ANGKOR WAT TEMPLE
CAMBODIA ANGKOR WAT Angkor Wat is a temple complex in the province of Siem Reap, Cambodia originally dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu in the 12th century CE. It is among the largest religious buildings ever created, second only to the Temple of Karnak at Thebes , Egypt and, some claim, even larger. Its name means " City of the Temple", and it was created as a physical manifestation of human interaction with the realm of the gods. The spires represent the mountains of eternity and the moat the eternal waters. It was built using 1.5 million cubic meters of sand and silt in the 12th century CE under the reign of the Khmer emperor Suryavarman II (r. 1113-1150 CE) as a grand Hindu temple expressing the monarch's dedication to Vishnu. The temple covers 420 acres (162.6 hectares) with a central tower 213 feet (65 m) high. The surrounding moat is 650 feet (200 m) wide running a perimeter of over three m...