Visiting Angkor Wat, Day 1

An hour after I arrived in Siem Reap, my guide picked me up for the first temple tour. Angkor Wat is the general name for a group of old temples in a complex that covers 401 sq. km.

The first stop was the largest temple for which the complex is named, Angkor Wat. It sits on a man-made 200-hectare island surrounded by a moat. A wall extends around the island. Inside the wall and its ornate entrance is the temple grounds.

You cross the moat on a stone causeway and pass through the elaborate walls to get inside the grounds.

Causeway (far right) and gates

Five towers of the Angkor Wat temple viewed over lily pond

Built about 1113 for the reigning king, it started as a Hindu temple and the king's future tomb. It was left partly unfinished after the king died. A later king changed it to a Buddhist temple. The reigning deity, Vishnu, was then moved from the main temple tower to an atrium, and four Buddhas took his place.

Angkor Wat was abandoned in the 16th century and lost, overgrown with jungle. It was rediscovered by a French botanist about 1850. Renovations and reconstruction are ongoing.

A stone portico surrounds the four sides of the lower floor of the temple. While most temples had smaller versions of these arched corridors, the one at Angkor Wat was renovated to completeness.

Portico

The inside walls are carved with battles scenes, processions and depictions of the 32 levels of Hindu hell.

Sample of carving inside portico

Over 2000 carvings of Apsara (the dancer)--including 1600 unique carvings--grace the walls.

Five variations of Apsara