Towards 1200 AD, King Jayavarman VII made Mahayana Buddhism the state religion.
He started an enormous number of constructions, in Angkor, and all over the kingdom.
Ta Prohm and Preah Khan
Jayavarman VII built two ancestor temples, Ta Prohm (1186), famous for the roots,
and Preah Khan (1191). The two of them were monastic cities, framed by outer walls.
 The complex ground plan of Preah Khan (Map from Stierlin, p. 176 mod.)
(Yellow) The central tower is framed by two galleries. To the East is the Hall of Dancers (B), a cruciform gallery.
(Green & orange) At the axes to the North, West, and South are secondary temples.
Later on more shrines were asymmetrically perched into the courtyards. North of the Hall of Dancers is a two-storey building (A); it is the stone copy of a rice granary.
Neak Pean is a contemporary water sanctuary.
Angkor Thom
Jayavarman VII also built Angkor Thom, the royal city inside of the extensive metropolis. Angkor Thom is framed by a moat and a wall with five imposing Gates.
The wall & moat make the outer enclosure of the Bayon.
The core of Angkor Thom is the Royal Palace, the Royal Plaza and the Baphuon,all constructed in the 10th and 11th centuries.
The Terrace of the Elephants hides the east face of the Royal Palace.
The Terrace of the Leper King is located in the North of it.
The Bayon of Angkor Thom
In the centre of the city he built the Bayon as his state temple.
In a confused construction innumberable face towers grow up like trees in a natural forest. These towers show the smiling Buddhist god of universal compassion spreading divine blessings all over the world.
The Bayon is framed by two galleries; they mostly depict daily life and war; the inner gallery, in addition, shows mythological scenes.
Other remarkable temples of this era
Banteay Kdei, Ta Nei, Ta Som, Prasat Prei Prasat, Banteay Thom,
and Banteay Chhmar in North-West Cambodia.
End
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Ta Prohm
Preah Khan
Neak Pean
Bayon Faces at the Bayon |
