Khmer Moat in Hindu Cosmology

Dr Uday Dokras

One thousand years ago the Khmer empire was one of the widest in the
world, occupying what today goes from Burma to Thailand and also part of
Malaysia, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. It lasted for 600 years and Prasat hin
Phimai was one of the main sites on which the Khmer empire was based on,
prior to the erection of the Angkor city.

Water, with its life-giving and purifying qualities, is central to Khmer

cosmology and all varieties of Hindu religion. A moat is a deep, broad ditch,
either dry or filled with water, that is dug and surrounds a castle, fortification,
building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In
some places moats evolved into more extensive water defences, including
natural or artificial lakes, dams and sluices. In older fortifications, such
as hillforts, they are usually referred to simply as ditches, although the
function is similar. In later periods, moats or water defences may be largely
ornamental. They could also act as a sewer. Some of the earliest evidence of
moats has been uncovered around ancient Egyptian castles. One example is
at Buhen, a castle excavated in Nubia. Other evidence of ancient moats is
found in the ruins of Babylon, and in reliefs from ancient Egypt, Assyria, and
other cultures in the region.
Evidence of early moats around settlements has been discovered in many
archaeological sites throughout Southeast Asia, including Noen U-Loke, Ban
Non Khrua Chut, Ban Makham Thae and Ban Non Wat. The use of the moats
could have been either for defensive or agriculture purposes. 1

Franck Monnier, Les forteresses égyptiennes. Du Prédynastique au Nouvel Empire, collection Connaissance
de l'Égypte ancienne , Safran (éditions), Bruxelles, 2010, 978-2-87457-033-
9, http://www.safran.be/proddetail.php?prod=CEA11

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 1. WHAT DOES THE MOAT SURROUNDING THE HINDU TEMPLE ANGKOR WAT
REPRESENT?,edwardlordera,www.yumpu.com

HINDU.COSMOLOGY: According to Stuart-Fox, Martin ,

and Paul Reeve,“Symbolism in City Planning in Cambodia from Angkor to Phnom
Penh.” (Journal of the Siam Society 99: 105–38. . 2011) Khmer Kings never decided
arbitrarily or at their whim the location of cities, their orientation and their
layout. The plan of the ideal Khmer city was inspired by the model of the
Khmer temples, which were based on Hindu cosmology. It should have a
perfect quadrangular shape, walls with four gates in the middle of each side
and an organised internal layout resembling a mandala, with the city temple in
the centre and its main sanctuary inside it, with a tower shape which
represents the mythological Mount Meru, the sacred axis mundi, separated by
successive concentric walls.

At the same time, this concrete representation of cosmology in city planning

was based on the religious and political idea of the “god-king” (devaraja), which
considers monarchs as incarnations on the Earth (avatars) of Shiva, Vishnu or
Buddha.’ ( “Hindu-Buddhist Architecture in Southeast
Asia.” Chihara, Daigoro . 1996. Studies in Asian Art and Archaeology 19. Leiden: Brill.)

Cosmos: At a paper presented at Vaastu Kaushal: International Symposium on

Science and Technology in Ancient Indian Monuments, New Delhi, November
16-17, 2002. Subhash Kak presenting the paper- Space and Cosmology in the
Hindu Temple pointed out that according to the Sthapatya Veda (the Indian
tradition of architecture), the temple and the town should mirror the cosmos.
The temple architecture and the city plan are, therefore, related in their
conception.
“ Angkor Wat is the supreme masterpiece of Khmer art. The descriptions of the
temple fall far short of communicating the great size, the perfect proportions,
and the astoundingly beautiful sculpture that everywhere presents itself to the
viewer. Its architecture is majestic and its representation of form and
movement from Indian mythology has astonishing grace and power.”
The moats surrounding the temples of Angkor were envisioned as earthly
models of the ocean that surrounds the world. Resembling Universe:
Khmer temples in general, as well as one of the earlier khmer architectural
examples in Thailand - Phimai were intended to resemble the universe. The
main building would be considered in design to look like what is the artist’s
conception of resembling the peak of Mount Meru at the center of the
universe. The surrounding walls resemble the water and encircling mountains.
The Khmer did not develop the technique of true vault architecture during their

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time, they instead developed the use of multiple chapels separated by open-air
spaces.
The site
The appropriate site for a Mandir, suggest ancient Sanskrit texts, is near water
and gardens, where lotus and flowers bloom, where swans, ducks and other
birds are heard, where animals rest without fear of injury or harm. These
harmonious places were recommended in these texts with the explanation that
such are the places where gods play, and thus the best site for Hindu temples.
While major Hindu mandirs are recommended at sangams (confluence of
rivers), river banks, lakes and seashore, the Brhat
Samhita and Puranas suggest temples may also be built where a natural
source of water is not present. Here too, they recommend that a pond be built
preferably in front or to the left of the temple with water gardens. If water is
neither present naturally nor by design, water is symbolically present at the
consecration of temple or the deity. Temples may also be built,
suggests Visnudharmottara in Part III of Chapter 93,[30] inside caves and carved
stones, on hill tops affording peaceful views, mountain slopes overlooking
beautiful valleys, inside forests and hermitages, next to gardens, or at the head
of a town street.
Some sites such as the capitals of kingdoms and those considered particularly
favourable in terms of sacred geography had numerous temples. But in
practice most temples are built as part of a village or town. Many ancient
capitals vanished and the surviving temples are now found in a rural
landscape; often these are the best-preserved examples of older
styles. Aihole, Badami, Pattadakal and Gangaikonda.Cholapuram are
examples.

As the northeastern part of Thailand was part of the Khmer Empire (once
ruled by the Khmer), Phimai's architecture and cultural decorations were built
in Khmer architecture. Art and architecture shown on the temple itself shows
great evidence of the ancient Khmer civilization. Similar in its look and design
to Angkor, it also has the same function for worshiping the gods in the Hindu
religion.To understand this we need to look at tge earlier Khmer architecture at
Phimai.

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In the heart of Phimai, a small town in Thailand's northeastern Isan region,
one of the most remarkable Angkorean cultural heritages outside Angkor
itself is situated: Prasat Phimai. In 1936 it was set under protection by the
Thai government and became step by step restored from the 1950s on.
'Phimai Historical Park' was opened in 1989.

The main tower (prang) of the inner sanctuary of

Phimai.
Phimai town is a medieval Khmer foundation, became the first time
fortificated in the 11th century and advanced to a spiritual center of the
classical empire of Angkor. In the reign of king Jayavarman VII (1181-
1206/1220 CE) the city walls and gates so far they remain now were
constructed. The town's name is derivated fro 'Vimayapura' or 'Vimai'. The
contemporary official name of the site is 'Prasat Hin Phi Mai'.

Historical Phimai has a considerable size. The inner temple district is a

rectangular of 83m to 74m, the middle district measures 272m to 220m and
the surrounding town, which was formerly completely enclosed by the city

4
wall, stretches over 665m to 1033m. Phimai must have been one of the most
important cities in the Angkorean empire.
The central temple complex is not exactly aligned onto the north-south axis,
but by 20 degree turned to southeast. It's probably done to give it the
direction facing to Angkor.
At the northern end of Phimai is a national museum placed, which displays
a number of the site's artefacts as lintels, Buddha images, nagas, pottery
and jewellery.
Prasat Phimai is considered to be the most important Khmer monument
in Thailand.
Map of Phimai

Phimai is a particularly inviting Thai town for it's marvellous combination of

a lively place in combination with a great historical site. Few tourists or
travellers take their time to study the place for a few days, although it offers
a friendly atmosphere in a spot where is much to do. Besides the main site
various Thai temples are to visit in Phimai, three markets offer opportunities
to buy food and other supplies, there is the Mun River to have walks along
it's banks and a 350 years old huge Banyan tree not far east of town. The
surrounding is coined by rice paddies showing traditional Thai life style and
there are other archeological sites not far around. Accommodation and
individual transport (bicycles and motorbikes) are easy to organize.

5
History
Erection of the site started in the reign of king Suriyavarman I (1002-1049),
but most of the buildings were built between the late 11th and the late
12th century. They clearly represent Angkor Wat style, partially Bayon and
Baphuon style. There was an older sanctuary at the spot already; as a
Khmer place it's a century younger than the neighbouring site of Phanom
Rung. 800 years ago this park used to be the start of the ancient Khmer
Highway which ended in Angkor Wat.

The king's 'dressing house', called 'Phlab Phla' in Khmer language

The central temple complex of Phimai

Although Hinduism was the main religion of Angkor at this time, also
Buddhism and Animism were practised in Wat Phimai. Though, Hinduism is
clearly the paradigmatic religion praised in Phimai's architecture. Having
much in common with Angkor Wat, it reflects the Hindu cosmos with the
sacred Mount Meru in the center. There is also a greater barray (artificial
Khmer pool) east of the place, traditionally symbolizing the sea. The Mun
River and two canals then complete the enclosement of the place by
waterways.

Though, Phimai paid tribute to the religion of Mahayana Buddhism. It's also
due to the influence of king Jayavarman VII, who was Angkor's first
Buddhist king (very much represented in Angkor Thom's Bayon monument),
that Phimai became a sanctuary focussed on the new state religion.
The building materials are the same as the Khmer always used, provided by
the surrounding quarrels in the region: different kinds of sandstone and
laterite, supplemented by the usage of bricks.
In two old stone inscriptions Phimai is mentioned in connection with king
Jayavarman VI and described at situated at an endpoint of a 225km road
which led (via Phanom Rung) to the empires capital Angkor and it's state

6
temple Angkor Wat. The route was used by travellers and pilgrims as well as
by military troops. It was equipped with seventeen resthouses, and some
hospitals. The remains of these resthouses and hospitals still mark a 150km
part of the old road. This imperial road to Angkor starts at the southern gate
of Phimai, which is therefore the main gate and still the main entrance for
the site nowadays.

Zhou Daguan (Chou Ta-Kuan), the Chinese envoy who spent a year in
Angkor in 1296/97, mentioned Phimai in his famous report.

In the second district of the site, facing the gallery with the main prang behind

Phimai had previously been an important town at the time of the Khmer
Empire. The temple Prasat Hin Phimai, located in the center of the town, was
one of the major Khmer temples in ancient Thailand, connected with Angkor by
an ancient Khmer Highway, and oriented to face Angkor as its cardinal
direction.

The temple marks one end of the Ancient Khmer Highway from Angkor. As the
enclosed area of 1020x580m is comparable with that of Angkor Wat, it is
suggested to have been an important city in the Khmer Empire. Most buildings
are from the late 11th to the late 12th century, built in
the Baphuon, Bayon and Khmer temple style. However, even though the
Khmer at that time were Hindu, the temple was built as
a Buddhist temple, since the inhabitants of the Khorat area had been
Buddhists as far back as the 7th century. Inscriptions name the
site Vimayapura (which means city of Vimaya), which developed into the Thai
name Phimai.

In the aftermath of the fall of the Ayutthaya Kingdom in 1767, attempts were
made to set up five separate states, with Prince Teppipit, a son of
King Borommakot, attempting to establish Phimai as one, ruling over eastern
provinces including Nakhon Ratchasima. As the weakest of the five, Prince
Teppipit was the first to be defeated and was executed in 1768.

7
The first inventory of the ruins was done in 1901 by the French
geographer Etienne Aymonier.
Khmer architecture.

As the northeastern part of Thailand was part of the Khmer Empire (once ruled
by the Khmer), Phimai's architecture and cultural decorations were built
in Khmer architecture. Art and architecture shown on the temple itself shows
great evidence of the ancient Khmer civilization. Similar in its look and design
to Angkor, it also has the same function for worshiping the gods in the Hindu
religion.
Despite the fact that Phimai was built in a similar fashion to Angkor and other
Khmer Buddhist temples, the religious origin of some structures within
Phimai's walls are still debated. Evidence of Dvaravati influence, such as the
sculpture of "the Wheel of Law" or the statue of Buddha, shows that Phimai
was an important Buddhist spiritual location. Although a large quantity of
Buddhist artwork has been uncovered in Phimai, evidence including the large
pots that were embedded in some corners of the structure suggest that
spiritual practices other than Buddhism were also practiced in Phimai. Phimai
thus has been an important religious landmark for Animists, Buddhists, and
Hindus.
The earliest engraved records of the Khmer is dated from the 6th century AD in
the northeast of Thailand. For example, stone Sanskrit inscriptions were found
along with statues and engraved images of Hindu deities, such as the image of
Shiva's bull Nandin. The king during that time, Mahendravarman, ordered his
men to obliterate the engraved inscription. Modern scholars debate about the
possibility that evidence may have been lost.
Phimai, along with other Khmer temples in Thailand, were built mainly under
the cause of the "Deveraja cult," or "the King that resembles a god."
Jayavarman II was the most mentioned "devaraja." The Devaraja cult developed
the belief of worshiping Shiva and the principle that the king was an avatar of
Shiva. Under this principle, Khmer rulers built temples to glorify the reign of
the king along with the spread of Hinduism.
The 10th century was the time of the reign of king Rajendravarman II (944-968
AD), which was also a time when Khmer control was spreading into what is
now northeastern Thailand. Consequently, temples in Thailand with the Kleang
and Baphuon styles remain as evidence of this Khmer heritage. These
structures shared the same signature of having three brick towers on a single
platform, for instance the Prasat Prang Ku in Si Saket province and Ban
Phuluang in Surin province.
Each individual building has its own special features or functions. For
example, Prang Brahmadat was built of laterite blocks that form a square. Or
Prang Hin Daeng which translates to "Red Stone Tower" which is also a square

8
but was made of red sandstone. Or the main sanctuary built of white
sandstone that is almost 32 meters long. The southern lintel has a statue of
Buddha meditating with "seven hoods of naga Muchalinda." Adjacent to this is
a collection of statues of devils and animals depicted from the Tantric
Mahayana Buddhist scripture.

Today Phimai is a well-known tourist attraction, especially among people

interested in history and archaeology. Located in the middle of Phimai is a
small rectangular gallery surrounding the courtyard, which has been newly
rebuilt.
When tourists enter the area of Phimai from the old town on the south, they
have to cross a river about one kilometer to the south and enter an ancient
laterite landing stage which archaeologists believe stood for the bathing place
for the heroine in local myths. The north gate is the city main gate, also known
as the "Pratu Chai," which has recently been reconstructed by the Royal Fine
Arts Department. Its size is enormous; it is said that the size is big enough for
a royal elephant to enter. The Royal Fine Arts Department also built an inner
gallery which shows ancient Buddhist inscriptions and small sculptures as well
as pieces of wrecked architecture. The rest of Phimai remains the same only
with a little restoration by the Royal Arts Department.
Architecture Style
Within the gallery there is a pre-Angkorian Buddhist inscription that tells the
story of prince Siddhartha Gautama and his journey to becoming Buddha,
along with other classic Buddhist stories. The prang symbolize that the area is
a sacred space.
Angkor Wat and Phimai have several architectural similarities and are
examples of classical Khmer architecture. Ancient Khmer architects were best
known for their superior use of sandstone over the traditional bricks and
laterite architectures. Sandstone is used on the visible outer layer. Laterite on
the other hand was used for the inner wall and other hidden parts. All the
structures are huge sandstone blocks. There are many lotus-shaped roofs
representing Mount Meru (Hinduism's holy mountain).
Resembling Universe: Khmer temples in general, as well as Phimai in this
case, were intended to resemble the universe. The main building resembles the
peak of Mount Meru at the center of the universe. The surrounding walls
resemble the water and encircling mountains. The Khmer did not develop the
technique of true vault architecture during their time, results in large areas at
Phimai that could not be roofed over. They instead developed the use of
multiple chapels separated by open-air spaces.
Construction Materials
The Khmer learned how to use bricks, sandstone, and laterite effectively. They
were the three principal structural materials. Builders generally cut the lintel

9
at 45 degrees to produce a triangular wedge.In 1998, the Origins of Angkor
Project (OAP), a joint project of the Royal Thai Fine Arts Department,
Anthropology Department, and the University of Otago, New Zealand, began
excavations to investigate the underlying sequence. Temple construction
during the Angkorian period involved the deliberate deposition of layers of fill,
which can clearly be seen in the stratigraphy of the site.
Angkor Wat itself is surrounded by a 650-foot-wide (200 m) moat that
encompasses a perimeter of more than 3 miles (5 km). This moat is 13 feet
deep (4 m) and would have helped stabilize the temple's foundation, preventing
groundwater from rising too high or falling too low. What was the main
function of the moat around Angkor Wat?

The moat served an important purpose from the architectural standpoint. It

helped to stabilize the massive Angkor Wat structures by keeping the
groundwater at a steady level, i.e., it acts as a reservoir that does not let the
groundwater go down too low or high.

What does the moat surrounding the Hindu temple Angkor Wat represent?
The moats surrounding the temples of Angkor were envisioned as earthly
models of the ocean that surrounds the world. .

LiDAR-image-of-formal-grid-system-across-Angkor-Wat-enclosure-top-merged-digital(Pic
Below)

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11
Why is Angkor Wat surrounded by water?

Hindu Temple tanks are wells or reservoirs built as part of the temple
complex near Indian temples. They are called pushkarini, kalyani, kunda,
sarovara, tirtha, talab, pukhuri, ambalakkuḷam, etc. in different languages and
regions of India. Some tanks are said to cure various diseases and maladies
when bathed in. According to Hindu mythology, which the Khmer people
absorbed from Indian traders, the gods live on the five-peaked Mount Meru,
surrounded by an ocean. To replicate this geography, the Khmer king
Suryavarman II designed a five-towered temple surrounded by an enormous
moat. Angkor Wat, like many Hindu and Buddhist Southeast Asian temples,
was designed as a "mandala," a geometric design of a perfected world usually
with square nested walls and passages leading past deity images towards a
high central tower.

Water, with its life-giving and purifying qualities, is central to Khmer

cosmology and all varieties of Hindu religion. The moats surrounding the
temples of Angkor were envisioned as earthly models of the ocean that
surrounds the world. A Sanskrit inscription compares the moats and reservoirs
at Angkor with tributaries of the sacred Ganges River in India. Angkor was the
royal capital of the Khmer empire from 802-1431 A.D. Angkor's long-lasting
prosperity was based on the local abundance of three resources: water, fish,

12
and the rice crops grown on soil nourished by annual rains, rivers, and
controlled water reservoirs. The area's unique source of water is the "Great
Lake," Tonlé Sap, which connects to the Mekong River and multiplies in size
after the annual monsoon rains.

These natural resources allowed the Khmer population at Angkor to reach an

estimated one million inhabitants. The "footprint" of Angkor's stone
monuments spans about eighteen by eight miles. During its peak, Angkor's
influence extended far, into what are now Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Burma,
and Malaysia. The ruler who oversaw the building of Angkor Wat was
Suryavarman II. He ruled the Khmer empire by 1113 A.D. and began an
ambitious building and imperial expansion project. Angkor Wat's stone
buildings, built within nested square walls, took over thirty years to complete.

In contrast to the intricately carved outer wall, the interiors of the stone
temples are usually bare. Small holes on some walls along with inscriptions
describing the grandeur of Angkor, suggest the idea that there originally were
interior murals, possibly of bronze, which long ago were removed and re-forged.
When the French assumed rule over the Angkor area in the late 1800s, they
marvelled at the ruins and debated their origins. Many of the puzzles were
solved by translating inscriptions on stone slabs at Angkor, and other stones
resting as far away as Laos.

The stone inscriptions, written either in the ancient Indian language of

Sanskrit or in an old form of Khmer transcribed with a Sanskritic form of
writing, describe the accomplishments of Khmer kings during their reigns,
royal accounting practices, rice production, and even the amount of medicines
used in imperial hospitals. Apparently the human dwellings at Angkor, even
those of the kings, were made of wood and they perished long before the
remaining stone temples.

Ultimately, it was the ascending Siamese kingdom, based in what is now

Thailand, that sacked Angkor in 1431 and ended the kingdom's regional power.

Although the Angkor Wat site originally was dedicated to the Hindu God
Vishnu and most of its images are from Hindu scriptures, the temple later
became used as a shrine for Theravada Buddhists. Theravada Buddhism is the
dominant religion among the contemporary Khmer people of Cambodia (as well
as majorities in Thailand and Burma) although it is influenced by earlier local
ideas and practices, as well as the Hindu antecedents of Buddhism.

Airborne laser technology has uncovered a network of roadways and canals,

illustrating a bustling ancient city linking Cambodia's famed Angkor Wat
temple complex. The laser scanning revealed a previously undocumented
formally planned urban landscape integrating the 1,200-year-old temples

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In Residential patterning at Angkor Wat, Greater Angkor Project,Miriam T.
Stark,Damian Evan et al have this to say, “the functions and internal
organisation of the large rectangular enclosure surrounding the temple. Such
enclosures have long been assumed to have been sacred precincts, or perhaps
‘temple-cities’: work exploring the archaeological patterning for habitation
within them has been limited. The results of LiDAR survey and excavation have
now revealed evidence for low-density residential occupation in these areas,
possibly for those servicing the temple. Recent excavations within the
enclosure challenge our traditional understanding of the social hierarchy of the
Angkor Wat community and show that the temple precinct, bounded by moat
and wall, may not have been exclusively the preserve of the wealthy or the
1
priestly elite.”

The LiDAR survey reveals that, in the Angkor area, the formal division of
enclosed space into urban grids first occurs unambiguously at the temples of
Angkor Wat and Beng Mealea (Figures 6 & 7), although we can identify a
possible prototype for the grid system at the slightly earlier temple of Chau Srei
Vibol (Evans et al. 2013b).

The road-grid pattern therefore precedes, by at least half a century, the

reorganisation within Angkor Thom. The LiDAR survey reveals that the grid
pattern extends far beyond the 9km2 enclosed by the walls of Angkor Thom
(Figure 11). This extended pattern beyond Angkor Thom is therefore from an
earlier period because very few of the linear features in the extramural grid line
up precisely with the linear features of the Jayavarman VII era inside Angkor
Thom.

The implication of the grid within Angkor Wat, therefore, is that this rigidly
geometric patterning of space became a defining feature of the urban areas
around the major temples sometime in the early twelfth century AD and is
strongly associated with the reign of Suryavarman II, who was originally from
the area around Phimai in present day Thailand.

Was the grid pattern of Phimai a provincial Khmer settlement pattern that was
introduced to the capital? Or was it a central metropolitan development that
was exported to the provinces? The date of the grid in Phimai is crucial. The
question of Indian influence in the layout of Angkor Thom needs to be pursued
further, as the grid could have been originally a borrowing from the ‘Indian’
tradition in the early first millennium AD and then become entirely Khmer, or
perhaps also had an additional phase of input from the Indian tradition in the
twelfth century AD.-------------------------------------------------------------------------

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/
286246541_Residential_patterning_at_Angkor_Wat

14
Given that the narrow blocks of the grid within Angkor Thom also resemble the
blocks in Chinese towns such as Suzhou, as can be seen in the famous
Pingjiang map of AD 1229 (Skinner & Baker 1977; Xu 2000), the issue
becomes very complex.

Angkor Wat is a unique combination of the temple mountain (the standard

design for the empire's state temples) and the later plan of concentric galleries,
most of which were derived from religious beliefs of Hinduism originally. The
construction of Angkor Wat also suggests that there was a celestial significance
with certain features of the temple. This is observed in the temple's east–west
orientation, and lines of sight from terraces within the temple that show
specific towers to be at the precise location of the sunrise on a solstice. The
temple is a representation of Mount Meru, the home of the gods according
to Hindu mythology: the central quincunx of towers symbolises the five peaks
of the mountain, and the walls and moat symbolize the surrounding mountain
ranges and ocean.[41] Access to the upper areas of the temple was progressively
more exclusive, with the laity being admitted only to the lowest level.

A detailed plan of the central structure

The Angkor Wat temple's main tower aligns to the morning sun of the spring
equinox. Unlike most Khmer temples, Angkor Wat is oriented to the west rather
than the east. This has led many (including Maurice Glaize and George Coedès)
to conclude that Suryavarman intended it to serve as his funerary temple.
Further evidence for this view is provided by the bas-reliefs, which proceed in a
counter-clockwise direction—prasavya in Hindu terminology—as this is the
reverse of the normal order. Rituals take place in reverse order during
Brahminic funeral services.
Archaeologist Charles Higham also describes a container which may have been
a funerary jar which was recovered from the central tower. It has been
nominated by some as the greatest expenditure of energy on the disposal of a
corpse. Freeman and Jacques, however, note that several other temples
of Angkor depart from the typical eastern orientation, and suggest that Angkor
Wat's alignment was due to its dedication to Vishnu, who was associated with
the west.

15
Drawing on the temple's alignment and dimensions, and on the content and
arrangement of the bas-reliefs, researcher Eleanor Mannikka argues that the
structure represents a claimed new era of peace under King Suryavarman II:
"as the measurements of solar and lunar time cycles were built into the sacred
space of Angkor Wat, this divine mandate to rule was anchored to consecrated
chambers and corridors meant to perpetuate the king's power and to honour
and placate the deities manifest in the heavens above." Mannikka's suggestions
have been received with a mixture of interest and scepticism in academic
circles. She distances herself from the speculations of others, such as Graham
Hancock, that Angkor Wat is part of a representation of the
constellation Draco.
Style

Angkor Wat as viewed from the side

Angkor Wat is the prime example of the classical style of Khmer architecture—
the Angkor Wat style—to which it has given its name. By the 12th century
Khmer architects had become skilled and confident in the use
of sandstone (rather than brick or laterite) as the main building material. Most
of the visible areas are of sandstone blocks, while laterite was used for the
outer wall and for hidden structural parts. The binding agent used to join the
blocks is yet to be identified, although natural resins or slaked lime has been
suggested.
Harmony of Design: The temple has drawn praise above all for the harmony of
its design. According to Maurice Glaize, a mid-20th-century conservator of
Angkor, the temple "attains a classic perfection by the restrained
monumentality of its finely balanced elements and the precise arrangement of
its proportions. It is a work of power, unity, and style."
Architecturally, the elements characteristic of the style include:
1. The Moat and as part of the grid
2. the ogival,
3. redented towers shaped like lotus buds;
4. half-galleries to broaden passageways;
5. axial galleries connecting enclosures; and
6. the cruciform terraces which appear along the main axis of the temple.

16
Typical decorative elements are devatas (or apsaras), bas-reliefs, and
on pediments extensive garlands and narrative scenes. The statuary of Angkor
Wat is considered conservative, being more static and less graceful than earlier
work. Other elements of the design have been destroyed by looting and the
passage of time, including gilded stucco on the towers, gilding on some figures
on the bas-reliefs, and wooden ceiling panels and doors

17