Angkor Wat

Angkor Wat is the largest religious monument in the world and the centerpiece of the Angkor temple region in northwestern Cambodia, about six kilometers north of Siem Reap. Built in the early 12th century under King Suryavarman II as a Hindu temple dedicated to Vishnu, it was converted to a Buddhist site within his own dynasty's lifetime — layers of both faiths are still visible in the carvings and iconography. The entire complex is conceived as a cosmological diagram: its five towers represent Mount Meru, the abode of the gods, while the encircling moat stands for the primordial ocean. Nearly 800 meters of continuous bas-relief galleries depict scenes from the Mahabharata, the Ramayana, and Khmer creation myth with extraordinary detail. Angkor Wat appears on the Cambodian national flag and has been the country's defining symbol of national identity since independence in 1953. Arriving before dawn to catch the towers reflected in the western lotus pond remains one of the signature experiences of Southeast Asian travel.