Bayon Pearnik - Cambodia - Siem Reap

For many travelers, the ‘lost city’ of Angkor is the reason for visiting Cambodia. Considering that the Kingdom of Angkor is one of the greatest wonders of the ancient world, it’s not hard to understand why. Make no mistake about it, the Angkor temples are a ‘must see’ South East Asian tourist attraction and you’ll be making a big mistake if you don’t even visit them for just one day.

Abandoned in the 15th century, the whole city was largely forgotten for hundreds of years until French naturalist, Henri Mouhot, published an account of his exploration to Angkor in 1860. This successfully managed to stir a considerable amount of western interest in the jungle temples. So much so that in 1908 a huge effort began to clear away the jungle vegetation that was slowly destroying the ruins and restore the temples to something like their former glory. This continues to this day (although was stopped in the mid 1970’s due to the rise of the Khmer Rouge and the eventual civil war).

When visiting the temples, try and in keep in mind that during the 9th to 13th centuries, the Angkor Kingdom (meaning capital or holy city) in Cambodia was the largest, most powerful and prosperous nation in South East Asia.

This was principally due to its first King, Jayaverman II, who kicked-off the Angkorian era in 802AD and ruled for 48 years. Jayavarman was a warrior, who after returning to Cambodia from Java, managed to subdue enough Khmer rival states to declare one sovereign kingdom under his rule. He also declared a ‘god king’ rite and legitimised his power through the setting up of a ‘royal linga worshipping cult’ which remained central to Angkorian kingship, religion, art and architecture for centuries.

Thirty years after his death, Indravarman II decided to construct Preah Ko, the first member of the Roluos Group, in honour of Jayavarman II. Shortly after, he constructed Bakong, which marked the beginning of grand temple building that lasted for centuries, and was also responsible for the first large baray (water reservoir). The three defining characteristics -- the linga-cult, temple construction and reservoir building -- of the Angkor Kingdom had been established.

Many great temples were then built over the proceeding centuries including the most famous, Angkor Wat, which was constructed by King Suryavarmman II in the first half of the 12th century. Today, Angkor Wat is one of the greatest religious monuments in the world, and the remarkable masterpiece continues to attract and amaze visitors to this day.

During the second half of the 12th century, battle losses against neighbouring rivals, uprisings in the provinces and internal infighting brought turmoil to the Angkor kingdom. In 1165, a usurper, Tribhuvanadityyavarman, took full advantage of the chaos and seized power at Angkor. He remained in control for twelve years until he was killed right in the heart of the capital by the Cham (a neighbouring Indianised state from south central Vietnam) which had successfully invaded and conquered Angkor thanks to a covert navel attack via the Tonle Sap River in 1177. After four years of occupation, the most famous Angkor king, Jayavarman VII, managed to force the Cham out of Cambodia through a series of successful counterattacks.

Not long after, Jayavarman VII, who ruled until 1220, went on a series of military campaigns that extended the Khmer empire to Malaysia in the south, to the borders of Myanmar in the west, Laos in the north and even central Vietnam. It was also Jayavarman VII who abandoned Hinduism (which had been the state religion since its inception) for Mahayana Buddhism. But it is his incredible grand temple building for which he his best remembered and is indeed responsible for most of the most interesting constructions seen around Angkor (including three of the four most famous: Bayon, Ta Prohm and Preah Khan).

Despite his achievements, Jayavarmen VII’s death actually marked the end of grandiose temple building. His successor, Indravarman III, continued some of the temple construction left unfinished by Jayavarmen VII but the age of grand temple building was finally over.

In fact, the long reign of Jayavarman VIII in the late 13th century appears to have signaled the beginning of the end of the Angkor Kingdom. It suffered an invasion for the first time from the Mongols in 1283 and was facing repeated attacks by the Thai’s from the west. It was also Jayavarman VIII who reverted the kingdom back to Hinduism. This led to most of Jayavarmen VII’s Buddhist monuments being defaced and Hindu images crudely put into their places. Following Jayavarman VIII abdication in favour of his brother in law, Crindravarman, Theravada Buddhism was adopted (probably due to pressure from Siam) and this remains the Cambodian state religion to this day.

The reign of Crindravarman ended in 1327 and after this date, little is known about the final years of the Angkor Kingdom. But what is definite is that King Ponhea Yat moved the capital from Angkor to Phnom Penh in 1432 following a long drawn out siege from the Thais (it later migrated to Lovek and Oudong). Nevertheless, it is important to note that, although Angkor stopped being the capital and was largely left to the jungle, some sites around the complex have never been fully abandoned as people imagine. Indeed, the reason for why Angkor Wat is so well preserved today is principally thanks to Buddhist pilgrims continually maintaining it throughout the centuries.

Be that as it may, the Angkor complex has gone through many periods of ‘rediscovery’ on the part of Cambodian kings, and western explorers and missionaries. In 1550, it was ‘rediscovered’ for the first time by King Ang Cham while hunting. The King was apparently so impressed with what he saw that he moved his Court there (although the capital remained in Lovek). This ended in 1594 when the region of Angkor was conquered by Thailand.

Angkor was occasionally ‘rediscovered’ by Portuguese and Spanish explorers and missionaries in the 16th to 19th centuries. Meanwhile, Father Charles-Emile Bouillevaux published the first modern account of Angkor in 1857. But it was naturalist Henri Mouhot’s book, Travels in Siam, Cambodia, Laos and Annam that led to notable western interest in the temples and the first restoration expedition in 1908 from France (the country most credited for restoration work undertaken around Angkor).