Prepared by: Rio Daine R.

Abit BSAR 2B Date: March 25, 2021

Submitted to: Ar. Edison Longcop

Narrative Report on the

Cambodian Architecture’s Angkor Wat

I.

Located within the northern part of Cambodia lies the city of Angkor, an important
archaeological site of Southeast Asia. It is around 400 square kilometers and is known for its temples
as well as hydraulic structures. The city was the center of the Khmer Kingdom and with the
impressive monuments and precise construction it was evident that it belonged to an exceptional
civilization. That also embodies cultural, religious and symbolic values, as well as containing high
architectural significance.

However, Angkor despite its advanced and exceptional civilization, encountered its demise in the
early 15th century. The city was known for having water as the key to their development that it was
even referred to as the “hydraulic city”. Unfortunately, it was also the reason for its downfall.
Although it long remained a mystery, researchers have now shown proofs that intense monsoon
rains that followed a prolonged drought in the region caused widespread impact to the city’s
infrastructure, leading to its collapse.

II.

Angkor contains different capitals of the Khmer Empire this includes the famous temple of
Angkor Wat, that is said to be the largest religious monument in the world known as the “temple
city”. When the said city was built, it served as the capital of the Khmer empire, which also ruled the
region at the time.

The word “Angkor” means “capital city” in the Khmer language, while the word “Wat” means
“temple” and it is believed that Angkor Wat is dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu who is one of the
three main gods in Hindu pantheon. As for the construction of the buildings, it was likely to have
required 300,000 workers that took over 30 years to finish the construction. During that time, the
Khmer had developed their own architectural style, which mostly relied on sandstone. As a result, the
city was constructed with blocks of it. The site is built entirely out of stone and an examination of the
temple demonstrates that almost every surface is treated and carved with decorative details.

Furthermore, Angkor Wat’s temple is made up of an extensive wall, which then separates the
sacred temple grounds from the protective moat that surrounds the entire complex. The main temple
is consists of three galleries with a central sanctuary, marked by five stone towers. In addition, the
temple walls are decorated with thousands of bas-reliefs representing important deities and figures
in the Hindu and Buddhist religions as well as key events in its narrative tradition.

III.

With the attachment of the Angkor people specifically the Khmer kings to their religion, instead
of expanding temples built by their predecessors, they dedicated their time by building new temples.
Construction that lead to hiring hundreds of architects and engineers to design the temples. Some of
these temples were dedicated to Buddha or to the Hindu gods. While others were built as shrines to
the Angkor god-king that was ruling at the time, for most of the temples were viewed as sanctuaries
of the gods.