Angkor Wat Research Paper

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Angkor Wat is one of the largest and most impressive religious sites ever constructed by mankind. It was located in the capital of the Khmer Empire and was the religious center of the empire. Angkor Wat falls under the Believing Impulse. It goes with the Believing Impulse because of its religious significance to the Khmer empire, its paintings and sculptures of Hindu and Buddhist religious scenes, and that it was built to symbolize Mount Meru, which is the home of the gods in Hindu mythology.
Angkor Wat is located in Angkor, Cambodia. Angkor was the capital city of the Khmer empire from the 9th to the 15th century CE. The city of Angkor is over 400 square kilometers and contains many different temples and building with Angkor Wat being the largest. It was one of the largest cities in the world at its height of power. …show more content…

The architects are unknown. It was originally built as a Hindu temple and dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu. The temple, which is built out of stone, is covered in relief carvings depicting different religious scenes, primarily from Mahabharata and Ramayana, which are popular stories in Hindu mythology. It is also surrounded by a moat on all sides. The temple was converted to a Buddhist temple in the 14th century CE. Today it is no longer a temple for either religion, but a national site for the country of Cambodia.
Angkor Wat falls into the Believing Impulse because it was the religious center of the Khmer empire. Angkor Wat was the largest Hindu temple in the Khmer empire and was in the capital making it the religious center. Temples were seen as sources of fecundity and fertility in the Khmer culture of the time, so temples were seen as sacred in the culture and religion of the time, making Angkor Wat essential to daily life in Angkor and the Khmer

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