justine Smith |date= 25 February 2007 |work=The Observer}}</ref> by 2004, government figures show that 561,000 foreign visitors had arrived in Siem Reap province that year, approximately 50% of all foreign tourists in Cambodia.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tourismcambodia.com/Statistics/index.asp?Year=2005 |title=Executive Summary from Jan–Dec 2005 |access-date=25 April 2008 |work=Tourism of Cambodia |publisher=Statistics & Tourism Information Department, Ministry of Tourism of Cambodia| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080413115411/http://www.tourismcambodia.com/Statistics/index.asp?Year=2005| archive-date= 13 April 2008 | url-status= dead}}</ref> The number reached over a million in 2007,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tourismcambodia.org/images/mot/statistic_reports/tourism_statistics_annual_report_book_2007.pdf |title=Tourism Statistics: Annual Report |page=60 |work=Ministry of Tourism }}</ref> and over two million by 2012.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tourismcambodia.org/images/mot/statistic_reports/tourism_statistics_annual_report_2012.pdf |title=Tourism Annual Report 2012 |work=Ministry of Tourism }}</ref> Most visited Angkor Wat, which received over two million foreign tourists in 2013,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/ticket-sales-angkor-wat-exceed-2-million |title=Ticket sales at Angkor Wat exceed 2 million |work=The Phnom Penh Post |date= 21 January 2015}}</ref> and 2.6 million by 2018.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/angkor-hosts-26m-visitors |title=Angkor hosts 2.6M visitors |date=2 January 2019 |author=Cheng Sokhorng|work=The Phnom Penh Post}}</ref>

The site was managed by the private [[Sokimex|SOKIMEX]] group between 1990 and 2016,<ref>{{cite web|last1=Vannak|first1=Chea|title=Ticket revenue at Angkor complex up 8 percent|url=https://www.khmertimeskh.com/50564897/ticket-revenue-at-angkor-complex-up-8-percent/|website=Khmer Times|access-date=2 May 2019|date=2 January 2019}}</ref> which rented it from the [[Cambodian government]]. The influx of tourists has so far caused relatively little damage, other than some [[graffiti]]; ropes and wooden steps have been introduced to protect the bas-reliefs and floors, respectively. Tourism has also provided some additional funds for maintenance—as of 2000 approximately 28% of ticket revenues across the whole [[Angkor]] site was spent on the temples—although most work is carried out by teams sponsored by foreign governments rather than by the Cambodian authorities.<ref>Tales of Asia, [http://www.talesofasia.com/cambodia-interviews-AC.htm Preserving Angkor: Interview with Ang Choulean (13 October 2000)]</ref>

[[File:Eagerly Waiting (21948535).jpeg|thumb|Tourists watching the sunrise in front of the reflecting pond at Angkor Wat]]
Since Angkor Wat has seen significant growth in tourism throughout the years, [[UNESCO]] and its International Co-ordinating Committee for the Safeguarding and Development of the Historic Site of Angkor (ICC), in association with representatives from the Royal Government and [[APSARA]], organised seminars to discuss the concept of "cultural tourism".<ref name="sciencedirect.com">{{cite journal|doi=10.1016/j.annals.2006.06.004|title=Rethinking tourism in asia|date=2007|last1=Winter|first1=Tim|journal=Annals of Tourism Research|volume=34|pages=27–44}}</ref> Wanting to avoid commercial and mass tourism, the seminars emphasised the importance of providing high-quality accommodation and services in order for the Cambodian government to benefit economically, while also incorporating the richness of Cambodian culture.<ref name="sciencedirect.com"/> In 2001, this incentive resulted in the concept of the "Angkor Tourist City" which would be developed with regard to traditional Khmer architecture, contain leisure and tourist facilities, and provide luxurious hotels capable of accommodating large numbers of tourists.<ref name="sciencedirect.com"/>

The prospect of developing such large tourist accommodations has encountered concerns from both APSARA and the ICC, claiming that previous tourism developments in the area have neglected construction regulations and more of these projects have the potential to damage landscape features.<ref name="sciencedirect.com"/> Also, the large scale of these projects have begun to threaten the quality of the nearby town's water, sewage, and electricity systems.<ref name="sciencedirect.com"/> It has been noted that such high frequency of tourism and growing demand for quality accommodations in the area, such as the development of a large highway, has had a direct effect on the underground water table, subsequently straining the structural stability of the temples at Angkor Wat.<ref name="sciencedirect.com"/>

Locals of Siem Reap have also voiced concern that the charm and atmosphere of their town have been compromised in order to entertain tourism.<ref name="sciencedirect.com"/> Since this local atmosphere is the key component to projects like Angkor Tourist City, the local officials continue to discuss how to successfully incorporate future tourism without sacrificing local values and culture.<ref name="sciencedirect.com"/>

At the [[ASEAN]] Tourism Forum 2012, it was agreed that [[Borobudur]] and Angkor Wat would become sister sites and the provinces sister provinces.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2012/01/13/borobudur-angkor-wat-become-sister-sites.html |title=Borobudur, Angkor Wat to become sister sites |newspaper=[[The Jakarta Post]] |date=13 January 2012}}</ref>

In 2020, the [[COVID-19 pandemic in Cambodia|COVID-19 pandemic]] led to [[Travel restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic|travel restrictions]] being introduced across the world, which had a severe impact on Cambodia's tourism sector. As a result, visitors to Angkor Wat plummeted, leaving the usually crowded complex almost deserted.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-06-06|title=Tourists amazed about seeing Angkor Wat without usual crowds|url=https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3087755/few-visitors-angkor-wat-revel-near-solitude-10000|access-date=2021-05-22|website=South China Morning Post|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-11-02|title='How Long Can We Survive?': Angkor Visitors Dip, Holiday Bump Minimal|url=https://vodenglish.news/how-long-can-we-survive-angkor-visitors-dip-holiday-bump-minimal/|access-date=2021-05-22|website=VOD|language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Hunt|first=Luke|title=Cambodians Reclaim Angkor Wat as Global Lockdowns Continue to Bite|url=https://thediplomat.com/2020/06/cambodians-reclaim-angkor-wat-as-global-lockdowns-continue-to-bite/|access-date=2021-05-22|website=thediplomat.com|language=en-US}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Architecture|Cambodia|
| border = True
}}

* [[Cambodia]]
* [[Indosphere]]
* [[Greater India]]
* [[Buddhism in Cambodia]]
* [[Buddhism in Southeast Asia]]
* [[List of Hindu temples]]
* [[List of Buddhist temples]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* {{cite book | author=Albanese, Marilia |title=The Treasures of Angkor | location=Vercelli | publisher=White Star Publishers| date=2006 | type = Paperback | isbn=978-88-544-0117-4}}
* Briggs, Lawrence Robert (1951, reprinted 1999). ''The Ancient Khmer Empire''. White Lotus. {{ISBN|974-8434-93-1}}.
* Falser, Michael (2020). ''Angkor Wat – A Transcultural History of Heritage. Volume 1: Angkor in France. From Plaster Casts to Exhibition Pavilions. Volume 2: Angkor in Cambodia. From Jungle Find to Global Icon''. Berlin-Boston DeGruyter {{ISBN|978-3-11-033584-2}}
* Forbes, Andrew; Henley, David (2011). ''Angkor, Eighth Wonder of the World''. Chiang Mai: Cognoscenti Books. {{ASIN|B0085RYW0O}}
* Freeman, Michael and Jacques, Claude (1999). ''Ancient Angkor''. River Books. {{ISBN|0-8348-0426-3}}.
* Higham, Charles (2001). ''The Civilization of Angkor''. Phoenix. {{ISBN|1-84212-584-2}}.
* Higham, Charles (2003). ''Early Cultures of Mainland Southeast Asia''. Art Media Resources. {{ISBN|1-58886-028-0}}.
* Hing Thoraxy. Achievement of "APSARA": Problems and Resolutions in the Management of the Angkor Area.
* {{cite book | author=Jessup, Helen Ibbitson | author2=Brukoff, Barry |title=Temples of Cambodia – The Heart of Angkor | location=Bangkok | publisher=River Books| date=2011 | type = Hardback | isbn=978-616-7339-10-8}}
* Petrotchenko, Michel (2011). ''Focusing on the Angkor Temples: The Guidebook'', 383 pages, Amarin Printing and Publishing, 2nd edition, {{ISBN|978-616-305-096-0}}
* Ray, Nick (2002). ''Lonely Planet guide to Cambodia'' (4th edition). {{ISBN|1-74059-111-9}}.

==External links==
{{Commons and category|Angkor Wat|Angkor Wat}}
{{wikivoyage|Angkor Archaeological Park}}
* {{osmway|91217761}}
* Buckley, Michael (1998). ''Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos Handbook''. Avalon Travel Publications. Online excerpt [http://www.veloasia.com/library/buckley/churning_milk.html The Churning of the Ocean of Milk] retrieved 25 July 2005.
* Glaize, Maurice (2003 edition of an English translation of the 1993 French fourth edition). [http://www.theangkorguide.com/text/part-two/angkorwat-to-angkorthom/angkorwat.htm The Monuments of the Angkor Group]. Retrieved 14 July 2005.
* University of Heidelberg, Germany, Chair of Global Art History, Project (Michael Falser): Heritage as a Transcultural Concept – Angkor Wat from an Object of Colonial Archaeology to a Contemporary Global Icon [http://www.asia-europe.uni-heidelberg.de/en/research/d-historicities-heritage/d12.html]
* [https://c21ch.newcastle.edu.au/kurukshetra/viaro.html Battle Of Kurukshetra Mural At Angkor Wat], Centre For 21st Century Humanities, 2018
* [http://poncar.de/gallery.cfm?kategorien_id=3 Angkor Wat and Angkor photo gallery by Jaroslav Poncar] May 2010
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20140701055853/http://archive.cyark.org/angkor-intro Angkor digital media archive] – Photos, laser scans, panoramas of Angkor Wat's Western Causeway and Banteay Kdei from a [[CyArk]]/[[Sophia University]]/[[University of California]] partnership.
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6945574.stm BBC: Map reveals ancient urban sprawl] August 2007
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100423123631/http://www.devata.org/2010/02/angkor-wat-devata-inventory/ Inventory of Angkor Wat devata (sacred Khmer women)] February 2010

{{Angkorian sites|state=collapsed}}
{{SiemReapProvince}}
{{National parks of Cambodia}}
{{Buddhism topics}}
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[[Category:12th-century Hindu temples]]
[[Category:12th-century Buddhist temples]]
[[Category:Angkorian sites in Siem Reap Province]]
[[Category:Khmer Empire]]
[[Category:Archaeoastronomy]]
[[Category:Archaeological sites in Cambodia]]
[[Category:Buddhist pilgrimage sites in Cambodia]]
[[Category:Buddhist temples in Siem Reap Province]]
[[Category:National symbols of Cambodia]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in Cambodia]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in Siem Reap province]]
[[Category:World Heritage Sites in Cambodia]]
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Angkor Wat