Angkor Wat: History of Ancient Temple

ANGKOR WAT

Aerial view of Angkor Wat, showing the moat and causeway and the central tower surrounded by four smaller towers

Built between roughly A.D. 1113 and 1150, and encompassing a neighborhood of regarding 500 acres (200 hectares), Angkor Wat is one in every of the most important spiritual monuments ever created. Its name means "temple city."

Originally built as a Hindu temple dedicated to the god Vishnu, it had been converted into a Buddhist temple within the 14th century, and statues of Buddha were more to its already made design. sometime later it had been becoming a military fortification. nowadays it's a UNESCO World Heritage site that scientists are troubled to preserve.

A Ficus strangulosa tree grows over a doorway at Angkor Wat

Its 213-foot-tall (65 meters) central tower is enclosed by four smaller towers and a series of enclosure walls, a layout that recreates the image of Mount Meru, a legendary place in Hindu mythology that's said to lie on the far side the Himalaya and be the house of the gods.

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