Angkot Wat Temple Complex - The Heart and Soul of Cambodia in South East Asia

Important Note: 

1. Check the COVID 19 travel restrictions of the place online before undertaking your sojourn.
2. Kindly note that the Distance of places, Prices, Hotel rates, Temperature, and other figures may change according to the conditions prevailing at the time of your visit. There may even be short cuts and extra conveyance available that you can avail of when traveling locally. Tourists must conduct their own research before traveling and take due diligence on rates & distances from authorized online sources. All the facts and information provided in relation to the place is for my own personal use and collected from different online sources and collated together. For more details, Click this link DISCLAIMER.

[Angkor Wat at Sunrise]
[Picture Credits: "Cambodia-2638B - Angkor Wat" by Dennis Jarvis, Flickr is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0]

Angkor Wat was originally constructed as a Hindu temple and a capital city dedicated to the God Vishnu by Khymer King Suryavarman in the first half of 12th century. 

But by the end of the 12th century, it was considered a Buddhist site. Theravada Buddhism gained popularity by that time, and maybe the reason for the change. Angkor Wat is the most popular tourist and heritage spot in Cambodia located in the Siem Reap region in Northern Cambodia, around 5-6 km away from the temple complex. 

There are other temples in the vicinity which I will cover later, one of them being the location for the iconic film 'Tomb Raider' shoot. This sprawling temple complex is considered a 7th wonder in the world due to the remote location and massive area, which is around 400 acres. In ancient times, it was a prosperous and fertile city having a population of around  1 million people. It also achieved the sobriquet as the 'City of temples' due to numerous temples in and around the vicinity of Angkor Wat. It was also called 'Praha Vishnuloka' in ancient times and regarded as a sacred dwelling of Lord Vishnu. At times it was thought to be a 'Jetavana' garden of Buddha, similar to the one in Magadha, Bihar, India. 

There was a deep cultural connection between India & Cambodia right from 1 Century BCE. This is reflected in Sanskrit inscriptions found on the temple walls, resident brahmin priests, pottery findings, the discovery of Brahmi script, similar astronomical calculations, Gupta style architecture, and worshipping of deities Hanuman and Shiva.