Angkor Wat was the capital of the Khmer Empire between the 9th and 15th centuries. It is home to the largest religious monument in the world, the temple of Angkor Wat, which took over 30,000 workers over 30 years to complete. The size and complexity of Angkor Wat reflects the immense power and resources of the Khmer Empire during this time. While it was originally built as a Hindu temple, it has since been adopted as a symbol of Cambodia and appears on the national flag today.

1. ANGKOR WAT
Khmer Empire
F O R L O D I H I G H S C H O O L
Southeast asian studies Sa-nguan Ying School
KHMER EMPIRE
ANGKOR WAT

2. SOUTHEASTASIAN STUDIES FOR LODI HIGH SCHOOL
1. What is the significance of Angkor Wat?
2. What does the size and complexity of the temple say about the Khmer Empire?
3. Is its use today the same as it was when it was first built?
4. What does the answer tell us about Cambodia’s story?
Guiding Questions

3. ANGKORWAT
Part 1
1. What was the capital of the Khmer Empire?
2. During what years did the Khmer Empire flourish?
3. What is the mission of Simon Warrack who works for the German Apsara Conservation Project
(GACP)?
4. What do the steep and difficult steps going up to the temple represent?
5. What other construction project can be compared with Angkor Wat in terms of amount of stone
used?
6. How long did it take to complete the construction of Angkor Wat and how many people were used
to build it?
7. How did Hinduism from India spread to Cambodia?
Part 2
1. Where did Simon Warrack get the clue on how the temple was built?
2. How did Angkorians manage to put all the stone together?
3. What was the importance of holes in the stone?
SOUTHEASTASIAN STUDIES FOR LODI HIGH SCHOOL

4. ANGKORWAT
Part 2 (continue)
4. What did Angkor Wat and the large moat represent according to Hindu belief?
5. After 400 years of abandonment, who was the first to discover Angkor Wat?
6. What organization does Damian Evans (the archaeologist from the University of Sydney) work for?
Part 3
1. What was the major new study that Damian and his colleagues have recently discovered?
2. What structure or system enabled the Khmer to farm all year?
3. What river feeds the Angkor Wat temple zone and where does the river originate?
4. What was the purpose of carving the stone on the riverbed?
5. What is the second largest temple of Angkor and what are the major characteristics of that temple?
6. How did Hinduism fade away and get replaced by Buddhism?
SOUTHEASTASIAN STUDIES FOR LODI HIGH SCHOOL

5. ANGKORWAT
Part 4-5
1. What stories were carved on the stone of Bayon Temple?
2. How did the Khmer Rouge period affect boxkator, a martial art of Cambodia?
3. What caused the downfall of the Khmer Empire?
Discussion Questions
1. Why do you think that the Khmer built their own houses out of thatch and wood, but built their
temples from stone?
2. Why did so many Angkorian kings build new temples?
3. Why do you think that Angkor Wat appears on the Cambodian flag today?
4. Who were the people who built the temple? What kind of skills did they possess?
SOUTHEASTASIAN STUDIES FOR LODI HIGH SCHOOL