360 in 365 – Joachim voyage autour du monde

Angkor Wat

Angkor was capital city of the Khmer empire some uncounted centuries ago. Some would compare the Khmers to the Romans… they built roads and irrigation systems that still work to this day. Over one million people lived in Angkor, or so the estimations say, when London was still a big village. Humanity’s most populated metropolis at that instant in History.

The buildings, palaces and houses, were build out of wood, when stone and bricks were only for the Gods. We wouldn’t know the whealth and glory of the Khmer empire’s capital city if the temples didn’t survive the test of Time. And of these temples is one, the most notorious of all, Angkor Wat. One of the 8th Marvels of the World.

Angkor Wat was built by a Khmer king when the religion was hinduism, and his goal was to be laid under it when he died, so he could be deified. It is the biggest religious building still in activity in the world, but the religion’s changed. Instead of venerating Shiva, Vishnu or Rama, the new landlord is Buddha.

I could spend hours talking about what you could read on the On Line e-Wikipedia interwebs and it wouldn’t be really interesting. But well, I got some images.