Angkor (Khmer: អង្គរ [ʔɑŋkɔː], meaning "capital city") was the capital of the Khmer Empire, located in present-day Cambodia. The empire thrived from around the 900s to the 1500s. The Angkor site includes many religious temples, libraries, moats, and other buildings. Some of these buildings may have been used by officials near the grand palace where the Khmer king lived. Structures built outside the main area were not made of stone. One of the most visited places in Angkor is Angkor Wat, a temple complex that is a major tourist attraction in Cambodia.
The name "Angkor" comes from the Khmer word "nokor," meaning "kingdom," which is based on the Sanskrit word "nagara," meaning "city." The Angkorian period began in AD 802 when Jayavarman II, a Khmer Hindu leader, declared himself a "universal monarch" and "god-king." This period lasted until the late 1300s. In 1351, the city came under the control of the Ayutthaya kingdom. A Khmer rebellion against Ayutthaya led to the destruction of Angkor in 1431, causing its people to move south to Longvek. The name "Yasodharapura" was inspired by the name of Krishna's foster mother in Hinduism. This temple was completed around 921. Hinduism was the main religion in the ancient Khmer Empire, and many temples built by Khmer kings were dedicated to Hindu gods, including Angkor Wat.
The ruins of Angkor are found in forests and farmland north of the Great Lake (Tonlé Sap) and south of the Kulen Hills, near modern-day Siem Reap city (13°24′N, 103°51′E) in Siem Reap Province. Over 1,000 temples exist in the Angkor area, including Angkor Wat, a large religious monument. Many temples at Angkor reflected different religious beliefs, such as Shaivite, Buddhist, and Vaishnavite. Together, they represent the most important site of Khmer architecture. Over two million visitors visit Angkor each year. It was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1992, which helps protect the area for future generations. However, efforts to preserve the site face challenges.
In 2007, researchers used satellite images and modern tools to discover that Angkor was the largest pre-industrial city by area, covering at least 1,000 square kilometers (390 square miles). An archaeological map revealed the city's size and showed a complex water management system. Angkor was called a "hydraulic city" because of its advanced water system, which helped control, store, and distribute water across the region. This system supported farming during unpredictable rainy seasons and met the needs of a growing population. While the exact population size is still debated, new discoveries suggest that agricultural systems in the Angkor area may have supported between 750,000 and 1,000,000 people.
Archaeological overview
The Angkor site changed from the Late Bronze Age to the Early Iron Age. Scientists used a method called radiocarbon dating on bivalve shells found in graves to determine this change happened around 420 BC. These shells show that people lived in Angkor during the 14th century and possibly earlier. This indicates that the area was part of a network for trading goods along Southeast Asian coasts. The earliest Iron Age items found at the site included iron and bronze spearheads, tools with iron-bladed knives, hoes for farming, and bracelets. The Preah Khan temple complex was the only place where remains of iron production were found, with iron slag discovered near the temple.
The Angkor site and its surroundings were built mainly for people who practiced Hinduism and Buddhism. Some of the stone used in construction came from a quarry near Kulen Mountain, discovered using LiDAR technology. Many buildings were made of wood and tiles, while others used grey and brown sandstone. This sandstone has magnetic properties, which helped builders divide construction into stages over time.
Angkor Wat, the largest temple in the Angkorian region, was built between 1113 and 1150 by King Suryavarman II. He became king after defeating a rival prince in battle. An inscription describes how Suryavarman jumped onto his rival’s war elephant and killed him. After securing his power through military actions, diplomacy, and strong leadership, Suryavarman began building Angkor Wat as his personal temple. The temple’s walls, nearly half a mile long, symbolize Hindu beliefs, with central towers representing Mount Meru, the home of gods, and outer walls symbolizing surrounding mountains. The moat around the temple represents the oceans beyond the world.
The design of Angkor Wat reflects the idea that the Khmer king was compared to gods and lived among celestial beings. The temple’s measurements and layout have spiritual meaning. Suryavarman had the temple’s walls decorated with carvings showing scenes from mythology and events from his court. In one scene, the king is shown larger than others, sitting on a throne while attendants help him.
Angkor had roads and canals that formed a grid-like pattern around buildings. These systems were important for transportation and trade. Each area had homes or reservoirs for daily life. However, the large population made it hard to create big water systems. Archaeologists believe nearby areas were connected to Angkor through rivers rather than roads. Many roads were built above ground with ditches alongside them. These ditches filled with rainwater, possibly used for moving goods between communities. Natural canals helped with irrigation, allowing water to flood fields and grow crops efficiently.
Roads were made by layering dirt and soil, compacted together. People used methods to repair and improve these roads over time. These roads and canals may have helped connect Angkor to other empires. The roads followed planned routes and became more complex as time passed. As the economy grew, roads expanded, suggesting they were mainly used for communication.
Archaeologists used LiDAR technology to find structures like building rods, monuments, and other features at Angkor. This was helpful because parts of the site are in dense forests, making exploration difficult. LiDAR showed that after Angkor declined, the area had few people living there.
Historical overview
Angkor experienced many changes in leadership over the years, which could have caused problems. The Angkorian period began shortly after 800 AD when the Khmer King Jayavarman II declared the independence of Kambujadesa (Cambodia) from Java. According to the Sdok Kok Thom inscription, around 781 AD, Indrapura was the first capital of Jayavarman II, located in Banteay Prei Nokor, near today’s Kompong Cham. After returning to his homeland, the former kingdom of Chenla, he quickly gained influence, conquered other rulers, and became king of Kambuja in 790 AD. He then moved to Mahendraparvata, now part of the Kulen mountains, inland north of the Tonlé Sap lake.
He also built the city of Hariharalaya, now known as Roluos, at the northern end of Tonlé Sap. Through military campaigns, alliances, marriages, and land grants, he united the country, which was bordered by China to the north, Champa (now Central Vietnam) to the east, the ocean to the south, and a region described in a stone inscription as "the land of cardamoms and mangoes" to the west. In 802 AD, Jayavarman declared himself "universal monarch" (chakravartin) and took the title "god-king" (devaraja), linking himself to the Hindu god Siva. Before Jayavarman, Cambodia was made up of independent regions called Funan and Chenla by the Chinese.
In 889 AD, Yasovarman became king. A skilled ruler and builder, he was described in an inscription as "a lion-man" who used his strength and policies to lead. Near the old capital of Hariharalaya, Yasovarman built a new city called Yasodharapura, centered on the hill and temple of Phnom Bakheng. He also constructed a large reservoir called a baray. Scholars debate the purpose of these reservoirs, with some believing they were used for irrigation and others thinking they symbolized mythological oceans around Mount Meru, the home of gods. The mountain was represented by an elevated temple, where the "god-king" was symbolized by a lingam. Yasovarman built his central temple on Phnom Bakheng, surrounding it with a moat filled by the baray. He also built many Hindu temples and ashrams, which were retreats for religious ascetics.
Between 900 and 1200 AD, the Khmer Empire created architectural wonders known as Angkor. Most are found in an area about 15 miles (24 km) wide and 5 miles (8 km) long. The Angkor Archaeological Park includes sites like Kbal Spean, about 30 miles (48 km) north. Around 72 major temples or buildings are in this area, with hundreds of smaller temple remains scattered nearby.
Because medieval Khmer settlements were spread out, Angkor lacks clear boundaries, making its size hard to define. However, a large area of at least 1,000 km² (390 sq mi) beyond major temples is connected by roads and canals, showing high levels of integration. This made Angkor the largest urban area in recorded history before the Industrial Revolution, larger than the Maya city of Tikal. At its peak, Angkor covered more land than modern Paris, and its buildings used more stone than all Egyptian structures combined.
After Suryavarman’s death around 1150 AD, the kingdom faced internal conflict. The Cham people from present-day southern Vietnam took advantage of this in 1177, invading up the Mekong River and attacking the Khmer capital, Yasodharapura. They killed the king, but a Khmer prince, later King Jayavarman VII, led his people to victory. In 1181, Jayavarman became king and is considered the greatest Angkorian ruler.
Over the ruins of Yasodharapura, Jayavarman built the walled city of Angkor Thom and its spiritual center, the Bayon temple. Carvings at the Bayon show battles with the Cham, as well as scenes of Khmer life. Jayavarman oversaw the construction of famous temples like Ta Prohm and Preah Khan, dedicated to his parents.
During his reign, the state religion shifted from Hinduism to Mahayana Buddhism, as Jayavarman adopted this faith. Hindu temples were changed to include Buddhist images, and Angkor Wat briefly became a Buddhist shrine. After Jayavarman’s death, Hinduism was revived, leading to the destruction of Buddhist images. Theravada Buddhism became the dominant religion by the 14th century.
In 1296 AD, the Chinese diplomat Zhou Daguan visited Angkor on behalf of the Yuan dynasty. His account, The Customs of Cambodia, describes Khmer society, including religion, justice, kingship, agriculture, and daily life. His observations, combined with inscriptions and carvings at sites like the Bayon and Angkor Wat, provide important details about life in Angkor.
The Angkorian period ended around 1431 AD, as determined by archaeological evidence showing the moat of Angkor Thom was no longer used. The city was later attacked by invaders from the Ayutthaya dynasty. While the exact cause of Angkor’s decline is unknown, some scholars suggest environmental changes and social challenges played a role. By the 15th century, most of Angkor was abandoned, except for Angkor Wat, which remained a Buddhist shrine.
Religious history
Historical Angkor was not just a place for religious art and buildings. It was the location of large cities that met the needs of the Khmer people. However, most of the remaining monuments are religious buildings. In Angkorian times, non-religious buildings, including the king’s home, were made from materials like wood, "because only the gods had a right to homes made of stone." Most surviving stone writings describe religious events involving kings and other leaders. As a result, it is easier to write about the religion of Angkor than about other parts of its society.
Several religious movements influenced the development of religion at Angkor:
The religion of pre-Angkorian Cambodia, called Funan (1st century AD to about 550 AD) and Chenla (about 550 AD to about 800 AD), included Hinduism, Buddhism, and local ancestor worship. Temples from the Chenla period have stone writings in Sanskrit and Khmer that mention both Hindu and local gods, with Shiva being the most important. The worship of Harihara was common, while Buddhism was not, as reported by the Chinese traveler Yi Jing, who said a "wicked king" destroyed it. The worship of the lingam, a stone symbol of fertility, was also important in Chenla.
The Khmer king Jayavarman II, who began the Angkorian period around 800 AD, built his capital at a place called Hariharalaya (now Roluos), near the Tonlé Sap lake. Harihara is a god that combines parts of Vishnu and Shiva, and was favored by Khmer kings. Jayavarman II used the title "devaraja" (god-king) to show his special connection to Shiva.
The start of the Angkorian period also brought changes in religious buildings. During Jayavarman II’s reign, temples with one room gave way to temples with multiple towers built on raised platforms. These temple pyramids represented Mount Meru, the home of Hindu gods, with moats around them symbolizing oceans.
In Angkorian temples, a lingam was often the central religious image. The temple-mountain was the center of the city, and the lingam in the main room was the temple’s focus. The name of the lingam was the king’s name plus "-esvara," meaning Shiva. Worship of the lingam linked the king to Shiva, making Shaivism the state religion.
An inscription from 881 AD shows that King Indravarman I built a lingam named Indresvara. Another inscription says Indravarman built eight lingams named after the "eight elements of Shiva." Rajendravarman, who ruled from 944 AD, built the temple of Pre Rup, whose central tower held the royal lingam called Rajendrabhadresvara.
At first, worship of Vishnu was less important than worship of Shiva. This changed when King Suryavarman II built Angkor Wat as his personal tomb in the early 12th century. The central image in Angkor Wat was Vishnu, and an inscription called Suryavarman "Paramavishnuloka," meaning "he who enters the heavenly world of Vishnu." Even though Suryavarman focused on Vishnu, Shaivism remained the state religion, and the temple may have still had a royal lingam.
The shift to Vaishnavism did not stop the royal personality cult, where the king was seen as a god. Scholar Georges Coedès said, "Angkor Wat is a Vaishnavite sanctuary, but the Vishnu worshipped there was not the traditional Hindu god, but King Suryavarman II, who was posthumously identified with Vishnu, living in a mausoleum decorated with apsaras, like Vishnu in his celestial palace." Suryavarman claimed to be Vishnu, just as earlier kings claimed to be Shiva.
In the late 12th century, King Jayavarman VII broke from tradition by adopting Mahayana Buddhism as his personal faith. He made Buddhism the state religion and built Angkor Thom, including the Buddhist temple Bayon. The Bayon’s towers showed Jayavarman as the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, showing compassion for his people. This allowed Jayavarman to continue the royal personality cult, linking the divine part of the cult to Avalokiteshvara instead of Shiva.
Hinduism returned around 1243 AD after the death of Jayavarman VII’s successor, Indravarman II. King Jayavarman VIII, a Shaivite, destroyed Buddhist images and restored Hindu shrines. The Bayon was turned into a Shiva temple, and its Buddha statue was thrown into a well. Buddhist statues were replaced with lingams.
In 1296 AD, Chinese traveler Zhou Daguan found three religious groups in Angkor. The main religion was Theravada Buddhism, with monks wearing yellow robes and simple temples. The other groups were Brahmans, who were often officials, and Shaivites, whom Zhou called "Taoists," who worshipped a stone similar to the god of the soil in China.
During the 13th century, Theravada Buddhism from Mon kingdoms spread to Angkor. It became the main religion in Cambodia, replacing Mahayana Buddhism and Shaivism. Theravada Buddhism is still practiced in Cambodia today.