Main content
AP®︎/College Art History
Course: AP®︎/College Art History > Unit 10
Lesson 5: CambodiaAngkor temple mountains
This video explores the ancient kingdom of Angkor , which was one of the most powerful states in Southeast Asia from the 800s to the 1300s. A succession of kings built huge temples that remain in Cambodia today as some of the world's greatest religious monuments. Learn more about artworks from Southeast Asia on education.asianart.org.. Created by Asian Art Museum.
Want to join the conversation?
- What is the name of one of the temples that was "consumed by the jungle"? It looks really cool!(10 votes)
- The name of the temple shown during this part is Ta Prohm. This one is known for being over run by trees, and it's quite beautiful. Ta Prohm is located inside the Angkor Thom complex, near the Bayon, which is the one with all the faces.(9 votes)
- These ancient temples have such elaborate designs that have survived for so many years.
Does that mean that the architects of the past are on par with the architects of today?(6 votes)- though comparison between ancient and modern day architects is inevitable after seeing such marvelous structures,there are mysteries of construction that neither modern day scientist or architects are able to prove .for example: rust proof iron pillars in india(also they dont have any paint coated over them) and also how the great pyramids were built in that age when even moving the huge rocks which were used to build those pyramids is still a mind boggling scenario..... so without much knowledge about the world around them they were able to crerate such structural magnificence .they all are commendable.(3 votes)
- How long did the Angkor Wat take to build?(5 votes)
- I have lived in Cambodia for four years, and they say it took about thirty to forty years to build, which was impressive, at least to me.(4 votes)
- What are these temples made out of?(3 votes)
- The Angkor Wat temples are built out of bricks consisting of laterite (red, iron rich soil available in tropical climates) and sandstone. Before, the temple used to be covered in materials like gold and precious stones though they have probably been damaged by years of weathering, algae, the forest eating it up and bat poop, some of it was probably stolen as well.(6 votes)
- My favorite temple is bayon, which was I think the one was consumed by the jungle. Is it something else?(3 votes)
- It's Ta Prohm, which is just East of the Bayon, inside of Angkor Thom.(2 votes)
- What were the ladies doing with there bells?(3 votes)
- Does Angkor mean anything?(2 votes)
- Angkor (អង្គរ) comes from the Sanskrit word Nokor (នគរ) which means kingdom.
Angkor Wat can also be called Nokor Wat.(2 votes)
- what is the meaning of the four stone face monuments(2 votes)
- I assume you mean the four faces of Ta prohm. Mostly you'll find these statues at bayon temple. I'm not an expert in Cambodian history. I'm only a Cambodian student. I learned this from school. The four faces represent The Four Immeasurables(ព្រហ្មវិហារធម៌ in khmer) . They are Loving-kindness, Compassion, Empathetic joy, and Equanimity. These quality are really important to all human being, especially parents and leaders.
( source http://km.wikipedia.org/wiki/ព្រហ្មវិហារធម៌)(1 vote)
- Is there any western influence in cultures of previous time here?(1 vote)
- no no in previous time like around the b.c and a.c did you think there were western people around by then(1 vote)
- What styles of music were at, 2:57and 3:30and what are they used for? Entertainment? Ceremonies? What the dancing at 4:30for and what key was the singer singing in? Also, what instruments were used in these segments? 3:30(1 vote)
Video transcript
the ancient kingdom of angkor was one of the most powerful states in Southeast Asia from the eight hundreds to the thirteen hundred a succession of Kings built huge temples that survived today as some of the world's greatest religious monuments the Kings at Angkor adopted Hindu and Buddhist beliefs from India and combined these with local beliefs in sacred mountains ancestors and nature spirits temples were filled with images of the gods especially Shiva and Vishnu as well as scenes from Hindu mythology temples were built to resemble the sacred mountain home of the gods and they were surrounded by vast moats suggesting the cosmic ocean these temple mountains stood at the heart of the capital and were calculated to approximate the plan of the universe as it was understood in the Hindu Buddhist worldview the largest temple of all was Angkor Wat a vast complex rising toward five central towers these towers were surrounded by three enclosures along the walls were scenes from the Indian epics in this relief gods and demons churn the primeval ocean by tugging on a giant serpent their actions producing various treasures the last great Angkor King was Jaya farm in the seventh he drove out the Chams who invaded from their lands in what is now southern Vietnam an ardent Buddhist he launched a massive building program his great monument was the city of Angkor tone with the biown temple at its heart here we enter the temple by the South Gate along an avenue of statues carrying a mythological serpent over the gate is a tower with four faces looking in the cardinal directions these enigmatic faces appear throughout the biome temple their exact meaning is still debated by scholars the King's military exploits are commemorated along the many gallery walls of the temple other scenes offer glimpses into the life of the city at its height a Chinese emissary in the late 1200s observed that these are the monuments that have caused merchants from overseas to speak so often of Cambodia the rich and Noble while some temples such as Angkor Wat never fell out of use others have been consumed by the jungle and are in a state of ruin today tourists flock to see these monuments efforts are being made to reassemble some temples and stabilize others so that future generations may continue to enjoy the wonders of Angkor