Angkor Wat was the ultimate creation of the pyramid temple - the formation in stone of the magic mountain of Hindu mythology surrounded by its universe and oceans. Its builder, Suryavarman II, was the king of a great empire stretching over much of Indo-China. Angkor Wat was his legacy to the future, larger than any temple before it. It was more elaborately decorated, with a complex series of buildings built on rising [P 007 / terraces] and linked by causeways. Its central towers were taller than any built before by the Khmers.
A visitor to his city in 1146 would have seen Angkor as the symbol of a great king who had just demolished the Cham Kingdom and annexed it to his already large empire. A visitor familiar with the Khmer religion and theory of kingship would also recognize, from the moment he entered the outer gateway of the western approach to Angkor Wat, that he was entering the cosmic universe of Hindu mythology.
As he crossed the moat from the western terrace, he would recognize the moat (600 feet wide and almost four miles in circumference) as the outer ocean of the universe. As he passed through the great stone gallery further into the temple complex, spiritually he would be passing through the Hindu universe. The towers of the central temple would loom up in front of him, and these he would see as the peaks of Mount Meru. Then he would begin to climb from terrace to terrace, up wide stairways protected by statues of familiar Hindu gods, until he reached the inner sanctuary. Here, far from the outer gateways that he had passed through earlier, the sacred [G 18 / linga] - symbolizing the god [G 29 / Siva] and the power of Suryavarman II - would be kept.
[M 005 / Angkor Wat] is a whole city in itself. It is a meticulously planned complex which leads the visitor from the outside world, through the Hindu universe and up to the home of the gods. From the gallery in the western outer wall of the temple, the towers of the temple rise almost one-third of a mile away. The terrace gives way to another great entrance which leads to a wide causeway lined with stone [G 03 / balustrades]. Buildings which were once libraries, and sunken pools, lie on either side. From here, steps rise up to a terrace, and on to another gallery and a final terrace, built in a cruciform. From here, steps begin the long ascent up the mountain to the five towers that form the pinnacle of Angkor Wat.
