Angkor Wat

Angkor Wat was a vast temple complex at Yaśodharapura, the capital of the Khmer Empire. King Suryavarman II built it as his state temple dedicated to Vishnu and, most likely, as his own mausoleum; work began around 1122 and ended in 1150. Its moat, galleries and central towers reproduce Mount Meru, and unlike other Angkorian temples it faces west.

After the Chams sacked Angkor in 1178, Jayavarman VII restored the empire from nearby Angkor Thom, and Angkor Wat was gradually converted to Buddhist worship.

When Ayutthaya brought down the Khmer Empire in 1431 the temple was not abandoned: monks maintained its ponds, and seventeenth-century inscriptions record Japanese Buddhist pilgrims settling beside Khmer villagers, one of whom celebrated the Khmer New Year there in 1632. It remained a Theravada monastery long after the capital moved south.