The monumental gateway to the Angkor Thom complex.
Angkor Thom is a large moated royal city, measuring three kilometers on a side. The complex was actually the last capital of the ancient Khmer kingdom, built by the great King Jayavarman VII around the turn of the 13th century. Within its walls were the royal palace and residences for all the king's family, generals and priests. At the very center is the state temple, the enigmatic Bayon. You enter this city through one of five large gates. Each gate is topped with four heads, facing each cardinal direction.
Most visitors enter through the south gate. You reach the gate by crossing a bridge over the moat, lined with a Naga serpent balustrade. If you want to enter the city in style, you can rent an elephant to take you all the way to the Bayon.
Built in its present form about 100 years after Angkor, the Buddhist Bayon temple is strikingly different than just about any other temple around Angkor. Its mountain-like structure is topped by 54 towers, each sporting four faces like the city's entrance gates. Although it might sound repetitive, each of the faces is slightly different.
Zhou Daguan, a Chinese emissary, describes the central tower of the Bayon as being gilt. The temple was reached on the eastern side by a golden bridge guarded by lions of gold. Eight golden Buddhas were housed in chambers around the central tower. Zhou Daguan was not actually allowed to enter the royal city, so his accounts are not always to be believed.
The meaning of the Bayon remains something of a mystery to this day. It is known that the temple was built on the remains of an older structure, and that it underwent many changes in the years after it was built.
Map of Angkor Thom's Royal Precinct
The Baphuon temple was built around 1060, before the royal city of Angkor Thom was built around it, and only recently has restoration work resumed. The Baphuon was a man-made mountain or pyramid made of stone. Originally the temple was topped by a bronze shrine according to Zhou Daguan.
The Terrace of the Elephants stands in front of the platform where the royal palace once stood. The palace was made of wood, so nothing of it remains except the Phimeanakas. The terrace extends for 300 meters (nearly 1,000 feet) from the Baphuon to the Terrace of the Leper King. The terrace is decorated with a row of elephants along its facade.
The Terrace of the Leper King lies immediately north of the Elephant Terrace. The name of the terrace comes from a striking statue found on the platform of the terrace. Exactly who the statue represents is something of a mystery. It may be a king, or one of the gods.
The Baphuon temple was built around 1060, before the royal city of Angkor Thom was built around it, and only recently has restoration work resumed. The Baphuon was a man-made mountain or pyramid made of stone. Originally the temple was topped by a bronze shrine, according to Zhou Daguan.
But the foundations of the Baphuon were not stable, and the temple-mountain was probably already in some state of collapse before the Khmer capital was moved in the fifteenth century.
The Central Sanctuary of the Bayon Built in its present form about 100 years after Angkor Wat, the Buddhist Bayon temple is strikingly different than just about any other temple around Angkor. Its mountain-like structure is topped by 54 towers, each sporting four faces like the city's entrance gates. Although it might sound repetitive, each of the faces is slightly different.
Zhou Daguan, a Chinese emissary, describes the central tower of the Bayon as being gilt.
The Phimeanakas is a small temple with an intriguing legend behind it. It sits near the center of the royal enclosure, which once held the palace and apartments of the king and his many concubines. The palace buildings were made of wood, so nothing of them remains. Phimeanakas was the king's personal temple, and dates from the late tenth century, before Jayavarman VII built the Angkor Thom royal city around it.
The Prasats Sour Prat Across the large open space that one imagines to be some sort of parade grounds from the Terraces of the Elephants and the Leper King stand 12 more or less identical towers. The exact function of the structures, and even their construction date, remains unclear.
The Chinese diplomat Zhou Daguan wrote that the towers were part of the Khmer's judicial system. According to him, each of the complaintants in any dispute was locked in one of the tower for some period of days.
The Preah Palilay Temple, at Angkor Thom The small temple at Preah Palilay is almost unknown and unvisited. The main sanctuary itself is in quite a state of ruin, but what makes the temple interesting are the large silk-cotton trees which grow out of the sanctuary's crumbling base, although some of the larger ones have been cut off at the trunks to avoid any further damage.
Preah Palilay is just north of the royal enclosure.
Preah Pithu is a group of five structures almost hidden away north of the Kleangs and east of the Terrace of the Leper King. None of the temples are especially large or monumental, nor have they been restored at all, but they can be quite interesting and you are almost guaranteed to have them to yourself.
Plan of Preah Pithu Group Map by Ricardo.fabris, used under Creative Commons license. The five structures are simply known as "T", "U", "V", "X" and "Y".
One of the elephant reliefs that gives the Terrace of the Elephants its name. The Terrace of the Elephants is a simple yet impressive structure immediately east of the royal enclosure. It's basically just a stone wall two and a half-meters tall and 300 meters long, back-filled with earth. The stone face of the wall is richly carved, mostly with elephants, which is why it's called the Terrace of the Elephants.
The statue of the Leper King. The Terrace of the Leper King lies just north of the Terrace of the Elephants. The name comes from a statue that was found placed on top of the terrace, although there are different stories as to why this statue was thought to display leprosy. It's actually rather fine. The statue you see at the site is a replica. The original is the centerpiece of the National Museum in Phnom Penh.
