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Angkor Wat (Khmer-language City Temple) is a Khmer temple within the archaeological site of Angkor, Cambodia, near the city of Siem Reap. It was built by King Suryavarman II (1113-1150), at Yasodharapura, the capital of the empire. The king ordered that the construction of the gigantic building start simultaneously from 4 sides, so that the work was completed in less than 40 years. Today it is the largest religious monument in the world. Originally intended as a Hindu temple, it was gradually transformed into a Buddhist temple towards the end of the 12th century.
Breaking with the traditional Shaivism of previous kings, the complex was dedicated to Vishnu. Angkor Wat is the best preserved temple in the area and is the only one to have remained an important religious center since its foundation, representing one of the high points of the classical style of Khmer architecture. It has become the symbol of Cambodia, so much so that it appears on the national flag and is today the most visited place in the country by tourists. Angkor Wat summarizes two main characteristics of Cambodian architecture: the "temple-mountain" which stands inside a moat to symbolize Mount Meru (the mountain of the gods in the Hindu religion) and the subsequent "gallery temples". The temple is in the shape of a rectangle, about 1.5 km long from west to east and 1.3 km from north to south; within the moat that completely surrounds the 3.6 km perimeter wall are three rectangular galleries, built one above the other. At the center of the temple are five towers. Unlike many Angkor temples, Angkor Wat faces west; scholars are divided on the significance of this choice. The most probable hypothesis is that it is a mausoleum, a place where the king could be venerated after his death. Indeed, the main entrance to the west was a custom of mortuary temples while Hindu temples were oriented to the east. The complex is admired for its grandeur, for the harmony of the architecture, for its large bas-reliefs and for the numerous devatas that adorn the walls. The modern name, Angkor Wat, means "City Temple". Angkor, meaning "city" or "capital", is a vernacular form of the word Nokor, which comes from the Sanskrit word nagara (नगर). Wat is the Khmer word for "temple" (Sanskrit: वाट Vata "enclosure").