The most popular temple at the Angkor Archaeological Park and certainly the most majestic, Angkor Wat is the highlight of any trip to the Angkor Archaeological Park. It is recommended to see both a sunrise and a sunset from here during your visit to Angkor.

Features Image: Jakub Hałun, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Angkor Wat is the largest temple in the world. It covers an area of 200 hectares, and it was built by king Suryavarman ll in the middle of the 12th century over a period of around 30 years. On the four sides of the wall, there are the bas relief tells the stories of Hindu and Buddhism religion, and also about 1,600 different sculptures of celestial dancers “Apsara” on the wall of this temple.

Angkor Wat is the cultural home of the Khmer people and its form, in various guises has appeared and is still on the national flag. Had it been located in the Mediterranean basin it would have been one of the eight wonders of the world. The Lost City of Angkor remained undiscovered by Western archaeologists until the late 19th century and ever since has continued to amaze all who see it for the first time: neither words nor pictures do it justice. Angkor Wat is a legacy of the might that was once the Khmer Empire, a detailed history of which has been carved into the many walls of this fortified temple. The temple is accessible by a giant stone causeway across the hundred ninety meter moat, itself an incredible feat of engineering, to the west face of the Wat.