What have you heard about Angkor Wat?
You may have read and known that the biggest Hindu temple is Angkor Wat, located in Siem Reap, Cambodia. It is a UNESCO world heritage site. It was listed in UNESCO on 14 December 1994 [first monument in Cambodia to be listed in UNESCO]. UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Cambodia (tangible)
- Angkor (1992)
- Temple of Preah Vihear (2008)
- Temple Zone of Sambor Prei Kuk, Archaeological Site of Ancient Ishanapura (2017)
Angkor Wat temple were built for over 30 years in early 12th century by King Suryavaraman II. People amazed the Apsara bas reliefs carved on the wall of the temple. To be honest, even as a local and I have been visiting the site for numerous times, I still find the temple fascinating and I haven't even known some tips for taking nice photos at the temple.
In general, Angkor Wat temple is admired for the grandeur and harmony of its architecture, extensive bas-reliefs, and statues of Buddhas and Devas that adorn its walls. The temple was designed to represent Mount Meru, home of the devas in Hindu and Buddhist cosmology. Angkor Wat has been used to represent many things in Cambodia, counting from Cambodian national flag, monetary bills and many other things.
The temple covers over 162.6 hectares of land, located just about 5 km north of the current Siem Reap city. You can ride a bicycle from the city center to get there. The central spire at the center of the temple is 65 m above the ground, surrounded by four towers.
Why Angkor Wat is special?
- Unlike the majority of Angkorian temples, Angkor Wat is faced to the west. That’s what made the temple even special as it is the only temple in Cambodia where you can view magnificent sunrise on equinox days (twice a year: 20-23 March & 20-23 September).
- When you enter from the west, the right wing (next to the main entrance) stands the massive sandstone God Vishnu, known to local as Lokta Reach.
- Do not miss sunrise at Angkor Wat, much of the days you could see beautiful sunrise (even if they are not like equinox). Good time is from
- The photo-shooting points that are popular included:
- To stand near or in front of the pond in front of the temple. It has a great reflection
- The most outer corridors where you read “the churning of the ocean of milk” Hindu mythology are very good with sun reflection
- The central point of the temple where you can take a photo for the central spire/ Quincunx
- Do you know that there are 3,000 Aspsara figures ((in Hindu mythology, an apsara is a celestial nymph) only in Angkor Wat temple (around 30 styles)? They are mostly smiling, only one of them smiling with teeth
- There are corners on 3rd gallery that you can capture many Asparas at once, about 14 Apsaras.
- The top floor or tower is not allowed visitors on Holy Day. They have the royal coffin and so they believed the spirit of King Suryavaraman II (who built the temple) is worshiping every Holy Day that needs no bother or disturb but if you have lotus or offering to the Buddha you will be allowed to up.
- The Angkor city was abandoned for 400 years because of the nonstop wars. It was found by Frenchmen in 1863 [we lost all document related to the temple but thanks to the Frenchmen and researchers, we were able to retrieve back the missing history.
- It is possible that the temple roof was covered in gold at the time of construction but we cannot say that it is true or not. Check this out!
Entrance tickets:
- You can purchase one 1-day pass, 3-day pass or 6 months or 12 months entrance ticket to visit any temple in Angkor Archeological Park.
- 1-day pass – US$ 37;
- 3-day pass – US$ 62;
- 7-day pass – US$ 72;
- 12 month pass - US$ 200 (in time of the pandemic: single day passes are upgraded to two days, three day passes to five days and seven day passes to ten days)
- Many people only focus on Angkor Wat temple, Bayon temple (big smiling statue), Taprum temple (Tom Raider temple/Angolina Jolie movie scene) or Banteay Srei temple. However, you can visit hundred other temple surrounding the park, including Phnom Krom, Wat Athvea, Kbal Spean, Beng Mealea and the Roluos Group (Bakong temple, Preah Kou temple).
- There will be guards at every corner for ticket checking.
Temple Visiting Hours
The majority of the temples in the park allow visiting from 7.30am – 5.30pm. There are exceptions for 4 temples:
- Angkor Wat and Srah Srang open from 5am – 5.30pm, to make it possible for visitors to witness the sunrise;
- Phnom Bakheng and Pre Rup open from 5am – 7pm, to make it possible for visitors to witness both the sunrise and sunset;
Some etiquettes for visiting the temple
- No off shoulder shirt when entering the site
- No shorts or short skirts, skirts should be below knees. After all, it is a scared temple and there are even Buddhist temple inside the complex.
Notes for UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Cambodia
Names | Years recognized | Nature of sites |
Angkor Complex | World Heritage Site Recognized in 1992 | Tangible Cambodian UNESCO World Heritage Sites |
Preah Vihear Temple | Cambodian UNESCO World Heritage Site Recognized in 2008 | Tangible Cambodian UNESCO World Heritage Sites |
Temple Zone of Sambor Prei Kuk, Archaeological Site of Ancient Ishanapura | UNESCO World Heritage Site Recognized in 2017 | Tangible Cambodian UNESCO World Heritage Sites |
Royal Ballet | World Intangible Cultural Heritage Recognized in 2008 | Intangible Cambodian UNESCO World Heritage
|
Sbek Thom, Khmer shadow theatre | World Intangible Cultural Heritage Recognized in 2008 | Intangible Cambodian UNESCO World Heritage
|
Tugging Rituals and Games | World Intangible Cultural Heritage Recognized in 2015 | Intangible Cambodian UNESCO World Heritage
|
Chapei Dang Veng | Cambodian World Intangible Cultural Heritage Recognized in 2016 | Intangible Cambodian UNESCO World Heritage
|
Read articles about other temples and sites around Siem Reap here:
Siem Reap province (temples town) |
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Scroll down for some nice photos of the temple 
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