- 1 day ago
Category
📚
LearningTranscript
00:00stressing
00:03it's the story of a young prince with great ambition
00:08a king who took power by force
00:13a ruler who built his legacy in the form of a spectacular temple
00:20towering 100 feet above the taj mahal
00:24and containing more stone than the great pyramid of giza
00:30it is the largest sacred structure anywhere on the face of the earth
00:37cambodia's extraordinary angkor wat
00:43early western visitors were so awestruck by the ancient temple
00:46they believed it was built by alexander the great or the ancient romans
00:51of course they were wrong
00:55the builders of angkor wat were the ancient khmer
00:58the great and mysterious civilization that dominated much of southeast asia for
01:04six centuries
01:05and left behind one of the greatest architectural wonders
01:10the great and mysterious
01:17on a lush plain deep in the tropical forest of northwestern cambodia
01:30the ruins of the ancient city of angkor
01:36once the sprawling capital of the vast khmer empire
01:39angkor was the largest city in the world
01:43today angkor is still a sweeping landscape
01:47400 square miles where more than 1200 ancient temples still survive
01:55architectural masterpieces fantastically carved from tens of millions of tons of local sandstone
02:05the famous temples were built over a span of five centuries
02:09they endure today as one of the world's greatest treasure troves of art archaeology and history
02:18but the city of angkor was eventually abandoned as a khmer capital
02:22and its temples were swallowed by the jungle forgotten by the outside world
02:35not until the 19th century was the most famous of all the anchor structures brought to the attention of the
02:41west
02:44in january of 1860 the french naturalist henri muo wrote
02:50one of these temples a rival to that of solomon and erected by some ancient michelangelo
02:56might take an honorable place beside our most beautiful buildings
03:02it is grander than anything left to us by greece or rome
03:11he was describing the splendor of angkor wat
03:23when smithsonian magazine listed 28 places to see before you die
03:27it called angkor wat a temple so magnificent it could only have been built by divine inspiration
03:34and so it was inspired by gods built by a man you've probably never heard of
03:39but whose story is one of the world's great legends
03:43hi my name is yuul kwan and it's my honor to take you on a journey back in time to
03:48discover the secrets
03:49of angkor and relive the adventures of its creator a ruler called suryavarman ii
03:56900 years ago he led the khmer empire in what is today cambodia and this temple is his legacy
04:03more than a million people visit here every year overcome by its size and grandeur but if you think
04:10this place is beautiful now just wait till you see it in its glory days this is a story of
04:16angkor wat
04:19in the 12th century a.d a young man with royal blood was coming of age in the khmer countryside
04:31at that time the khmer empire controlled large portions of modern southeast asia including the
04:38prince's home of lupuri northwest of angkor
04:45the royal prince was said to be a skilled warrior brave and wise beyond his years
04:58he came to the attention of a prominent hindu priest diva kara pandita a religious leader with great
05:05influence in matters of state
05:09that is
05:17ambitious royal and well connected surya varman the second began to dream of becoming king
05:25and ruling the vast khmer empire
05:32Under the rule of Dara Nindravarman, the turn of the 12th century was a time of chaos and
05:38fragmentation in the kingdom. His reign was marked by power struggles and turmoil.
05:48The aging Dara Nindravarman was an ineffectual ruler who never succeeded in bringing order
05:54to his sprawling territories. Opposing factions arose throughout the empire. The young prince's
06:05clan gained influence in the north, while the older royal clans were pushed south.
06:14Devakara Pandita and other powerful priests backed the young prince, hoping he could unify
06:19the empire and bring harmony to the fractured kingdom.
06:27Civil war erupted as the forces vied for control. An inscription describes the moment the young
06:35prince took power, comparing him to a mythical bird. Suryavaman bounded to the head of the
06:42elephant of the enemy king, and killed him as an eagle might kill a snake.
06:58Suryavaman II was only 17 years old when he seized control of the Khmer empire in 1113 AD. This
07:05is him right here. Easy to miss among the mile of gods and spirits carved into Angkor's walls. It wasn't
07:12unusual at the time for a rebel to become king, but for Suryavaman II, killing the former king was only
07:18the
07:18first stage. He still had to conquer the rest of an empire that was in utter disarray. The crown would
07:24only be his if he could end the turmoil and unify the land.
07:31It took six long years for Suryavaman II to solidify his control over the vast empire and conquer the southern
07:39factions. But now, at last, the entire Khmer empire was united under a single ruler and peace was finally restored.
07:50Suryavaman's soldiers and subjects took an oath of loyalty that strengthened his realm.
07:56We will serve no other king. We will sacrifice our lives for our king in the face of war.
08:02We will be reborn in the 32 hells if we break our oath.
08:11In 1119, at the royal palace of Angkor, Suryavaman II officially became the 18th king of the Khmer empire.
08:21He was given the royal title as Suryavarma, protector of the sun, and was coronated alongside his queen.
08:31This moment ushered in the golden age of the Khmer empire.
08:38Suryavaman II was only 23 years old when he was crowned ruler of one of the greatest empires of Asia.
08:48Just as Khmer kings had done for centuries, Suryavaman II ruled for Angkor, the seat of the Khmer empire.
08:55But its soul resided in another place.
09:00Traditionally, newly crowned Khmer rulers would make a pilgrimage to the sacred Phnom Kulen,
09:06a mountain range 25 miles northeast of Angkor.
09:10Three centuries before Suryavaman II, the empire's first monarch, Jayavarman II,
09:16came to the same mountain on a similar spiritual journey.
09:21Here, a sacred ritual anointed him the first supreme ruler, an event that marked the founding of the Khmer empire.
09:32This hallowed spot had deep religious and political significance for the Khmer,
09:38and is still considered holy by modern Cambodians.
09:43This river was a source of the ingenious water system that was key to the wealth and success of the
09:49entire region.
09:55The religion of the early Khmer empire was Hinduism, and this sacred mountain is richly carved with images of Hindu
10:03deities, including Vishnu.
10:09The river here flows over other sacred icons.
10:13A thousand lingo rise from the riverbed.
10:18Carved over the centuries during the dry seasons, these stone phalluses are symbols of fertility and the male creative force.
10:30The corresponding female symbol is a yoni, a vessel shape that represents feminine creative energy.
10:38The linga is often placed upon the yoni.
10:41Together, the two forms symbolize the indivisible connection between male and female, the union from which all life springs.
10:51The waters that washed over these sacred stone carvings were thought to carry fertility and abundance to the lands of
10:57the empire.
11:00Metaphorically, these waters also conveyed the power of the king throughout his kingdom.
11:07A king's power was also expressed by monumental architectural structures.
11:13It was customary for a Khmer ruler to build one or more temples during his reign, usually dedicated to the
11:21god Vishnu.
11:23The third Khmer king, Indravarman, built this red brick temple in 879 A.D.
11:29It's called Priyako, and he built it in honor of his ancestors.
11:38Vendaya Sri Temple was built more than a century later.
11:43It's name means Citadel of Beauty.
11:47It's famous carvings are still considered among the highest achievements of Khmer art.
11:56The ninth century Beikong Temple with its massive moat may have inspired Suryavarman II.
12:06When it came time for the newly crowned king to begin planning for his temple, he decided to create a
12:12structure that would exceed all other temples in both size and grandeur.
12:21He entrusted this ambitious undertaking to the same Brahmin priest who helped him take the throne.
12:29Deva Karapandita would oversee the planning and construction of Angkor Wat.
12:40In the city of Angkor, Suryavarman's temple would follow the customary structure of other Khmer shrines.
12:48Khmer temples represent the mythical Mount Meru, the center of the universe and home of the gods according to Hindu
12:55cosmology.
12:59But the temple Suryavarman planned was on a scale that would dwarf all other temples anywhere in the world.
13:08A scale that would tax every ounce of skill, ingenuity and technology of his entire empire.
13:18Think about this. In medieval Europe, at around the same time, people were building cathedrals that took centuries to complete.
13:26Meanwhile, here in Asia, the builders of Angkor Wat somehow created a temple that was far larger and in some
13:33ways more complicated in less than four decades.
13:36So how'd they do it? Well, archaeologists and engineers have been trying to solve the mysteries of Angkor Wat's construction
13:43since the 19th century.
13:44And they've managed to uncover some, but not all, of its secrets.
13:48It was around the year 1120 A.D. when an army of construction workers took on what must have seemed
13:55like mission impossible.
13:56On a swampy forest plain, they would build the largest sacred structure in the known world.
14:15Using only simple tools, workers prepare the site, digging the foundation in the midst of a dense jungle.
14:28One clue to exactly how they prepare the foundation was discovered in the nearby Bayon Temple, built several decades after
14:36Angkor Wat.
14:38In this carving, laborers work side by side, beating the ground with long wooden poles.
14:46It's believed the relief illustrates how the builder solved one of the most vexing problems of Angkor Wat's construction.
14:57Workers used sticks to tamp down and compact the wet soil, creating a more suitable foundation.
15:07They dug a massive hole in the ground, 33 feet deep, filled it with layers of sand, pebbles and clay,
15:14and compacted it until it was hard.
15:17This allowed excess water to drain and also stabilize the surface.
15:23It was only after the foundation was laid that the structure's elaborate design was finalized.
15:30The massive compound would be almost a square mile and would be surrounded by a moat 660 feet wide.
15:41Only a ruler with Surya Raman II's might, power and vision could have imagined a building constructed on this grand
15:49a scale.
15:51It is estimated the building required more than 5 million tons of raw materials.
15:58Where did the ancient temple builders mine such a tremendous amount of stone?
16:12Gray sandstone was used to build Angkor Wat.
16:15It was quarried from Phnom Kulen, a mountain over 24 miles northeast of the site.
16:25The sacred mountain of Phnom Kulen proved a great resource for the builders of Angkor Wat.
16:31The mountain's base is a massive 22 mile long belt of sandstone, a plentiful source of high quality building material.
16:41But how did the ancient workers excavate all that rock?
16:49They used iron rods with sharp ends and dug a groove the size of the block they wanted to remove.
16:57Then they would place a wedge between the sedimentary layers where it's easy to break the rock.
17:04Or in some cases, several men worked together, pounding the rock and breaking it in order to pry it loose.
17:17With only hand tools, workers removed vast amounts of rock from the mountain.
17:25It is estimated that it took a stone cutter at least 10 days just to carve a groove around one
17:31block of stone weighing more than a ton.
17:34After the groove was carved, a wedge was placed in the groove so the rock could be separated.
17:43It took a workforce of thousands to cut just a few hundred blocks of stone each day.
17:51More than 600,000 high quality sandstone blocks were used in the construction of Angkor Wat.
17:58Five million tons of sandstone.
18:04Because the builders used no mortar, blocks had to be precisely cut with utterly smooth surfaces.
18:14A system lifted a stone block just slightly above another stone,
18:19and then workers pushed it back and forth in order to grind the two surfaces and make it smooth.
18:27Another relief in Bayon Temple has a detailed depiction of how this method worked.
18:33Workers used poles and ropes to lift one stone just above another.
18:38Then the top stone was rubbed back and forth against the stone below.
18:43After thousands of repetitions, the block obtained a smooth surface.
18:52Exactly which Phnom Kulin quarry the stones came from remains a mystery.
18:59But a Japanese research team from Waseda University recently tested the stone's magnetic properties.
19:06Their findings reveal each stone's approximate age and geological distribution.
19:11But matching the stones back to a particular place or quarry in this mountainous belt is not simple or safe.
19:22Magnetic susceptibility is the inclination of rock to be drawn to a magnet.
19:27By measuring this, we can tell that they used seven different quarries during the various different ages.
19:33Unfortunately, it's impossible to conduct research to find the exact location of the quarries in Phnom Kulin,
19:40because the place is littered with mines.
19:43But according to research conducted by the French School of the Far East,
19:47there were numerous quarries at Phnom Kulin.
19:53Landmines left from Cambodia's 20th century civil war still litter the countryside, making research dangerous.
20:03Although the exact quarry locations are unknown,
20:07testing reveals that stone used in 30 Angkor area temples came from seven different Phnom Kulin quarries.
20:15However, nearly all of the stones of the Angkor Wat temple have magnetic levels of around three.
20:22This means that the stones used to build the Angkor Wat temple almost certainly came from a single quarry in
20:28the Mount Kulin region.
20:36The massive cut stones were transported over 25 miles to Angkor using elephants as well as slave labor.
20:46Rods were drilled into the huge blocks so they could be pushed and pulled.
20:52Laborers also used bamboo rafts to float the stone on a labyrinth of canals and rivers.
21:02A river called the Siem Reap flows most of the way to the building site,
21:06and then connects to a large natural lake just south of Angkor.
21:13After a journey of several weeks, they enter the last canal,
21:16and the rafts reached their final destination at Angkor Wat.
21:21Over the 37 years it took to build the temple, experts estimate that at least 20,000 people a day
21:28were needed.
21:30A throng of people who had to be transported, housed and fed.
21:34It was a huge workforce by 12th century standards.
21:39This great labor force suggests the city as a whole also had a large population.
21:45But how large?
21:47One clue comes from a nearby temple built later the same century.
21:52According to an inscription in Priya Khan,
21:5597,480 village personnel were assigned to the smaller temple,
22:01while 100,000 farmers and slaves contributed to the temple's maintenance.
22:09Based on this, experts estimate that the population of the Khmer capital was at least 700,000.
22:16This means Angkor's population probably exceeded that of all 12th century cities.
22:22Paris had only 100,000 people at the time, and London had just 70,000.
22:30Only China's Kaifeng city was similar in size.
22:37One secret to how Angkor supported this large population lies in an ingenious system of waterways.
22:45Then, as now, agriculture centered on rice grown on the Angkor Plain.
22:53In addition to rice, other grains, fruits and vegetables were also cultivated, just as they are today.
23:05The success of this economy depended on the huge Lake Tonli Sap, just south of ancient Angkor.
23:15Irrigation canals assured one or more harvests, even in drought years.
23:22The lake was also a rich source of food.
23:26A 13th century visitor wrote,
23:28The lake waters are so full of fish, it is difficult to row your boat.
23:36Suryavarman's kingdom was strong and wealthy.
23:39But could it really build so massive a temple, on a scale never before seen?
23:46The young king was determined to see Angkor Wat completed in his lifetime.
23:54And his ambition was not limited to temple building.
23:59He also sought to extend his kingdom's borders.
24:02He was drawn to the eastern edge of the empire, where an invasion and conquest would have been a political
24:09asset.
24:12Occupying what is now South Vietnam, the powerful Champa Kingdom controlled the coast and trade routes long coveted by the
24:19Khmer.
24:23Beginning early in his reign, Suryavarman II led a series of invasions into neighboring territories.
24:33According to inscriptions, in one battle, the king led a force of 700 ships and 20,000 soldiers.
24:48Armed only with bows, arrows and spears, the warriors fought their enemies hand to hand.
25:04Another inscription describes a different invasion in Suryavarman's career.
25:10The ruler of Angkor turned his ambitions for conquest towards the Sham people.
25:15He invaded, taking the capital city and becoming the ruler of the territory.
25:21The Khmer Kingdom solidified its control of most of the Indochina Peninsula, including much of modern-day Thailand, Laos and
25:29Vietnam.
25:31The Khmer armies took prisoners, and together with other slaves in the empire, they were likely used as forced labor
25:38to construct Angkor Wat.
25:42The huge construction project was made possible by slave labor, but it couldn't solve an unanticipated and alarming engineering problem.
25:54The first stone structures built on the site collapsed, and the human cost was high.
26:00The success of the entire project was at stake.
26:07No amount of slave labor could overcome the most serious challenge the builders faced.
26:12The site itself was a swamp, and seemed completely unsuitable for a building the size and weight of the proposed
26:19temple.
26:19The soil was spongy and hard to work with, and water would flood in one season, then drain away the
26:26next.
26:27These days, engineers would use heavy machinery and reinforced concrete to tame nature's fury.
26:32But the Khmer builders had to be a bit more creative, and their solution became one of the ancient world's
26:38greatest feats of engineering.
26:43Angkor Wat is surrounded by a gigantic moat.
26:46More than 600 feet wide, it contains tens of millions of gallons of water.
26:52To the Hindu, the original designers of the temple, the moat symbolized the cosmic ocean.
26:58But besides its religious significance, it turns out the moat also has a practical purpose.
27:06Because this is swampland, without the moat, the monsoon rains would seep into the earth and push the buildings up.
27:13Then, in the dry season, the water would drain out of the land, making the buildings crumble.
27:21The huge moat surrounding the complex actually stabilizes the water content of the earth under the temple.
27:27Keeping it consistent year-round, so the earth doesn't heave.
27:32And they found other remarkable solutions to the challenges of pre-industrial construction.
27:39Here we have an artificial mountain, and we are sitting on the first floor.
27:45They built a case from stone, and then they filled with sand and densified very much.
27:54And then the next case, and so step by step, they got the mountain.
28:01And we can see inside there's sand, then there's laterite, which is this specific brownish stone in tropic countries.
28:11And then outside there's the sandstone.
28:15The central tower of Angkor Wat reaches 213 feet into the sky.
28:22The ancient architects had to figure out how to stack the massive stones without machinery.
28:30First, they built earthen ramps.
28:34Then laborers and elephants dragged the stones up the ramps.
28:39Finally, it's believed they erected scaffolding and lifted each stone to the top.
28:47Remarkably, the temple was built from the inside out.
28:55The tallest central tower was erected first.
28:59Then the surrounding towers were built.
29:02And finally, the outer galleries and walls were added.
29:06The builders raised these columns made from single blocks weighing as much as seven tons.
29:13They used a simple but brilliant method for setting up the 1,532 columns around the temple complex.
29:22Angkor Wat has survived fairly intact for nearly 900 years,
29:27an achievement that surely would have pleased its builders.
29:30But the swampy site and Cambodia's tropical climate have definitely taken a toll on these buildings.
29:37Although some intricate sandstone features show few signs of their age, others have worn away and decayed.
29:45Certain original features, like the gold leaf ornamentation that would have awed early visitors,
29:50are gone forever, looted after the Khmer Empire's decline.
29:54When it was completed around 1150 A.D., Angkor Wat was the biggest building in the world,
30:00about the size of 11 football fields.
30:03Now, teams of scientists and archaeologists have spent years trying to figure out
30:08what the temple might have looked like in its heyday.
30:11And they've pieced together the puzzle, data point by data point.
30:15And now, with the help of 21st century technology,
30:18we can finally get a glimpse of Angkor Wat's original splendor.
30:35Many of the structures were close to white,
30:37but some of the sculptors were glazed in many colors.
30:41Most of the surviving colors are a yellowish-brown or red.
30:47That's because the pigments had an iron oxide base, which lasts for a long time.
30:53But the other colors, such as blue, yellow and green, have all disappeared.
31:07The exterior walls and columns were most likely white from a coating of lime.
31:13But it was a roofing material that dominated the look of the temple.
31:17The towers were most likely covered in gold,
31:20which deteriorated over the centuries after Angkor Wat was built.
31:23Some historians believe that the towers may even have been re-guilded
31:27by one or more of the rulers who followed Suryavama II.
31:32It is easy to imagine that the plaster on all of the towers
31:36was used as a base layer for the gilding,
31:38which made the entire structure extremely ornate and visually striking.
31:44This computer image was created based on the opinions and research of scholars.
31:50White plastered walls contrast with the golden lintels and towers.
31:56On a bright day, the entire temple would have sparkled in the sun.
32:02Suryavama II didn't live to see his fantastic temple completed.
32:08But he probably saw it in the later stages of construction.
32:12What did the king feel as he saw this magnificent structure taking shape?
32:17It was a palace fit for a god.
32:24And he must have known it would also become his tomb.
32:30Only fragments of the wood that once covered the interior stone walls still remain.
32:38It's believed the wood was highly decorated, inlaid and ornamented with a wide variety of patterns.
32:45Gilded doors divided the chambers.
32:47And the gallery walls and ceilings would have been lavishly adorned.
32:54Since the king first set eyes on these galleries, millions more have journeyed to admire these dramatic scenes.
33:03The carvings encircle the entire outer gallery from floor to ceiling.
33:11Measuring 2,600 feet, it is the longest continuous bar relief in the world.
33:21In the north gallery, this famous relief, called the Battle of Kurukshetra, depicts an ancient combat scene from Indian history
33:29retold in the epic work, the Mahabharata.
33:36Angkor Wat's walls are covered with 12,900 square feet of bar relief carvings.
33:42Executed with great skill and artistic sophistication, the reliefs are considered a masterpiece in their own right.
33:51These carvings cover multiple blocks of sandstone and are so perfectly fitted together that the seams are almost invisible.
34:01Even the detailed lintels at the top of the walls are carved from the same stone blocks.
34:09Each artist would cut away layers of the wall and then carve the reliefs directly into the stone.
34:20Hundreds of highly skilled carvers worked side by side to complete the work in only decades.
34:27Experts admire not only the expressive human figures in the carvings,
34:32but also the remarkable perspective these early artists were able to achieve.
34:41Continuing along to the southern gallery,
34:43visitors encounter a 260-foot depiction of Suryavarman II's full royal procession.
34:51Military leaders, priests, musicians, standard-bearers, servants and royalty all take their place in this carving.
35:00The carving centerpiece is the famous portrait of Suryavarman II himself.
35:06Lingering traces of gold hint at its former splendor.
35:12Maybe the king was partly gilded.
35:15We can see some of the gildings on the relief of Suryavarman II.
35:20The famous portrait of the king was gilded and surrounded by red, the color symbolizing protection and strength.
35:30Continuing to the east side gallery, a visitor finds perhaps the most famous and revered of all the reliefs,
35:37the churning of the sea of milk.
35:39It depicts Vishnu and Devas, the benevolent Hindu gods, and the Asuras, the evil gods,
35:47all pulling on a great snake to churn the cosmic sea in search of eternal life.
35:54Their struggle released countless deities, including the beautiful nymphs called Apsaras.
36:03In the northern gallery is a battle of the gods and demons.
36:09This epic battle scene illustrates the pantheon of 21 Hindu gods battling alongside human warriors.
36:19Led by Vishnu, the gods of good defeat the evil gods.
36:25And as Suryavarman II was considered an earthly avatar of Vishnu, the scene celebrates his reign as well.
36:38It could be said that the entire temple of Angkor Wat is a single work of art.
36:42The artifacts and engraved scenes aren't simply ornaments installed in the temple.
36:46They're carved into the very structure itself.
36:50Once the enormous blocks were in place, artists chiseled symbols, figures, and deities into virtually every surface of the sandstone.
36:57All of this dazzling creation forged into one extraordinary and sacred sculpture.
37:03Now of all the carvings, these are some of the most popular.
37:06They're called Apsaras, or in English, celestial nymphs, supernatural women who are said to dance for the gods.
37:13They supposedly had the power to change their shapes or influence whether a gambler won or lost.
37:19But someone wasn't taking any chances.
37:21There are nearly 1,800 of them depicted all around the temple.
37:301,796 full-body sculptures of divine women were carved at Angkor Wat.
37:37With a wide variety of facial features, hairstyles, and headdresses, no two are exactly alike.
37:46These temple guardians and dancers were probably based on actual women residing near the temple in the 12th century.
37:55Apsaras are everywhere you look in the temple, standing alone in meditation or sometimes in pairs or groups.
38:03Each pose of these dancers has a meaning, and together, the movements of the dance tell a story.
38:11It's a form of dance still very much alive in modern Cambodia.
38:18Called the Apsara dance, this art form has passed from generation to generation in an unbroken line from the time
38:26of Suryavaraman II and before.
38:32According to Hindu mythology, the gods made 600 million Apsaras when they created the universe,
38:38and these celestial nymphs were released to the world when the deities churned the cosmic sea of milk.
38:48The temple of Angkor Wat probably had 3,000 or more Apsara dancers assigned to it
38:53to entertain the king and his visitors as well as the gods.
39:02The Apsara dance almost died out in the 1970s during Cambodia's Khmer Rouge regime.
39:09Dancers at the time were targeted as intellectuals and elitists, and they were killed.
39:16Today, this ancient dance is once again a visible part of Cambodian culture.
39:24It has been recently revived by dancers studying Apsara carvings at Angkor Wat.
39:32Leaving behind the outer galleries, a visitor would next reach the second level of Angkor Wat.
39:38Here, columns border a cross-shaped gallery that mimics a layout of the temple's central level.
39:46These galleries lead the way to a large pool where the king and the Brahmins purify themselves
39:51before performing rituals to the gods.
39:55Here, lingering traces of colors that covered the surfaces suggest how the temple once looked.
40:05At the center of the cruciform gallery is a column which is colored in five layers of paint
40:11that alternates between white and red.
40:14First, they used red pigment on a white background.
40:17In the next generation, they painted using red pigment on a white background again.
40:23Although we don't know why, they finally covered everything in white,
40:26so it currently looks pink.
40:31Every trace of ancient residue adds clues to Angkor Wat's glory,
40:36as its royal patron once saw it.
40:41As in many Hindu temples, the five towers of Angkor Wat represent the five peaks of sacred Mount Maru,
40:47the residence of the gods in the ancient tradition.
40:52The highest tower soars as high as Notre Dame Cathedral.
40:57In all, ten stairways lead to the central tower,
41:00a deviation from temples built earlier, such as the 11th century Papuan.
41:09In the case of Papuan, the four stairways on the four sides were added later on because of safety issues.
41:16The stairways were added in order to solve problems which arose during the construction of Papuan.
41:21But in Angkor Wat, they were included in the plans from the very beginning of construction.
41:26As a result, a new and very special style of architecture was created.
41:33All the stairways except those in the central corridor are too steep to climb with ease.
41:40These features are thought to be a reminder that the path to enlightenment is not easy.
41:53The moat symbolizing the Great Cosmic Sea encloses 500 acres of land where the Temple of Angkor Wat sits at
42:01its majestic center.
42:06Although it is now a Buddhist sanctuary, Angkor Wat was built as a Hindu temple honoring Vishnu,
42:12the Hindu god Suryavarman II was closely associated with.
42:22As impressive and inspiring as they are now, the towers were surely once even more so when their gold gleaned
42:29in the sun.
42:32Inside the highest tower was a central sanctuary where the king built a shrine to Vishnu.
42:42A golden statue of Vishnu reigned over the entire temple from this place of honor.
42:50Long after the reign of Surya Rama II, when the Khmer Empire became a Buddhist nation,
42:56the statue of Vishnu was replaced with the likeness of Buddha, which remains to this day.
43:04In the mid-12th century, when Suryavarman II visited his nearly completed masterpiece,
43:10he was nearing the end of his life and his reign.
43:17Suryavarman II's rule is considered the golden age of the Khmer Empire, and Angkor Wat is the ultimate symbol of
43:24his dynasty.
43:25It's not known exactly when the king died.
43:28It was probably around the year 1150 A.D., not long after the completion of the temple.
43:34What happened next is unclear, because there are no records for the period after his death.
43:39But what we do know is that it was a time of great turmoil.
43:43The next king reigned only briefly before war and discord began sapping the empire of its strength.
43:50Suryavarman had conquered his part of the world, expanded his empire, and successfully created one of the world's greatest monuments.
43:59But of all his achievements, only Angkor Wat would stand the test of time.
44:05The image of Angkor Wat has graced the Cambodian flag since 1953, and it remains a source of great pride
44:12for modern Cambodians.
44:16Over the course of his four-decade rule, Suryavarman II increased the Khmer Empire by more than 100,000 square
44:24miles, establishing himself as a great warrior king.
44:29When he was entombed in his own greatest creation, he was given the posthumous name Parama Vishnuloka, or he who
44:37has entered the heavenly world of Vishnu.
44:44After he died, the Khmer Empire fell into disarray.
44:48Opposing factions vied for power, and the country suffered invasions by neighboring forces.
44:56Today, Angkor Wat is a cherished reminder of the Khmer Empire's past glory, and a source of great pride in
45:04modern Cambodia.
45:06A UNESCO World Heritage Site, it draws a million visitors per year from around the globe.
45:14Symbol, temple, tomb, and treasure, Angkor Wat is a masterpiece of ancient monumental architecture.
45:23It has few rivals anywhere on Earth.
45:36To be continued...
45:38To be continued...
Comments