Buddhist Pilgrimage Sites: Cambodia
Angkor
Face tower detail, Cambodia. Photograph by Oriental Art.
The city of Angkor was the home of the Khmer kings who ruled an empire that flourished from the 9th-15th century.
Although the majority of the Khmer rulers were 'chakravartins' (universal monarchs and human incarnations of Hindu gods), a few adopted Mahayana Buddhism. The most important of these was Jayavarman VII who constructed the walled city known as Angkor Thom, in the middle of which was the mountain-like temple of the Bayon, built on three levels and intended to resemble a mandala with the mythical Mount Meru at the centre. This was surrounded by a forest of pyramidal towers that were decorated on each side with huge faces of the bodhisattva Avalokitesvara.
Many Buddhist images were subsequently destroyed by Jayavarman VIII, a devotee of Shiva. However, during the 13th century Theravada Buddhism came to Angkor from Siam (Thailand) and was eventually adopted as the state religion of Cambodia.
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