Page 28 - NU Newsletter 2022

អង្គរវត្ត ប្រាសាទ ប្្រហ្មញ្ញ ហិណ្ឌូ ឬប្្ររះ្រុទ្ធសាសនា ?
អង្គរវត្ត ប្រាសាទ ប្ ្រហ្មញ្ញ ហិណ្ឌូ ឬ ប្្រ រះ ្រ ុទ្ធសាសនា ?

Angkor Wat, Hindu or Buddhist Temple ?

Angkor Wat អំងរវត្, located in northwest Cambodia, is the largest religious
គ
ត
structure in the form of a temple complex in the world by land area,measuring
162.6 hectares. At the centre of the temple stands a quincunx of four towers

surrounding a central spire that rises to a height of 65 m above the ground. The
temple has three rectangular galleries, each raised above the next. It lies with-

in an outer wall 3.6 kilometres long and a moat more than five kilometres long.

The temple was built at the behest of Suryavarman IIin the early 12th century
in Yaśodharapura (យពេ�ធំរប�រៈ, present-day Angkor), the capital of the Khmer

Empire, as the state temple for the empire. Originally constructed dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu in the early 12th century,
it was converted to a Buddhist temple towards the end of the 12th century.

Angkor Wat combines two basic plans of Khmer temple architecture: the temple-mountain and the later galleried temple. It is

designed to represent Mount Meru, home of the devas in Hindu and Buddhist cosmology. 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 its architecture, extensive bas-reliefs, and statues of Buddhas and Devas that adorn its walls.

History
King Suryavarman II, the builder of Angkor Wat

Angkor Wat lies 5.5 kilometres 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.

According to a myth, the construction of Angkor Wat was ordered
by Indra to serve as a palace for his son Precha Ket Mealea. Ac-

cording to the 13th-century Chinese traveller Zhou Daguan, some
believed that the temple was constructed in a single night by a di-

vine architect.

The initial design and construction of the temple took place in the
first half of the 12th century, during the reign of Suryavarman II

(ruled 1113 – c. 1150). Breaking from the Shaiva tradition of previ-
ous kings, Angkor Wat was instead dedicated to Vishnu. It was

built as the king's state temple and capital city. As neither the foun-
dation stela nor any contemporary inscriptions referring to the tem-

ple have been found, its original name is unknown, but it may have
been known as "Varah Vishnu-lok" after the presiding deity. Work

seems to have ended shortly after the king's death, leaving some
of the bas-relief decoration unfinished.The term Vrah Viṣṇuloka or

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