Structure of Angkor Wat: Indian influence
Angkor Wat is the world’s largest religious complex; covering 200 hectares, its construction took about 30 years during Suryavarman II’s reign, around 1122 CE. Breaking from the tradition of dedicating the temple to Shiva, Angkor Wat was dedicated to Vishnu. It was a miniature replica of Hindu cosmology and a model of the heavenly world, thus ensuring an intimate harmony between the earth and the heaven.
According to the Brahman idea, the world consisted of a central continent, with Meru, the cosmic mountain, rising at its center. This continent was encircled by six concentric rings of land, separated by seven oceans, the outer one of which was enclosed by a rock wall. It is fascinating that the structure of Angkor Wat represented that cosmology. The central temple of Angkor Wat represented Mount Meru (where Hindu Gods reside), the pivot of the world. Its five towers symbolized Meru’s five peaks; the enclosing walls presented the mountains at the edge of the world and the surrounding moat represented the cosmic green ocean beyond.
The Hindu concept of mandala was depicted in Angkor Wat. With the 4 gates of the mandala resembling the gates at the Angkor Wat and the concentric squares ultimately leading one to the centre (the central tower), this temple is a perfect physical depiction of the mandala and the universe.
In fact, it can even be interpreted that Angkor Wat was built to show a physical evidence of a mandala, thus helping to ‘educate’ and confirm the Hindu-Buddhist beliefs and ideologies to the people back then.
Angkor Wat is the world’s largest religious complex; covering 200 hectares, its construction took about 30 years during Suryavarman II’s reign, around 1122 CE. Breaking from the tradition of dedicating the temple to Shiva, Angkor Wat was dedicated to Vishnu. It was a miniature replica of Hindu cosmology and a model of the heavenly world, thus ensuring an intimate harmony between the earth and the heaven.
According to the Brahman idea, the world consisted of a central continent, with Meru, the cosmic mountain, rising at its center. This continent was encircled by six concentric rings of land, separated by seven oceans, the outer one of which was enclosed by a rock wall. It is fascinating that the structure of Angkor Wat represented that cosmology. The central temple of Angkor Wat represented Mount Meru (where Hindu Gods reside), the pivot of the world. Its five towers symbolized Meru’s five peaks; the enclosing walls presented the mountains at the edge of the world and the surrounding moat represented the cosmic green ocean beyond.
The Hindu concept of mandala was depicted in Angkor Wat. With the 4 gates of the mandala resembling the gates at the Angkor Wat and the concentric squares ultimately leading one to the centre (the central tower), this temple is a perfect physical depiction of the mandala and the universe.
In fact, it can even be interpreted that Angkor Wat was built to show a physical evidence of a mandala, thus helping to ‘educate’ and confirm the Hindu-Buddhist beliefs and ideologies to the people back then.
According to the Hindu myths, Brahma (God of Creator) placed a lion at the doorway of his palace as its guardian. Therefore, when the people of Angkor built temples which symbolized Mount Meru, the lion statues were placed so that they could guard the home of the Gods.
Angkor Wat also had a Gopura. A Gopura is a monumental tower often built at the entrance of temples. It is a characteristic of South Indian architecture and the fact that this structure was present at Angkor Wat shows that Angkor Empire’s architecture was influenced by the Indian architecture. However, in India, there are no temples that are pyramid shaped and topped with five towers. This is a unique aspect of the Khmer architecture and is extraordinary as its symbolism of the temple mountain portrays the Indian ideas better than other symbols used in India itself. While Angkor Wat depicts the Hindu cosmology and influence from India, there are indeed traits of distinctive Khmer architecture.