Baphuon

The Baphuon is an 11th-century temple mountain at the heart of Angkor Thom, built around 1060 as a dedication to the Hindu god Shiva and once the religious centerpiece of the Khmer capital Yasodharapura. Its three-tiered sandstone pyramid is among the most structurally audacious monuments of the Angkor period, constructed over a system of pillars sunk into unstable sandy ground — a challenge that has demanded multiple phases of restoration. One of its most striking features is a colossal reclining Buddha figure incorporated into the western gallery during the 15th century, when the temple was converted to Buddhism; the figure was only fully uncovered during painstaking restoration work that resumed after the Khmer Rouge era. Today visitors climb steep staircases to a platform roughly 34 meters high, with treetop views across the walled city of Angkor Thom.