Angkor Temple Complex, Angkor Wat

Abstract

Royal temple-mountain built by King Suryavarman II but not completed until after his death (c. 1150); it is the largest and most important of all the monuments of Angkor. It is dedicated to the worship of Vishnu, one of the three principal gods of Hinduism, savior and protector of the world, whose direction is the west, which explains the unusual westerly orientation of this temple. Located 1.7 km from the southern gate of Angkor Thom in the south-east quarter of the first capital of Angkor, Yashodharapura, it consists of a stepped pyramid on three levels surrounded by four enclosures one inside the other on an approximately square ground-plan. The pyramid is surmounted by five towers in quincunx.