Located among Angkor ensemble in Siem Reap province, 240km from Phnom Penh to the

North, Angkor Wat is a brilliant architecture achievement showing the high art level of the ancient

Khmer.

Angkor Wat Temple

Naga basilisk statue on two sides

Angkor Wat Temple is a pyramid-formed architecture block. The main tower in the center is 65m high

and 4 sub-towers is 40m high. The Temple complex is divided into 3 floors: the first floor represents the

hell or the water, the second floors is the earth or the soil, and the third floor symbolizes the heaven or

wind. These are three factors creating universe. The main shrine is also a three-floor architecture linking

together by a long stairs.

Apsara dancers in Angkor Wat

1. The first floor

Going to the first floor which represents "Hell", you will feel overwhelmed with sculptural paintings on the

walls of the hall in the lowest range. The hall is 2.5m high and runs more than 800m long. These paintings

describe the feats of arms of King Suryavarman II who built the temple and the ancient tale in

the epic Ramayana and Mahabharata India.

Lakes on the first floor of Angkor used to be place for King to take a bath and clean sins

Thanks to the ceiling and the roof running along the hall, the pictures seem still new and intact. In the

eastern corridor, there is a bas-relief about 50m long recording the legendary war of the Khmer, with the

presence of many gods such as the Deva gods, Asura demons, Airavata white Elephant of Indra Deity,

Horse god Uccaihorava, the battle of Sita, Beauty Goddess Laksmi, group of Apsara dancers with grace

and vivid moves...

Sculptural paintings

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2. The second floor

The second floor or the "earth" is a large courtyard sheltered by surrounding walls, inside are Visnu

deities of Hinduism shrines. The black stone statues later were mistaken for Buddha statue by

Cambodians. They were put on orange monk’s robes and worshipped according to Buddhist rites. Also on

the second floor, there is a lot of pictures of Apsara dancing with bare breasts.

The second floor has a large yard surrounded by walls and shrines inside

Buddha black stone statues inside the second floor

3. The third floor

The third floor is the highest floor representing "Heaven". It is considered the place of the Gods which

includes two corridors cross. The intersection of two corridors is the centre of Angkor Wat temple.

King Visnu statue made from gold used to placed there but it was latter stolen. Today there are the statues

of Buddha.

Conquering Angkor Wat

The center of the temple is the tallest tower surrounded by four squares hall. At the end of the hall, there

are lower towers. Each of them was built in a very special style, the higher, the smaller, looks like the lotus

bud. The tower’s layout was very reasonable. You can stand at any angle, you can also see all 5 towers

rising in the sky. The stairs going up the central tower are arranged in four sides, steep, narrow and

difficult to climb but extremely unique.

Five towers in a very reasonable and balanced layouts

Angkor Wat attracts visitors

Angkor Wat temple is preserved in the best condition among the Angkor Temple areas today. It is

hard to imagine how the massive stone blocks were put on top of the tower. It is more difficult when

imagining linking these stones together without using mortar. The supernatural brains created the

incomparably unique beauty in the world.

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