The temple is world-renowned for its intricate relief carvings, which depict stories from both the Mahabharata and the Ramayana, including stories of Vishnu’s life, as well as depictions of famous battles and images of King Suryavarman II (Jessup, 2004: 147). The reliefs cover the entire temple complex, and are only an inch deep, or less (Rawson, 1995: 92), making it clear that the King and his architects were intending to impress the gods, as well as create a magnificent ‘heaven on Earth’ for their followers. The relief carvings have many more purposes than mere decoration, and the use of 2190 square yards of depictions of historical events for the enlightenment of common people (Fujioka, 1972: 31) is just one of their suggested possible functions. Another reason for the carvings originally may have been to distinguish the temple as Hindu, as Khmer Buddhist and Hindu temples were very similar architecturally, sometimes differentiated only by the decoration (Fujioka, 1972: 25). The reliefs read as a story from left to right, which oddly suggests anti-clockwise circumambulation around the temple (Jessup, 2004: 147), the opposite to the clockwise ‘Pradakshina’ usually practised in Hindu temples. This anti-clockwise circumambulation is named ‘Prasavya’ (Roveda, 2007: 20), which could be because the temple was Suryavarman II’s mortuary temple, as funerary rituals are performed in reverse within Hinduism and Brahminism. Though the reason for this is unexplained, it is one of many features that make Angkor Wat stand out as unique amongst the temples around it.
The journey around the temple examining its endless bas-reliefs enlightens visitors to such stories as the churning of the ocean of milk, the battle of Kurukshetra, the battle between the Devas and the Asuras, amongst several images of the heavens and hells, and numerous other battle scenes (Roveda, 2007: 23). The stories depicted not only educate on Hindu history, but also link in with the King’s ideas of his kingdom, with the churning of the ocean of milk representing time progressing through cosmic cycles, and it is apparently suggested that King Suryavarman ended a particularly bad cycle, the Kali Yuga and starting a new cycle, like the rebirth shown in the image (Jessup, 2004:150). The relief carvings, as mentioned above, are merely an inch thick, and were clearly produced by the finest craftsmen available. They are said by many to be like paintings (Rawson, 1995: 93), in their softness and attention to detail, similar to the classical styles found in Europe. The sheer amount of decoration, and the depiction of so many religious scenes within the temple have led many to believe that King Suryavarman II was attempting to almost reach heaven before his death (Rawson, 1995: 96), as these features create a feeling of a ‘heaven on Earth’.
The architectural layout of the site of Angkor Wat is one of the crucial factors that identify it as a temple, with the entire temple being a representation of the Hindu idea of the cosmos and creation. Said to be the prime example of the temple-mountain concept in Cambodia (Kerlogue, 2004: 80), and possibly the world, Angkor Wat’s central towers are believed to symbolize the religious mountain of Meru, with its five peaks, and the walls enclosing it being the mountains that edge the world of gods, and finally, the large moat around the complex representing the ‘seas beyond’ (Kerlogue, 2004: 81). The five towers in the centre of the temple appear to imitate lotus buds (Rooney, 1994: 85), and a central well was discovered beneath the central point by archaeologists, who believe it penetrates downwards the same distance as the tower rises up, representing the Axis Mundi (Jessup, 2004: 151). This is significant as Angkor Wat was built to represent Mount Meru, which was the centre of the cosmos, and so the temple itself must appear as the ‘centre’ of the Khmer world (Roveda, 2007: 20). It is also rumoured that at the bottom of this vertical shaft lies a large hoard of gold objects (Rooney, 1994: 95). The sheer size and scale of Angkor Wat allowed the Khmer to fully express religious symbolism within both the architecture and the decoration (Jacques, 1999: 48), which shines through when examining the temple.
A mystery about Angkor Wat that is often disputed between historians is the fact that it faces west, unlike the vast majority of Hindu temples. No recorded information stating why this is survives, though ancient Sanskrit treatises state, when referring to religious architecture, that west is the direction associated with Vishnu (Roveda, 2007: 20). It was believed for a long time, and is still believed by some, that the temple faces west because it is a funerary temple (Parmentier, 1959: 35), though since almost all of the temples at the site of Angkor were intended funerary temples, yet do not all face west, it must be inaccurate that this would be the only reason why Angkor Wat faces west (Fujioka, 1972: 31). Therefore, the direction Angkor Wat faces can be seen as a characteristic that identify it being a temple, as it faces west, the direction of the god it is dedicated to, but as there are very few examples of west-facing temples for these reasons, it is not a very obvious characteristic. The alignment of the actual temple building is also under heavy examination by several scholars, including Eleanor Mannikka, who believes the temple was meticulously mathematically arranged (Jessup, 2004: 149). According to Mannikka, certain numbers arise many times within the calculations used to build Angkor Wat, and link the temple to astrological events, further reinforcing the relation between it and the cosmos as a whole.
Once King Suryavarman II’s reign had ended, the capital moved away from Angkor Wat, and it became more and more disused as a Hindu temple, and eventually, after the fall of the Khmer Empire in the 15th Century, the temple became Buddhist, being cared for by Buddhist monks (Rooney, 1994: 84). Reminders of this still survive at Angkor Wat today, with the ‘Gallery of 1,000 Buddhas’ in the place of what would have originally been a library, and yet very few images of Buddha remain here, where once it would have been filled with them (Rooney, 1994: 92).
In conclusion, there are several characteristics that identify Angkor Wat as a temple, most prominently its cosmic arrangement, representing a vision of ‘heaven on Earth’ to the Hindus, Mount Meru. The carvings covering the entire temple depicting religious scenes also show visitors that this is, indeed, a temple. As the largest religious site in the world, Angkor Wat is definitely a very overwhelming and heavenly temple, and this is obvious within its many carefully selected design features.
Bibliography:
M. Fujioka, Angkor Wat, 1972, Tokyo.
C. Jacques, Ancient Angkor, 1999, London.
H.I. Jessup, Art and Architecture of Cambodia, 2004, London.
F. Kerlogue, Arts of Southeast Asia, 2004, London.
H. Parmentier, Henri Parmentier’s Guide to Angkor, 1959, Phnom Penh.
P. Rawson, The Art of Southeast Asia, 1967, 1995, London.
D. Rooney, Angkor: An Introduction to the Temples, 1994, Hong Kong.
V. Roveda, Khmer Mythology: Secrets of Angkor, 1997, London.
V. Roveda, Sacred Angkor: The Carved Reliefs of Angkor Wat, 2007, Thailand.
