ANKOR WAT- AN INCREDIBLE ARCHITECTURE MARVEL

“India is a country known for its rich heritage and cultural diversity”. This is a statement that all of us would have come across in our History books. Although we have read about it,how many of us have tried to identify the richness of its culture and heritage? How many of us know about Indian architecture which is rooted in our History and culture? Yes most of us have not even given a second thought about this. Sad but nevertheless true. Before we expect a lot from our country we need to ask ourselves as what we have contributed to it. We are concerned more about our own living and claim to have no time for anything else. 

This wasn’t the case with our ancestors, their concern was more about the country and its pride. We always think about spending our free time in malls and theatres but they spent their time in thinking about building monuments that would bring pride to the nation and remain as a symbol of our culture, heritage and religion.Recently, there is a dispute on why Indian culture and heritage is not widely recognized across the globe. When we as Indians don’t encourage our children to visit monuments, temples and incredible structures build by our powerful rulers, how can we expect it from others.

Let’s put in some effort to know about how incredible our country is! We do have a lot of architectural marvels inside India. Out of which a few are known and a few are unknown. If that is the case inside India then there is no point in asking if anybody knows about a marvel that was constructed by an Indian on a foreign land. So let me introduce one such wonderful piece of architecture “ANKOR WAT”.

ANKOR WAT means “Temple City” is a temple in Combodia built by a powerful Indian ruler SURYA VARMA II, one of the greatest kings of Khmer empire. The ruler not only wanted to build a temple but a structure that would stand unique among other religious monuments in the world. 

Ankor Wat is very different from the other temples in Combodia with a west facing orientation and it is one of the largest religious monuments across the world measuring 402 acres.It was constructed following the high classical Khmer architecture of the 12th century. The major sects within Hinduism during that period were Shaivism and Vaishnavism. All the temples constructed by the rulers of that period were dedicated to Lord Shiva following the Shaivism tradition whereas Surya Varma II decided to break the regular Shaivism tradition and expose the Vaishnavism tradition. As the result of which he decided to dedicate this temple to Lord Vishnu.

Surya Varma II who believed in the concept of an after life wished to be transmuted to Vishnu, to whom the temple was consecrated after his death.He believed that the intricately built temple would serve as a gateway to his afterlife. The intricately designed architecture found in the temple remains as a wonder to archaeologists and architects.

The temple's layout mirrors the Hindu Cosmos and is considered to be the most sacred. The five towers of the central shrine refers to Mount Meru which is mythically the axis of the Universe and Home of Gods and is said to have five peaks.

Sandstones have been used for the temple’s construction. 5 million to 10 million sandstone blocks were used for its construction. These stones wasn’t available in that place so had to quarried and carried for about 25 miles. This was done through the waterways so the King decided to build a 22 mile canal to facilitate the transportation of the stones.

 The temple was mainly built to patronize Hinduism because of which everything inside the temple followed the Hindu mythology. 108 lotus bud shaped towers are found all around the temple in coincidence to the number 108 which is a scared number for the Hindus, 2000 divine nymph figures called “Apsaras” to decorate the walls and towers, among them were bas-reliefs describing Hindu legends and battles fought in the sky which includes 32 hells and 37 heavens.

 Paintings which depicted the important events marked in the Hindu mythology like Kurushetra battle, Churning of the sea of milk, Vishnu defeating the giants, Krishna’s victory over Bana,Day of Gods etc., can be see on every wall of the temple. 

 Such a marvellous structure to be build in recent times would definitely take over 300 years, But, this temple was constructed in a span of 22 years which leaves the architects and archaeologists surprised. It has led to a lot of beliefs like “ It was built by a divine architect”, “It was built by Giants and Gods”etc. It is also believed that Surya Varma II himself was a Demigod.

 The saddest part is that the ruler who has given us such a marvel, died during the course of its construction. It is said that his son was responsible for its completion.The Temple was famous during the 14th century but lost its fame after the decline of the empire in the 15th century and it was abandoned in the 16th century during which Combodia was struck by famine and it was believed that the west facing monument was one of the reasons for it because, west facing temples depict “Death”. After which Ankor Wat was lost inside the jungle which later became the residing spot of robbers and theives who destroyed the temple and it's architecture.

  Its so happened that a French explorer “Henri Mouhot” bumped into the land of Ankor and found the lost marvel. He was responsible to bring back Ankor Wat to life. Slowly the idol of Vishnu was worshiped as Buddha and the temple started gaining its fame. Slowly the UNESCO declared the temple as a "World Heritage Site” and the Government of Combodia joined hands in reviving the site.

 Now it still serves as an important heritage site in Combodia and people seem to visit the spot from early morning “4 am”. Its beauty is at its peak during sunrise and sunset. It has been a place of research to many archaeologists who still feel that there are some unknown facts hidden inside the structure even after visiting it many times.

 Such a brilliantly built religious structure with its unique style of architecture and intrications is a “Must visit” spot for every Indian. It is monument that proves that Indian History has spread across the globe.

 To know on how to visit the place, check the below link

https://www.cntraveler.com/stories/2016-03-10/the-secret-to-having-angkor-wat-all-to-yourself

 “BE PROUD TO BE AN INDIAN AND START EXPLORING THE UNKOWN HISTORIES OF YOUR OWN LAND”