Along the Royal Roads To Angkor Thom (5)

Then we visit Angkor Thom ....

Wow... Leaving Angkor Wat from its western exit and heading north,we arrived at Angkor Thom's south gate....

You can see statues of devatas on left side and giants on right side ,holding a huge naga line.

Jayavarman VII built the network of royal roads, linked them all to Angkor Thom, the new capital of the empire,which he built from the end of the twelfth to the beginning of the thirteenth century. The city was three kilometers on a side and was surrounded by a moat more than one hundred meters wide.


Five huge gates led into the city from north,east ,south and west.The ruins of many structures are to be found within the city:Bayon temple,the Elephant terrace and manies other buildings from his time,as well as those from the tenth century.

Jayavarman VII was the first of the Angkor kings to be the follower of Buddhism,and he built the Bayon Temple in the center of the city as a symbol of Mount Sumeru, the center of the world in Buddhist temple dedicated to spreading compassion through the "three thousand worlds" of the universe.