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អង្គរ
{{Infobox World Heritage Site
| WHS         = Angkor
| Image       = [[File:Angkor Wat.jpg|thumb|Main complex at [[Angkor Wat]]]]
| State Party = [[Cambodia]]
| Type        = Cultural
| Criteria    = i, ii, iii, iv
| ID          = 668
| Region      = [[List of World Heritage Sites in Asia|Asia-Pacific]]
| Year        = [[List of World Heritage Sites by year of inscription#1992 (16th session)|1992]]
| Session     = 16th
| Danger      = 1992–2004
| Link        = http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/668
}}
{{Contains Khmer text}}
'''Angkor''' ({{lang-km|អង្គរ or នគរ}}, "Capital City")<ref name=KhDict>Headly, Robert K.; Chhor, Kylin; Lim, Lam Kheng; Kheang, Lim Hak; Chun, Chen. 1977. ''Cambodian-English Dictionary''. Bureau of Special Research in Modern Languages. The Catholic University of America Press. Washington, D.C. ISBN 0-8132-0509-3</ref><ref name=Nath>Chuon Nath Khmer Dictionary (1966, Buddhist Institute, Phnom Penh)</ref> is a region of [[Cambodia]] that served as the seat of the [[Khmer Empire]], which flourished from approximately the 9th to 15th centuries. The word ''Angkor'' is derived from the [[Sanskrit]] ''nagara'' (नगर), meaning "city".<ref>Higham, ''The Civilization of Angkor'', p.4.</ref>  The Angkorian period began in AD 802, when the [[Khmer people|Khmer]] [[Hinduism|Hindu]] monarch [[Jayavarman II]] declared himself a "universal monarch" and "god-king", and lasted until the late 14th century, first falling under [[Ayutthaya Kingdom|Ayutthaya]]n suzerainty in 1351. A Khmer rebellion resulted in the 1431 sacking of Angkor by Ayutthaya, causing its population to migrate south to [[Longvek]].

The ruins of Angkor are located amid forests and farmland to the north of the Great Lake ([[Tonlé Sap]]) and south of the [[Phnom Kulen|Kulen Hills]], near modern-day [[Siem Reap]] city (13°24′N, 103°51′E), in [[Siem Reap Province]]. The temples of the Angkor area number over one thousand, ranging in scale from nondescript piles of brick rubble scattered through rice fields to the magnificent [[Angkor Wat]], said to be the world's largest single religious monument. Many of the temples at Angkor have been restored, and together, they comprise the most significant site of [[Khmer architecture]].  Visitor numbers approach two million annually, and the entire expanse, including Angkor Wat and [[Angkor Thom]] is collectively protected as a [[UNESCO]] [[World Heritage Site]]. This popularity of the site among tourists presents multiple challenges to the preservation of the ruins.

In 2007, an international team of researchers using satellite photographs and other modern techniques concluded that Angkor had been the largest preindustrial city in the world, with an elaborate infrastructure system connecting an urban sprawl of at least {{convert|1000|km2}} to the well-known temples at its core.<ref name="Evans PNAS">Evans et al., [http://www.pnas.org/content/104/36/14277 A comprehensive archaeological map of the world's largest preindustrial settlement complex at Angkor, Cambodia], Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, August 23, 2007.</ref> The closest rival to Angkor, the Mayan city of [[Tikal]] in Guatemala, was between {{convert|100|and|150|km2}} in total size.<ref name="BBC News 2007">"Map reveals ancient urban sprawl," ''BBC News'', 14 August 2007.</ref> Although its population remains a topic of research and debate, newly identified agricultural systems in the Angkor area may have supported up to one million people.<ref>[http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/metropolis-angkor-the-worlds-first-megacity-461623.html Metropolis: Angkor, the world's first mega-city], The Independent, August 15, 2007</ref>

== Historical overview ==
[[File:Karta AngkorWat.PNG|thumb|Map of the Angkor region]]
[[File:Angkor sunrise.JPG|thumb|Angkor Wat at sunrise]]
===Seat of the Khmer Empire===
[[File:Angkor Thom Porta Sud interior.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Gate into [[Angkor Thom]]]]
The Angkorian period may be said to have begun shortly after 800&nbsp;AD, when the Khmer King [[Jayavarman II]] announced the independence of Kambujadesa ([[Cambodia]]) from [[Java]] and established his capital of [[Hariharalaya]] (now known as Roluos) at the northern end of [[Tonlé Sap]].  Through a program of military campaigns, alliances, marriages and land grants, he achieved a unification of the country bordered by [[China]] to the north, [[Champa]] (now Central Vietnam) to the east, the ocean to the south and a place identified by a stone inscription as "the land of [[cardamom]]s and [[mango]]es" to the west.  In 802, Jayavarman articulated his new status by declaring himself "universal monarch" (''chakravartin'') and, in a move that was to be imitated by his successors and that linked him to the cult of [[Shiva|Siva]], taking on the epithet of "god-king" (''devaraja'').<ref>Higham, ''The Civilization of Angkor'', pp.53 ff.; Chandler, ''A History of Cambodia'', p.34 ff.</ref>  Before Jayavarman, Cambodia had consisted of a number of politically independent principalities collectively known to the Chinese by the names [[Kingdom of Funan|Funan]] and [[Chenla]].<ref>Chandler, ''A History of Cambodia'', p.26; Coedès, ''Pour mieux comprendre Angkor'', p.4.</ref>

In 889, [[Yasovarman]] ascended to the throne.<ref>Higham, ''The Civilization of Angkor'', pp.63 ff.</ref>  A great king and an accomplished builder, he was celebrated by one inscription as "a lion-man; he tore the enemy with the claws of his grandeur; his teeth were his policies; his eyes were the Veda."<ref>Chandler, ''A History of Cambodia'', p.40.</ref> Near the old capital of Hariharalaya, Yasovarman constructed a new city, called [[Yasodharapura]].  In the tradition of his predecessors, he also constructed a massive reservoir called [[baray]].  The significance of such reservoirs has been debated by modern scholars, some of whom have seen in them a means of irrigating rice fields, and others of whom have regarded them as religiously charged symbols of the great mythological oceans surrounding [[Mount Meru]], the abode of the gods.  The mountain, in turn, was represented by an elevated temple, in which the "god-king" was represented by a [[lingam]].<ref>Coedès, ''Pour mieux comprendre Angkor'', p.10.</ref>  In accordance with this cosmic symbolism, Yasovarman built his central temple on a low hill known as [[Phnom Bakheng]], surrounding it with a moat fed from the baray.  He also built numerous other Hindu temples and [[ashram]]s, or retreats for ascetics.<ref>Higham, ''The Civilization of Angkor'', p.60; Chandler, ''A History of Cambodia'', p.38 f.</ref>

Over the next 300 years, between 900 and 1200, the [[Khmer Empire]] produced some of the world's most magnificent architectural masterpieces in the area known as Angkor.  Most are concentrated in an area approximately {{convert|15|mi}} east to west and {{convert|5|mi}} north to south, although the Angkor Archaeological Park, which administers the area, includes sites as far away as [[Kbal Spean]], about {{convert|30|mi}} to the north.  Some 72 major temples or other buildings are found within this area, and the remains of several hundred additional minor temple sites are scattered throughout the landscape beyond.  Because of the dispersed, low-density nature of the medieval Khmer settlement pattern, Angkor lacks a formal boundary, and its extent is therefore difficult to determine. However, a specific area of at least {{convert|1000|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}} beyond the major temples is defined by a complex system of infrastructure, including roads and canals that indicate a high degree of connectivity and functional integration with the urban core. In terms of spatial extent (although not in terms of population), this makes it the largest urban agglomeration in human history prior to the [[Industrial Revolution]], easily surpassing the nearest claim, that of the [[Maya civilization|Maya]]n city of [[Tikal]].<ref name="Evans PNAS" />

=== Construction of Angkor Wat ===
{{Details |Angkor Wat}}
[[File:Buddhist monks in front of the Angkor Wat.jpg|thumb|right|Buddhist monks at Angkor]]
The principal temple of the Angkorian region, [[Angkor Wat]], was built between 1113 and 1150 by King [[Suryavarman II]]. Suryavarman ascended to the throne after prevailing in a battle with a rival prince.  An inscription says that, in the course of combat, Suryavarman leapt onto his rival's war elephant and killed him, just as the mythical bird-man [[Garuda]] slays a serpent.<ref>Higham, ''The Civilization of Angkor'', pp.112 ff.; Chandler, ''A History of Cambodia'', p.49.</ref>

After consolidating his political position through military campaigns, diplomacy, and a firm domestic administration, Suryavarman launched into the construction of Angkor Wat as his personal temple mausoleum.  Breaking with the tradition of the Khmer kings, and influenced perhaps by the concurrent rise of [[Vaisnavism]] in India, he dedicated the temple to [[Vishnu]] rather than to [[Shiva|Siva]].  With walls nearly half a mile long on each side, Angkor Wat grandly portrays the [[Hindu]] cosmology, with the central towers representing [[Mount Meru]], home of the gods; the outer walls, the mountains enclosing the world; and the moat, the oceans beyond.  The traditional theme of identifying the Cambodian devaraja with the gods, and his residence with that of the celestials, is very much in evidence.  The measurements themselves of the temple and its parts in relation to one another have cosmological significance.<ref>Chandler, ''A History of Cambodia'', p.50 f.</ref>  Suryavarman had the walls of the temple decorated with [[bas relief]]s depicting not only scenes from mythology, but also from the life of his own imperial court.  In one of the scenes, the king himself is portrayed as larger in size than his subjects, sitting cross-legged on an elevated throne and holding court, while a bevy of attendants make him comfortable with the aid of parasols and fans.

=== Jayavarman VII ===
{{Main| Jayavarman VII}}
[[File:Guimet IMG 6009 Jayavarman7.JPG|thumb|right|upright|Portrait of Jayavarman&nbsp;VII on display at [[Musee Guimet]], Paris]]

Following the death of Suryavarman around 1150&nbsp;AD, the kingdom fell into a period of internal strife.  Its neighbors to the east, the [[Cham (Asia)|Cham]] of what is now southern Vietnam, took advantage of the situation in 1177 to launch a seaborne invasion up the [[Mekong]] River and across [[Tonlé Sap]].  The Cham forces were successful in sacking the Khmer capital of [[Yasodharapura]] and in killing the reigning king.  However, a Khmer prince who was to become King [[Jayavarman VII]] rallied his people and defeated the Cham in battles on the lake and on the land.  In 1181, Jayavarman assumed the throne.  He was to be the greatest of the Angkorian kings.<ref>Higham, ''The Civilization of Angkor'', pp.120 ff.</ref> Over the ruins of Yasodharapura, Jayavarman constructed the walled city of [[Angkor Thom]], as well as its geographic and spiritual center, the temple known as the [[Bayon]].  Bas-reliefs at the Bayon depict not only the king's battles with the Cham, but also scenes from the life of Khmer villagers and courtiers. Jayavarman oversaw the period of Angkor's most prolific construction, which included building of the well-known temples of [[Ta Prohm]] and [[Preah Khan]], dedicating them to his parents.<ref name="WorldArch">Tom St John Gray, [http://www.world-archaeology.com/features/angkor-wat-temple-of-boom/ Angkor Wat: Temple of Boom], World Archeology, 7 November 2011.</ref> This massive program of construction coincided with a transition in the state religion from [[Hinduism]] to [[Mahayana Buddhism]], since Jayavarman himself had adopted the latter as his personal faith.  During Jayavarman's reign, Hindu temples were altered to display images of the [[Gautama Buddha|Buddha]], and Angkor Wat briefly became a Buddhist shrine.  Following his death, a Hindu revival included a large-scale campaign of desecrating Buddhist images, until [[Theravada Buddhism]] became established as the land's dominant religion from the 14th century.<ref>Higham, ''The Civilization of Angkor'', p.116.</ref>
[[File:Ref-bayon1.jpg|thumb|left|Reliefs at [[Bayon|Prasat Bayon]]]]

=== Zhou Daguan ===
The year 1296 marked the arrival at Angkor of the Chinese diplomat [[Zhou Daguan]].  Zhou's one-year sojourn in the Khmer capital during the reign of King [[Indravarman III]] is historically significant, because he penned a still-surviving [[Customs of Cambodia|account]] of approximately 40 pages detailing his observations of Khmer society.  Some of the topics he addressed in the account were those of religion, justice, kingship, agriculture, slavery, birds, vegetables, bathing, clothing, tools, draft animals, and commerce.  In one passage, he described a royal procession consisting of soldiers, numerous servant women and concubines, ministers and princes, and finally, "the sovereign, standing on an elephant, holding his sacred sword in his hand."  Together with the inscriptions that have been found on Angkorian [[stela]]e, temples and other monuments, and with the [[bas-reliefs]] at the [[Bayon]] and [[Angkor Wat]], Zhou's journal is the most important source of information about everyday life at Angkor.  Filled with vivid anecdotes and sometimes incredulous observations of a civilization that struck Zhou as colorful and exotic, it is an entertaining travel memoir as well.<ref>Higham, ''The Civilization of Angkor'', pp.134 ff.; Chandler, ''A History of Cambodia'', pp.71 ff.</ref>

=== End of the Angkorian period ===
The end of the Angkorian period is generally set as 1431, the year Angkor was sacked and looted by Ayutthaya invaders,   though the civilization already had been in decline in the 13th and 14th centuries.  During the course of the 15th century, nearly all of Angkor was abandoned, except for [[Angkor Wat]], which remained a Buddhist shrine.
Several theories have been advanced to account for the decline and abandonment of Angkor:

====War with the Ayutthaya Kingdom====
[[File:Map-of-southeast-asia 900 CE.png|thumb|right|Map of the Khmer Empire (in red) in 900 AD]]
It is widely believed that the abandonment of the Khmer capital occurred as a result of Ayutthaya invasions.  Ongoing wars with the Siamese were already sapping the strength of Angkor at the time of [[Zhou Daguan]] toward the end of the 13th century.  In his memoirs, Zhou reported that the country had been completely devastated by such a war, in which the entire population had been obligated to participate.<ref>Coedès, ''Pour mieux comprendre Angkor'', p.32.</ref>  After the collapse of Angkor in 1431, many persons, texts and institutions were taken to the Ayutthaya capital of [[Ayutthaya (city)|Ayutthaya]] in the west, while others departed for the new center of Khmer society at [[Longvek]] further south, though the official capital later moved, first to [[Oudong]] around {{convert|45|km}} from [[Phnom Penh]] in [[Ponhea Leu District]], and then to the present site of Phnom Penh.

====Erosion of the state religion====
Some scholars have connected the decline of Angkor with the conversion of Cambodia to [[Theravada Buddhism]] following the reign of [[Jayavarman VII]], arguing that this religious transition eroded the Hindu conception of kingship that undergirded the Angkorian civilization.<ref>Chandler, ''A History of Cambodia'', p.78 ff.</ref>  According to Angkor scholar [[George Coedès]], Theravada Buddhism's denial of the ultimate reality of the individual served to sap the vitality of the royal personality cult which had provided the inspiration for the grand monuments of Angkor.<ref>Coedès, ''Pour mieux comprendre Angkor'', pp.64-65.</ref> The vast expanse of temples required an equally large body of workers to maintain them; at [[Ta Prohm]], a stone carving states that 12,640 people serviced that single temple complex. Not only could the spread of Buddhism have eroded this workforce, but it could have also impacted the estimated 300,000 agricultural workers required to feed them all.<ref>Richard Stone, [http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2009/07/angkor/stone-text Divining Angkor], National Geographic, July 2009.</ref>

====Neglect of public works====
According to [[George Coedès]], the weakening of Angkor's royal government by ongoing war and the erosion of the cult of the ''devaraja'' undermined the government's ability to engage in important public works, such as the construction and maintenance of the waterways essential for irrigation of the rice fields upon which Angkor's large population depended for its sustenance.  As a result, Angkorian civilization suffered from a reduced economic base, and the population was forced to scatter.<ref name="Coedès, p.30">Coedès, ''Pour mieux comprendre Angkor'', p.30.</ref>

====Natural disaster====
[[File:Angkor Wat reliefs (Sept2009h).jpg|thumb|right|Reliefs at [[Angkor Wat]]]]
Other scholars attempting to account for the rapid decline and abandonment of Angkor have hypothesized natural disasters such as disease (Bubonic Plague), earthquakes, inundations, or drastic climate changes as the relevant agents of destruction.<ref name="Coedès, p.30" />  Recent research by Australian archaeologists suggests that the decline may have been due to a shortage of water caused by the transition from the [[Medieval Warm Period]] to the [[Little Ice Age]].<ref>{{Cite news 
  |author = AAP
  | title = Climate change killed ancient city
  | publisher = NEWS.com.au
  | date = 14 March 2007
  | url = http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,21380223-1702,00.html
  | accessdate = 12 November 2009
  | authorlink = Australian Associated Press|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20080116142532/http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,21380223-1702,00.html|archivedate=16 January 2008}} {{Dead link|date=September 2010|bot=H3llBot}}</ref> [[Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory|LDEO]] [[Dendrochronology|dendrochronological research]] has established tree-ring chronologies indicating severe periods of [[drought]] across [[Indochina|mainland Southeast Asia]] in the early 15th century, raising the possibility that Angkor's canals and reservoirs ran dry and ended expansion of available farmland.<ref>{{Cite news 
  | last = Nelson
  | first = Andy
  | title = The secret life of ancient trees
  | newspaper = Christian Science Monitor
  | date = 10 November 2009
  | url = http://features.csmonitor.com/environment/2009/11/10/the-secret-life-of-ancient-trees/
  | accessdate = 12 November 2009| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20091112102431/http://features.csmonitor.com/environment/2009/11/10/the-secret-life-of-ancient-trees/| archivedate= 12 November 2009 <!--DASHBot-->| deadurl= no}}</ref>

=== Restoration, preservation, and threats ===
Although there is evidence to the contrary (Leonowens, 1870), many scholars believe the great city and temples remained largely cloaked by the forest until the late 19th century, when French archaeologists began a long restoration process.  From 1907 to 1970, work was under the direction of the [[École française d'Extrême-Orient]], which cleared away the forest, repaired foundations, and installed drains to protect the buildings from water damage.  In addition, scholars associated with the school and including [[George Coedès]], [[Maurice Glaize]], [[Paul Mus]], [[Philippe Stern]] and others initiated a program of historical scholarship and interpretation that is fundamental to the current understanding of Angkor.
[[File:Preah Khan temple ruins (2009).jpg|thumb|right|[[Preah Khan]] temple ruins]]
Work resumed after the end of the [[Cambodian Civil War]] and, since 1993, has been jointly co-ordinated by the Indian, German, Japanese and UNESCO through the International Co-ordinating Committee on the Safeguarding and Development of the Historic Site of Angkor (ICC), while Cambodian work is carried out by the Authority for the Protection and Management of Angkor and the Region of Siem Reap ([[APSARA]]), created in 1995.  Some temples have been carefully taken apart stone by stone and reassembled on concrete foundations, in accordance with the method of [[anastylosis]].  [[World Monuments Fund]] has aided [[Preah Khan]], the Churning of the Sea of Milk (a 49-meter-long bas-relief frieze in Angkor Wat), [[Ta Som]], and [[Phnom Bakheng]].  International tourism to Angkor has increased significantly in recent years, with visitor numbers reaching 900,000 in 2006; this poses additional conservation problems but has also provided financial assistance to the restoration effort.<ref>"Tourist invasion threatens to ruin glories of Angkor," ''The Observer.''</ref>

====Water-table dropping====
With the increased growth in tourism at Angkor, new hotels and restaurants are being built to accommodate such growth.  Each new construction project drills underground to reach the [[water table]], which has a limited storage capacity.  This demand on the water table could undermine the stability of the sandy soils under the monuments at Angkor, leading to cracks, fissures and collapses.<ref>{{cite news|author=Sharp, Rob|date=14 March 2008|title=Heritage Site in Peril: Angkor Wat is Falling Down|work=[[The Independent]]|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/heritage-site-in-peril-angkor-wat-is-falling-down-795747.html}}</ref> Making matters worse, the peak tourist season corresponds with Cambodia's dry season, which leads to excessive pumping of ground water when it is least replenished naturally.<ref name="Doherty"/>

====Looting====
[[Looting]] has been an ever-growing threat to the Angkor archaeological landscape.  According to APSARA, the official [[Cambodia]]n agency charged with overseeing the management of Angkor, "vandalism has multiplied at a phenomenal rate, employing local populations to carry out the actual thefts, heavily armed intermediaries transport objects, often in tanks or armored personnel carriers, often for sale across the Cambodian border."<ref>{{cite news|author=Perlez, Jane|date=March 21, 2005|title=Siem Reap Journal; A Cruel Race to Loot the Splendor That Was Angkor|work=[[The New York Times]]|url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E06E3DA1E3CF932A15750C0A9639C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=1}}</ref>

====Unsustainable tourism====
{{Section OR|date=January 2013}}
The increasing number of tourists, around two million per year,<ref name="Doherty">Ben Doherty, [http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/sep/27/water-raiding-threatens-angkor-wat Private water raiding threatens Angkor's temples built on sand], The Guardian, 27 September 2010</ref> exerts pressure on the archaeological sites at Angkor by walking and climbing on the (mostly) sandstone monuments at Angkor.  This direct pressure created by unchecked tourism is expected to cause significant damage to the monuments in the future.<ref>{{cite news|author=Watson, Paul|date=July 19, 2008|title=Too Much Adoration at Cambodia's Angkor Temples|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|url=http://travel.latimes.com/articles/la-trw-angkor20-2008jul20?page=1}}</ref>

In sites such as Angkor, tourism is inevitable. Therefore, the site management team cannot exclusively manage the site. The team has to manage the flow of people. Millions of people visit Angkor each year, making the management of this flow vital to the quickly decaying structures. Western tourism to Angkor began in 1970s.<ref>Wagner, Jonathan C. (1995). "Environmental planning for a world heritage site: Case study of Angkor, Cambodia.". Journal of Environmental Planning & Management Vol. 38(3)</ref> The sandstone monuments and Angkor are not made for this type of heightened tourism. Moving forward, UNESCO and local authorities at the site are in the process of creating a sustainable plan for the future of the site. Since 1992, UNESCO has moved towards conserving Angkor. Thousands of new archaeological sites have been discovered by UNESCO, and the organization has moved towards protected cultural zones. Two decades later, over 1000 people are employed full-time at the site for cultural sensitivity reasons. Part of this movement to limit the impacts of tourism has been to only open certain areas of the site. However, much of the 1992 precautionary measures and calls for future enforcement have fallen through. Globally, and locally, the policy-making has been successful. But the implementation has failed. This implementation has failed for a number of reasons. First, there are conflicts of interest in Cambodia. While the site is culturally important to them, Cambodia is a poor country. Its GDP is marginally larger than Afghanistan’s. Tourism is a vital part to the Cambodian economy, and shutting down parts of Angkor, the largest tourist destination in the country, is not an option. A second reason stems from the government’s inability to organize around the site. The Cambodian government has failed in organizing a robust team of cultural specialists and archaeologists to service the site.  What may save the site in the future is not in Cambodia at all. In the Indian state of Bihar, government wants to build an exact replica of Angkor Wat. While religiously, financially, and nationally this is controversial, it is perhaps the only chance we have of saving Angkor Wat for the future.

== Religious history ==
Historical Angkor was more than a site for religious art and architecture. It was the site of vast cities that served all the needs of the Khmer people. Aside from a few old bridges, however, all of the remaining monuments are religious edifices. In Angkorian times, all non-religious buildings, including the residence of the king himself, were constructed of perishable materials, such as wood, "because only the gods had a right to residences made of stone."<ref>Coedès, ''Pour mieux comprendre Angkor'', p.18.</ref>  Similarly, the vast majority of the surviving stone inscriptions are about the religious foundations of kings and other potentates.<ref>Coedès, ''Pour mieux comprendre Angkor'', p.2.</ref>  As a result, it is easier to write the history of Angkorian state religion than it is to write that of just about any other aspect of Angkorian society.

Several religious movements contributed to the historical development of religion at Angkor:
* Indigenous religious cults, including those centered on worship of the ancestors and of the [[lingam]];
* A royal [[cult of personality]], identifying the king with the deity, characteristic not only of Angkor, but of other Indic civilizations in southeast Asia, such as [[Champa]] and [[Java]];
* [[Hinduism]], especially [[Shaivism]], the form of Hinduism focussed on the worship of [[Shiva]] and the lingam as the symbol of Shiva, but also [[Vaishnavism]], the form of Hinduism focussed on the worship of [[Vishnu]];
* [[Buddhism]], in both its [[Mahayana]] and [[Theravada]] varieties.

=== Pre-Angkorian religion ===
[[File:Baksei Chamkrong 3.jpg|thumb|Right|Dedicated by [[Rajendravarman]] in 948&nbsp;A.D., [[Baksei Chamkrong]] is a temple-pyramid that housed a statue of [[Shiva]]]]
The religion of pre-Angkorian Cambodia, known to the Chinese as [[Kingdom of Funan|Funan]] (1st century AD to ca. 550) and [[Chenla Kingdom|Chenla]] (ca. 550 - ca. 800 AD), included elements of Hinduism, Buddhism and indigenous ancestor cults.<ref>Chandler, ''A History of Cambodia'', pp.19-20.</ref>

Temples from the period of Chenla bear stone inscriptions, in both [[Sanskrit]] and [[Khmer script|Khmer]], naming both Hindu and local ancestral deities, with Shiva supreme among the former.<ref>Higham, ''The Civilization of Angkor'', p.46.</ref>  The cult of [[Harihara]] was prominent; Buddhism was not, because, as reported by the Chinese pilgrim [[I Ching (monk)|Yi Jing]], a "wicked king" had destroyed it.<ref>Coedès, ''The Indianized States of Southeast Asia'', p.73f.</ref> Characteristic of the religion of Chenla also was the cult of the lingam, or stone phallus that patronized and guaranteed fertility to the community in which it was located.<ref name="Chandler, p.20">Chandler, ''A History of Cambodia'', p.20.</ref>

=== Shiva and the lingam ===
The Khmer king [[Jayavarman II]], whose assumption of power around 800&nbsp;AD marks the beginning of the Angkorian period, established his capital at a place called [[Hariharalaya]] (today known as [[Roluos]]), at the northern end of the great lake, [[Tonlé Sap]].<ref name="Higham, p.57">Higham, ''The Civilization of Angkor'', p.57.</ref>  [[Harihara]] is the name of a deity that combines the essence of [[Vishnu]] (Hari) with that of [[Shiva]] (Hara) and that was much favored by the Khmer kings.<ref name="Chandler, p.20" />  Jayavarman II's adoption of the epithet "devaraja" (god-king) signified the monarch's special connection with Shiva.<ref>Chandler, ''A History of Cambodia'', p.34.</ref>

The beginning of the Angkorian period was also marked by changes in religious architecture.  During the reign of Jayavarman II, the single-chambered sanctuaries typical of Chenla gave way to temples constructed as a series of raised platforms bearing multiple towers.<ref name="Higham, p.57" />  Increasingly impressive temple pyramids came to represent [[Mount Meru]], the home of the Hindu gods, with the moats surrounding the temples representing the mythological oceans.<ref>Higham, ''The Civilization of Angkor'', p.9, 60.</ref>
[[File:Museum für Indische Kunst Dahlem Berlin Mai 2006 036 2.jpg|right|thumb|An 11th- or 12th-century Cambodian bronze statue of [[Vishnu]]]]
Typically, a [[lingam]] served as the central religious image of the Angkorian temple-mountain.  The temple-mountain was the center of the city, and the lingam in the main sanctuary was the focus of the temple.<ref>Stern, "Le temple-montagne khmèr," p.615.</ref>  The name of the central lingam was the name of the king himself, combined with the suffix ''-esvara'', which designated Shiva.<ref>Stern, "Le temple-montagne khmèr," p.612.</ref>  Through the worship of the lingam, the king was identified with Shiva, and [[Shaivism]] became the state religion.<ref name="Stern p.616">Stern, "Le temple-montagne khmèr," p.616.</ref>  Thus, an inscription dated 881&nbsp;AD indicates that king [[Indravarman I]] erected a lingam named ''Indresvara''.<ref name="Higham, p.63">Higham, ''The Civilization of Angkor'', p.63.</ref>  Another inscription tells us that Indravarman erected eight lingams in his courts and that they were named for the "eight elements of Shiva".<ref name="Higham, p.63" />  Similarly, [[Rajendravarman]], whose reign began in 944&nbsp;AD, constructed the temple of [[Pre Rup]], the central tower of which housed the royal lingam called ''Rajendrabhadresvara''.<ref>Higham, ''The Civilization of Angkor'', pp.73ff.</ref>

=== Vaishnavism ===
In the early days of Angkor, the worship of [[Vishnu]] was secondary to that of [[Shiva]].  The relationship seems to have changed with the construction of [[Angkor Wat]] by King [[Suryavarman II]] as his personal mausoleum at the beginning of the 12th century.  The central religious image of Angkor Wat was an image of Vishnu, and an inscription identifies Suryavarman as "Paramavishnuloka," or "he who enters the heavenly world of Vishnu."<ref>Higham, ''The Civilization of Angkor'', p.118.</ref>  Religious [[syncretism]], however, remained thoroughgoing in Khmer society: the state religion of Shaivism was not necessarily abrogated by Suryavarman's turn to Vishnu, and the temple may well have housed a royal lingam.<ref name="Stern p.616" />  Furthermore, the turn to [[Vaishnavism]] did not abrogate the royal personality cult of Angkor. by which the reigning king was identified with the deity.  According to Angkor scholar [[Georges Coedès]], "Angkor Wat is, if you like, a vaishnavite sanctuary, but the Vishnu venerated there was not the ancient Hindu deity nor even one of the deity's traditional incarnations, but the king Suryavarman II posthumously identified with Vishnu, consubstantial with him, residing in a mausoleum decorated with the graceful figures of apsaras just like Vishnu in his celestial palace."<ref>Coedès, ''Pour mieux comprendre Angkor'', p.63.</ref>  Suryavarman proclaimed his identity with Vishnu, just as his predecessors had claimed consubstantiation with Shiva.

[[File:Faces bayon.jpg|thumb|right|Face towers of the [[Bayon]] represent the king as the Bodhisattva [[Lokesvara]]]]

=== Mahayana Buddhism ===
In the last quarter of the 12th century, King [[Jayavarman VII]] departed radically from the tradition of his predecessors when he adopted [[Mahayana]] Buddhism as his personal faith.  Jayavarman also made Buddhism the state religion of his kingdom when he constructed the Buddhist temple known as the [[Bayon]] at the heart of his new capital city of Angkor Thom.  In the famous face towers of the Bayon, the king represented himself as the [[bodhisattva]] [[Avalokiteshvara]] moved by compassion for his subjects.<ref>Higham, ''The Civilization of Angkor'', p.121.</ref>  Thus, Jayavarman was able to perpetuate the royal personality cult of Angkor, while identifying the divine component of the cult with the bodhisattva rather than with Shiva.<ref>Coedès, ''Pour mieux comprendre Angkor'', p.62.</ref>

=== Hindu restoration ===
The Hindu restoration began around 1243&nbsp;AD, with the death of Jayavarman VII's successor, [[Indravarman II]].  The next king, [[Jayavarman VIII]], was a Shaivite iconoclast who specialized in destroying Buddhist images and in reestablishing the Hindu shrines that his illustrious predecessor had converted to Buddhism.  During the restoration, the Bayon was made a temple to Shiva, and its central 3.6 meter tall statue of the Buddha was cast to the bottom of a nearby well.  Everywhere, cultist statues of the Buddha were replaced by lingams.<ref>Higham, ''The Civilization of Angkor'', p.133.</ref>

=== Religious pluralism ===
When Chinese traveller [[Zhou Daguan]] came to Angkor in AD&nbsp;1296, he found what he took to be three separate religious groups.  The dominant religion was that of [[Theravada]] Buddhism.  Zhou observed that the monks had shaven heads and wore yellow robes.<ref>Higham, ''The Civilization of Angkor'', p.137.</ref> The Buddhist temples impressed Zhou with their simplicity.  He noted that the images of Buddha were made of gilded plaster.<ref name="Chandler, p.72">Chandler, ''A History of Cambodia'', p.72.</ref>  The other two groups identified by Zhou appear to have been those of the [[Brahmin|Brahmans]] and of the [[Shaivites]].  About the Brahmans, Zhou had little to say, except that they were often employed as high officials.<ref name="Chandler, p.72" />  Of the Shaivites, whom he called "[[Taoists]]", Zhou wrote, "the only image which they revere is a block of stone analogous to the stone found in shrines of the god of the soil in China."<ref name="Chandler, p.72" />

=== Theravada Buddhism ===
During the course of the 13th century, Theravada Buddhism transmitted through the [[Mon people|Mon]] kingdoms of [[Dvaravati]] and [[Haripunchai]] made its appearance at Angkor.  Gradually, it became the dominant religion of Cambodia, displacing both Mahayana Buddhism and Shaivism.<ref>Coedès, ''Pour mieux comprendre Angkor'', p.19.</ref>  The practice of Theravada Buddhism at Angkor continues until this day.

== Archaeological sites ==
The area of Angkor has many significant archaeological sites, including the following: [[Angkor Thom]], [[Angkor Wat]], [[Baksei Chamkrong]], [[Banteay Kdei]], [[Banteay Samré]], [[Banteay Srei]], [[Baphuon]], the [[Bayon]], [[Chau Say Tevoda]], [[East Baray]], [[East Mebon]], [[Kbal Spean]], the [[Khleangs]], [[Krol Ko]], [[Lolei]], [[Neak Pean]], [[Phimeanakas]], [[Phnom Bakheng]], [[Phnom Krom]], [[Prasat Ak Yum]], [[Prasat Kravan]], [[Preah Khan]], [[Preah Ko]], [[Preah Palilay]], [[Preah Pithu]], [[Pre Rup]], [[Spean Thma]], [[Srah Srang]], [[Ta Nei]], [[Ta Prohm]], [[Ta Som]], [[Ta Keo]], [[Terrace of the Elephants]], [[Terrace of the Leper King]], [[Thommanon]], [[West Baray]], [[West Mebon]]. Another city at [[Mahendraparvata]] was discovered in 2013.<ref>{{cite news | title=The lost city | author=Lindsay Murdoch | date=2013-06-14 | publisher=[[The Age]] | url=http://www.theage.com.au/world/the-lost-city-20130614-2o9k7.html}}</ref>

==Terms and phrases==
* '''Angkor''' is a Khmer term meaning "city".  It comes from the Sanskrit ''nagara''.
* '''Banteay''' is a Khmer term meaning "[[citadel]]" or "fortress" that is also applied to walled temples.
* '''Baray''' means "reservoir".
* '''Esvara''', or '''Isvara''', is a suffix referring to the god [[Shiva]].
* '''Gopura''' is a Sanskrit term meaning "entrance pavilion" or "gateway".
* '''Jaya''' is a prefix meaning "victory".
* '''Phnom''' is a Khmer term meaning "mountain".
* '''Prasat''' is a Khmer term meaning "temple".  It comes from the Sanskrit ''prasada''.
* '''Preah''' is a Khmer term meaning "God" or "King" it can also be a prefix meaning "sacred" or "holy".  (''Preah Khan'' means "sacred sword".)
* '''Srei''' is a Khmer term meaning "woman".  (''Banteay Srei'' means "citadel of women".)
* '''Ta''' is a Khmer term meaning "grandfather," or under some circumstances "ancestor."  (''Ta Prohm'' means "Ancestor Brahma".  ''Neak ta'' means "ancestors" or "ancestral spirits".)
* '''Thom''' is a Khmer term meaning "large".  (''Angkor Thom'' means "large city".)
* '''Varman''' is a suffix meaning "shield" or "protector".  (''Suryavarman'' means "protected by Surya, the sun-god".)
* '''Wat''' is a Khmer term, derived from the Sanskrit ''vattaram''{{Citation needed|date=February 2012}}, meaning (Buddhist) "temple".  (''Angkor Wat'' means "temple city".)

==See also==
* [[Angkor National Museum]]
* [[Architecture of Cambodia]]
* [[Kingdom of Funan|Funan]]
* [[Hindu temple architecture]]
* [[Greater India]]

==Footnotes==
{{reflist|2}}

== References ==
{{refbegin|2}}
*{{cite book|last=Audric|first=John|title=Angkor and the Khmer Empire|year=1972|publisher=R. Hale|location=London|isbn=0-7091-2945-9}}
*{{cite book|last=Chandler|first=David|title=A History of Cambodia|year=1992|publisher=Westview Press|location=Boulder}}
*{{cite book|last=Coedès|first=George|title=The Indianized States of Southeast Asia|year=1968|publisher=East West Center Press|location=Honolulu}}
*{{cite book|last=Coedès|first=George|title=Pour mieux comprendre Angkor|year=1943|publisher=Imprimerie d'Extrême Orient|location=Hanoi}}
* Forbes, Andrew; Henley, David (2011). ''Angkor, Eighth Wonder of the World''. Chiang Mai: Cognoscenti Books. ASIN: B0085RYW0O
*{{cite book|last=Freeman|first=Michael|coauthors=and Claude Jacques|title=Ancient Angkor|year=1999|publisher=Weatherhill|location=Trumbull, Conn.|isbn=0-8348-0426-3}}
*{{cite book|last=Higham|first=Charles|title=The Civilization of Angkor|year=2001|publisher=University of California Press|location=Berkeley}}
* Petrotchenko, Michel (2011). ''Focusing on the Angkor Temples: The Guidebook'', 383 pages, Amarin Printing and Publishing, ISBN 978-616-90744-0-3
* Stern, Philippe (1934). "Le temple-montagne khmèr, le culte du linga et le Devaraja", ''Bulletin de l'École française d’Extrême-Orient'' 34, pp.&nbsp;611–616.
*[http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1282/is_18_55/ai_109411352 National Review: In Pol Pot Land: Ruins of varying types Sept 29, 2003].
*[http://portal.unesco.org/culture/en/ev.php-URL_ID=2672&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html UNESCO: International Programme for the Preservation of Angkor] Accessed 17 May 2005.
*{{cite news|url=http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,21380223-29277,00.html |title=Climate change killed ancient city |publisher=The Australian |date=2007-03-14 |accessdate=2007-03-16|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20070728091913/http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,21380223-29277,00.html|archivedate=2007-07-28}} {{Dead link|date=September 2010|bot=H3llBot}}
*{{cite news|url=http://observer.guardian.co.uk/world/story/0,,2020821,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=travel |title=Tourist invasion threatens to ruin glories of Angkor|publisher=The Observer|date=2007-02-25 | location=London | first=Justine | last=Smith}}
*{{cite web |last = Dayton |first = Leigh |url=http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22240801-30417,00.html |title=Angkor engineered own end|publisher=The Australian|date=2007-08-14 |accessdate=2007-08-14}}
*{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6945574.stm|title=Map reveals ancient urban sprawl|publisher=BBC News|date=2007-08-14}}
*{{cite book|last=Pescali|first=Piergiorgio|title=Indocina|year=2010|publisher=Emil|location=Bologna|isbn=978-88-96026-42-7
}}
*Wagner, Jonathan (1992). "Environmental planning for a world heritage site: Case study of Angkor, Cambodia." Journal of Environmental Planning & Management Vol 38(3) pp.&nbsp;419.

{{refend}}

==External links==
* {{wikivoyage|Angkor Archaeological Park}}
* [http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=13.411996,103.867149&spn=0.247781,0.454662&t=k&hl=en Google Maps] Map centered on [[Angkor Wat]], with the [[Tonle Sap]] at the bottom
* [http://acl.arts.usyd.edu.au/angkor/gap Greater Angkor Project] International research project investigating the settlement context of the temples at Angkor
* [http://www.greatangkor.com GreatAngkor] Khmer temples, maps and photos
* [http://www.theangkorguide.com www.theangkorguide.com] Illustrated online guide to Angkor with plans and maps
* [http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=5112 Angkor Wat] High-resolution NASA image
* [http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb32720607b/date Bulletin de l'Ecole française d'Extrême-Orient], 1901-1936.  Now online at gallica.bnf.fr, this journal documents cutting-edge early 20th-century French scholarship on Angkor and other topics related to Asian civilizations.
*[http://wmf.org/angkor.html The World Monuments Fund in Angkor] - background, interactive map, travel tips, panoramas, e-cards
*[http://archive.cyark.org/angkor-info Angkor digital media archive] - Photos, laser scans, panoramas of Angkor Wat and Banteay Kdei from a [[CyArk]]/[[Sophia University]] partnership
*[http://www.angkor.iif.hu Royal Angkor Foundation] - Foundation concerned with the safeguarding and the development of the cultural site of Angkor. In charge of various cultural projects.
*[http://www.angkor.newworldltd.org Images from Angkor] - Images from Angkor.
*[http://www.asienreisender.de/angkor.html Informative webpage on Angkor.]

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{{Angkorian sites}}
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[[Category:Archaeological sites in Cambodia]]
[[Category:World Heritage Sites in Cambodia]]
[[Category:Tourism in Cambodia]]
[[Category:Former populated places in Cambodia]]

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