Angkor Wat

The largest religious monument ever constructed, Angkor Wat is a twelfth-century Khmer temple complex built by King Suryavarman II and dedicated originally to Vishnu before its conversion to a Theravada Buddhist site. Its five quincunx towers, encircled by a 200-metre-wide moat and approached by a long sandstone causeway flanked by nāga balustrades, create one of the most architecturally coherent religious ensembles in the world. The inner walls carry nearly 800 metres of bas-relief narrating Hindu epics and scenes of the afterlife, and the pre-dawn reflection of the towers in the western reflecting pool is one of the most iconic photography subjects in Southeast Asia.