Angkor Wat

One of the largest religious monuments in the world

Angkor Wat is in present day Cambodia was the site of Khmer civlisation between 9th century and mid 15th century. Each ruler during this period built a state temple in the form of a stepped pyramid representing Mount Meru with concentric walls, ditches, moats and embankments laid out according to Hindu cosmology. It is the largest and most important temples at Angkor was started by King Suryavarman II (1113-50) but was not completed until after his death. It is dedicated to Vishnu unlike the most usual Shiva.

It is arguably the largest religious monument in the world. It is today an active focus of devotion of Cambodian buddhists. The composition of Angkor Wat is a specific attempt to provide a complete rendition of the Hindu universe. It is surrounded by primordial ocean represented by its most templte unravels in a series of horizontal layers which represent the concentric continents in Hindu cosmoslogy surround the second mountain. The surrounding moat is 1500m (4922ft) from west to east, 1300m (4265ft) north to south and 200m (656ft) wide. [//]: # (_From World Architecture The Masterworks by Will Pryce published first in 2008 by Thames and Hudson._)