Photos

I wish I had more photos of these relief carvings; and that I had taken this shot directly instead of from an angle, but the lighting was better... In addition to the enigmatic towers with the faces, which are the more well-known features of this temple, it also features an incredible 3,936 feet of bas-relief carved panels that run around the entire temple. The entire complex took 20 years to build and more than 200,000 blocks of stone were used in its construction. The bas-reliefs depict historical events such as battles and mythical stories, but also offer rare glimpses into daily life at Angkor. More than 11,000 figures were carved in relief around the temple. According to some archaeologists, the reliefs were left unfinished, particularly on the inner walls, and the project may have been abandoned after the death of Jayavarman VII, who commissioned the temple. It functioned as the state temple until his death; it also lies directly at the center of the ancient city of Angkor Thom.