Phnom Penh

181,040 km²
(4.5x the Netherlands)

UTC +7

Khmer, French, Vietnamese, Chinese

Phnom Aural - 1,810 m

The current flag has been in use since 1993. The central image is the Angkor Wat temple. It is considered the greatest religious construction in the world. The temple is one of the most important remains from the period of the Khmer Empire and a national symbol of Cambodia. The blue represents the monarchy, red symbolizes the people and the white of the temple represents religion.

The riel was introduced in 1955. Riel is Khmer for "that which shines". The coin was used until 1975 when the Khmer rouge reigned the country and abolished all currency. After the invasion of Vietnam, Cambodia had several currencies in circulation, among others those of Vietnam and Thailand. The new riel was introduced in 1980. Depicted on the banknote is the Angor Wat temple

Actually starts with an all time low: Phnom Penh, the capital, was uninhabited from 1975 to 1979. The Khmer rouge drove everyone out of the city to work the land. A school was converted into a prison, Tuol Sleng. Many people were tortured here. 17,000 civilians were murdered an d buried at the old Chinese cemetery Choeung Ek

Just outside Siem Reap, on the route to Phnom Penh, the Roluos group is located. These temples, built between 880 and 893, are the oldest in the area.

Allow at least three days for visiting the temples around Siem Reap. In 790, King Jayavarman founded the Angkor empire that survived for 700 years until it was conquered by Siam (Thailand) in 1431. Early in the morning, armed with a flashlight and hundreds of other tourists you follow the processional way to one of the ponds in front of Angkor Wat to witness sunrise. Angkor means city and Wat means temple. The walled city was the seat of King Suryavarman II between 1113 and 1150. The area of Angkor is ??1,500 by 1,350 meters. Angkor Wat is the largest temple near Siem Reap. The highest point of this temple, the middle of five towers which represent lotus buds, is 65 meters. The walls of the gallery around the temple are all filled with bass reliefs depicting everyday life and wars. In this area alone you will find approx. 1,850 images of Apsaras and Devatas. Apsaras are heavenly dancers and Devatas are goddesses. A 200 meter wide canal surrounds the site.

Angkor Thom (large city) is the largest complex in the area of Siem Reap. The first buildings were completed around 1060 by Udayadityavarman. Most structures, city walls and gates were built by Jayavarman VII from 1180 to 1230. There are five high entry gates with four heads, flanked by elephants. The walls are 8 meters high and 3 km long on each side. Within the walls is, among others, the Bayon temple, dating from 1200. It is a wondrous structure that includes two beliefs, Hindu religion and Buddhism. 37 of the original 49 towers remain. They have a big face at all sides. The galleries show numerous bass reliefs.

Banteay Srei (city of women) is located about 40 km from Siem Reap. You should definitely visit this complex. Lots of details. It was discovered by French archaeologists in 1914. Go there early to avoid busloads of Koreans who have breakfast in their hotels first. You can combine this with a visit to the ruine of Beng Mealea. For 800 years nature ruled here. It is adventurous to scramble over the walls. In some places elevated walking paths have been added.

The Khmer

The first recorded reports on Southeast Asia came from Chinese who traded with a kingdom they called Funan. This kingdom covered an area from present-day Thailand to the south coast of Vietnam. Funan copied writing, faith (Hindu and Buddhism), art and architecture from India with whom it traded a lot. The first evidence of existence of Funan dates from the 6th century. To the north of this kingdom was Chenla, a client state. Isanavarman I, king of the Chenla empire, conquered Funan in 628. After king Jayavarman I died in 681, this empire disintegrated into smaller states. In 790, Jayavarman II conquered most of Southeast Asia and the Khmer Empire was born. He and his successors are responsible for all temples in the region around Siem Reap. Numerous wars with neighboring nations followed until finally the last ruler in Angkor Thom was driven out by the Siamese in 1431. Around 1200 inscriptions have been found at the temples with names and years of construction etc. As a result, history could be determined exactly. After Henri Mouhot's notes were published in 1863, it raised western interest in the temples around Siem Reap. After the first pioneers, the researchers followed. Ecole Francaise d'Extreme Orient, founded in 1899, took responsibility for the conservation of the monuments.


The temples

Most Khmer temples are located a few kilometers north of Siem Reap. The temples were built according to Indian architecture and belief (depending on the ruler, Hindu or Buddhist). The temples were surrounded by high walls and moats to protect them. They were palaces for the gods and no places of worship. The 'prasat' (tower) is the sanctuary of the gods and represents Mount Meru, often flanked by additional towers which depict surrounding mountains. The canal represents the ocean. Not all temples were built according to this pattern. The deity was not always a statue in the center of the prasat. The Hindu god Shiva was represented by a short rounded cylinder, the Linga. It was lowered into a base and existed of a total of three parts: Shiva, Vishnu with an octagonal shape underneath and a square shape at the bottom which represented Brahma. Of these three, only Shiva was visible. The palace and houses were located within the high outer walls. The temple was the heart of the city. Barays (artificial ponds) were built. It is not    clear if they were used for irrigation or spiritual purposes. The western baray is 8 by 1.5 km and is located west of Angkor Thom. The eastern baray is located to the east of Angkor Thom. Neak Pean is also the center of a baray that lies between Preah Khan and Ta Som. This baray is also dry.



Buiding materials

The first temples were made of brick. Later on, sandstone and laterite were used. Laterite is ferrous clay which becomes very solid after drying and after that it is almost impossible to manipulate. Therefore laterite was mainly used for foundation and walls. Sandstone was the most expensive and was used only for the main temples. In the galleries of Angkor Wat there are about 2000 bass reliefs of sandstone. The houses and palaces were made of wood, therefore nothing remains.


Some temples

Preah Ko (Roluos group) - Consecrated in 880, during the reign of Indravarman I (877-886). It was the first temple in the capital of Hariharalaya, built of brick with stucco. There are six main towers.


Bakong (Roluos group) - Consecrated in 881, during the reign of Indravarman I (877-886). The main tower was probably added during the reign of Yasovarman II, (1150-1165). This was the first "temple mount" and dedicated to Shiva. The pyramid measures 67 by 65 meters at the base and the tower is 29 meters high.

Lo Lei (Roluos group) - Consecrated in 893, during the reign of Yasovarman I (889-915). This was an island temple. It is located in the 3,500 by 800 meter Indratataka baray.


Phnom Bakheng - built approximately 907, during the reign of Yasovarman I (889-915). Yasovarman I moved his seat from the Roluos group to this site, the new capital of Yasodharapura. It was bigger than the later built Angkor Thom. The Phnom Bakheng is an imitation of the Bakong at the Rolous group that had been built two decades earlier. This site was abandoned in 928. On the hill, next to the main tower, there were a total of 108 towers, a sacred number.


Banteay Srei - Consecrated in 967, during the reign of Rajendravarman (944-968). Banteay Srei (Citadel of the women), is located about 20 km north of Angkor. The actual name was Tribhuvanamahesvara (great lord of the triple world). This beautiful small, compact, lavishly decorated temple was built by Yajnavarahu, a councilor of Rajendravarman. Later he would become the Guru of King Jayavarman V.


Ta Keo - Construction started during the reign of Jayavarman V (968-1000). The temple was completed during the reign of Jayaviravarman, (1002-1010). The name in the inscriptions was Hema Sringagiri (mountain with the golden peaks).


Angkor Wat - Built during the reign of Suryavarman II (1113-1150) with later additions. Angkor Wat (city temple) is the largest Khmer temple and was devoted to Vishnu. The inscription with the original name has never been found. The complex measures 1.5 by 1.3 km and is surrounded by a wall of laterite. The walls are surrounded by a moat of almost 200 meters wide. The temple itself is on a terrace of 332 by 258 meters. The top of the main sanctuary is 65 meters high. There are almost 2,000 images of devatas (in Hindu and Buddhist mythology these are feminine spirits of the clouds and the water) and, the mostly smaller, images of apsaras (dancers). From the Gopura (entrance building) runs a 9.5 meters wide procession way, 350 meters long to the temple. In the galleries around the temple you will find impressive bass reliefs over a length of 600 meters and a height of 2 meters. Except from just a few panels they are all images from Hindu sagas.

1. Battle of Lanka
2. Battle of the 21 most important hindu gods against Asura's
3. Battle of Krishna against the Asura Bana
4. Victory of Vishnoe over Asura
5. Churning of the milk sea
6. Heaven and hell
7. Procession of Suryavarman II and his army
8. Battle of kurukshetra

Angkor Thom - Built during the reign of Jayavarman VII (1181-1220) and his successors. Angkor Thom (big city) includes part of the old capital Yasodharapura and the older temples Bapuon (Udayadityavarman II, 1050-1066) and the Phimeanakas (Suryavarman I, 1002-1049). It is the last inhabited capital around Siem Reap. The complex measures 3 by 3 km and is surrounded by an 8 meter high wall of laterite, surrounded by a moat. There are four main gates, 23 meters high, and a smaller fifth 'victory' gate. The bayon temple is exactly in the middle.

Bayon - Construction began during the reign of Jayavarman VII. The temple was changed during the reign of Jayavarman VIII (1243-1295). Since the first king was a Buddhist and the last one is a Hindu it has become an extremely complex temple in structure and meaning. The central part is enclosed by two galleries. The outer galleries are 156 by 141 meters, 4.5 meters high, and has bass reliefs about everyday life and wars. Within it is a higher gallery of 80 by 70 meters there are images of Hindu mythology. From the original 49 towers with faces only 37 remain. Most have four faces and some only two. These towers are arranged in a disorderly manner around a round main tower with a height of 43 meter.

Elefant terrace - Built during the reign of Jayavarman VII (1181-1220). This 300 meter long terrace provided the foundation for the royal pavilions in Angkor Thom and are richly decorated with images of elephants, garudas and a five-headed horse.


Ta Prohm - Construction started during the reign of Jayavarman VII (1181-1220). The temple was completed during the reign of Indravarman II (1220-1243). The original name was Rajavihara (royal temple) and it was a Mahayana Buddhist monastery and university like Preah Khan. The outer wall of this beautiful wild temple is 1,000 by 650 meters.

Consecrated in 1186. The main deity was Prajnaparamita (perfection of wisdom). Like many kings, Jayavarman made the image look like his mother. The statue was surrounded by 260 lesser deities in their own sanctuary. From inscriptions archaeologists found out that there were 18 high priests and 615 dancers. The Ecole Francaise d'Extreme Orient decided to leave this temple as it was found, overgrown by the Ceiba and the strangling ficus. The disadvantage of this is that the buildings are being destroyed by the trees.

Preah Khan - Consecrated in 1191 during the reign of Jayavarman VII (1181-1220). The temple was changed during the reign of Jayavarman VIII (1243-1295). It was originally a Buddhist university with more than 1,000 teachers. The temple was dedicated to the bodhisattva Lokesvara. 430 other deities were found in other shrines.


Beng Mealea - Little is known about Beng Mealea (lotus pool) because no inscriptions were found. From the architectural style however, it can be concluded that it must have been built during the reign of Suryavarman II (1113-1150). A vist feels like you are the first one to explore it. It is built of blue sandstone from local quarries. The temple is located about 40 km northwest of Siem Reap.


Neak Pean - Built during the reign of Jayavarman VII (1181-1220). Five square ponds, arranged as a cross with a shrine on a circular island in the center pond.