Temples of Angkor
Angkor is, quite literally, heaven on earth. It is the earthly symbol of Mt Meru, the Mt Olympus of the Hindu faith and the abode of antique gods. Angkor is the perfect fusion of creative ambition and spiritual contribution. The Cambodian ‘god-kings’ of old each strove to better their ancestors in size, scale and symmetry, culminating in the world’s greatest religious building, Angkor Wat.
The hundreds of temples surviving today are but the sacred skeleton of the vast political, religious and social centre of the ancient Khmer empire. Angkor was a city that boasted a population of one million when London was an insignificant town of 50,000. The houses, public buildings and palaces of Angkor were built with wood – now long decayed – because the right to dwell in structures of brick or stone was reserved for the gods.
Angkor is one of the most wonderful antique sitesall over the world, the eighth wonder of the world, with the epicparts of the Great Wall of China, the detail and intricacy of the Taj Mahal, and the symbolism and symmetry of the pyramids, all rolled into one.