Angkor Wat
Located in Cambodia, a country in southeast Asia, Angkor Wat is the world’s largest temple, and a hugely important historical site. It stands within the ancient city of Angkor, which was one of the biggest cities in the world in the 13th century. Angkor was much bigger than the largest cities of Europe that existed at the same time.
Despite Angkor’s great size and importance, the site is shrouded in mystery. Little is known about its past and even its original name has been forgotten. The temple’s modern name, Angkor Wat, simply means “city temple” in Khmer (Cambodia’s official language). At one point, the city was abandoned, and no one knows why or what happened to the people who lived there. Let’s take a journey through the mists of time, and see how science has tried to uncover the secrets of this ancient monument.
A mega city
Angkor Wat was built to house the remains of a king called Suryavarman II after his death. The temple was completed around 1150, shortly after the king’s death. It was designed to be a version of heaven on Earth, with lots of incredible carvings and decorations.
Constructing Angkor Wat was an epic task. It took 300,000 workers 37 years to build it. Around 6,000 elephants were used, stone was transported using canals, and around 4,000 people may have worked in the temple. Today, much of the city’s splendour has crumbled and been covered by jungle, but when it was constructed, Angkor Wat was filled with wonders both inside and out. A magnificent staircase led pilgrims to a statue of the Hindu god Vishnu, the temple’s roofs were gilded (covered in gold), as were the towers, which symbolised Mount Meru – home of the gods. After it was finished, Angkor Wat became a place of pilgrimage, visited by people for religious reasons, and the ancient temple is still a sacred site for Cambodians.
Wiping the record
Angkor Wat has had a turbulent history, and this is why there are so many mysteries surrounding the place. Shortly after it was built, the city was sacked (vandalised) by invaders. It was rebuilt by the powerful King Jayavarman VII and in 1589 a Portuguese monk, Antonio da Madalena, became the first westerner to visit Angkor. He wrote, “It is of such extraordinary construction that it is not possible to describe with a pen.” Given its splendour, many have wondered why Angkor Wat was left abandoned.
By the 20th century a big effort was begun to rescue the temple from being taken over by the jungle. However, the restoration work was interrupted in the 1970s, when a violent group known as the Khmer Rouge came to power. They destroyed much of the evidence from the city’s past and even used the temple walls for target practice. One man who lived during this time, Dy Proeung, made drawings of Angkor, which he saved by burying them in the jungle undergrowth. Many people’s stories, and the histories of Angkor Wat, were lost during this time.
Extreme weather
Scientists have put forward many different theories as to why the city was abandoned. Looking at the land and damage to buildings, climate scientists and environmental historians (people who study weather in the past) think the area was affected by flooding, and other disasters caused by extreme weather (such as drought), which made living there too hard.
New discoveries
In recent years, a new technology called Lidar (Light Detection and Ranging) has helped unlock more of Angkor Wat’s treasures. Archaeologists (experts who study ancient objects to help us understand history) use this technology to “see through” the jungle, and have discovered the remains of houses, waterways and gardens. Some think that the gardens at Angkor Wat may have been bigger than anything seen in Europe until the 18th and 19th centuries.
However, despite these discoveries many mysteries still remain. The highest part of Angkor Wat is raised up on a mound, and some scientists think there could even be underground chambers hidden underneath. This ancient site still seems to have more secrets left to reveal.
