Alluring Angkor Thom

Cambodia is home to some of the most extraordinary temples the world has to offer. Visitors flock every year to witness the sunrise at the majestic Angkor Wat complex and spend up to three days exploring the temples and soaking up history that is told on the walls in the form of intricate carvings and bas- reliefs. The grandeur of the temples and the respect they command make it easy to imagine a time when all eyes were on the kingdom.

Angkor Thom is not just the largest Hindu temple in the world but also the largest religious monument in the world.  It was built by Suryavarman II in 12^th century with its capital Angkor Thom, literally translated as “Great City” and located in Siem Riep less than a mile from the mighty Tonle Sap river. It was the very last capital of the Khmer empire and wasn’t abandoned until the 17^th century.  This magnificent complex contains the remains of various capitals of the Khmer empire dated back to 9^th to the 15^th century.

 

Originally, Angkor wat was dedicated to Lord Vishnu but in the 12^th century, it was converted into Buddhist temple. Representing the replica of the universe in stone, it symbolizes the mythologies of Mount Meru, the home of the Gods.  Nonetheless, Angkor Thom remains an architectural marvel unlike anything else. The temple walls are decorated with thousands of bas-reliefs representing deities of both Hinduism and Buddhist pantheon. The major attraction is the depiction of scenes from various ancient Hindu text like Mahabharata and churning of the Amrit and beautiful apsaras.

We started our expedition early in the morning to catch the glimpse of sunrise from Angkor wat, though it was a cloudy day we still managed to have coup d’oeil of that spectacular view. As we had only one day ticket so we tried to make most out of it and explored the major monuments in this complex like Angkor wat, The Bayon, Ta Prohm, Preah Khan, terrace of Elephants which are considered as the paradigms of the Khmer architecture. Hopping from one temple to other our day trip was ended very well with the Sunset view at Pre Rup temple.

 

#travel tip: It is very difficult to tour around the whole complex in just one day so it is advisable to take atleast three-day ticket to explore this archaeological park.