Prepare for the divine inspiration! The temples of Angkor are the perfect fusion of creative ambition and spiritual devotion. The Cambodian god-kings of old each strove to better their ancestors in size, scale and symmetry, culminating in the world’s largest religious building - Angkor Wat, and one of the world’s weirdest - the Bayon. The hundreds of temples surviving today are but the sacred skeleton of the vast political, religious and social centre of an empire that stretched from Burma to Vietnam, a city that, at its zenith, boasted a population of one million when London was a scrawny town of 50,000. The houses, public buildings and palaces were constructed of wood - now long decayed - because the right to dwell in structures of brick or stone was reserved for the gods.
The temples of Angkor are the heart and soul of the Kingdom of Cambodia, a source of inspiration and national pride to all Khmers as they struggle to rebuild their lives after years of terror and trauma. Today, the temples are a point of pilgrimage for ails Cambodians, and no traveler to the region will want to miss their extravagant beauty.
Saffron robed monks queue during an event at the ancient site of Angkor.
Stone statues of the fifty-four mythical gods who hold a naga at the South Gate to Angkor Thom, many of which have been decapitated by thieves and vandals.
Sunrise silhouette of Angkor Wat through trees.
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