Angkor Wat, a temple complex in Cambodia, is the largest religious monument in the world, measuring 162.6 hectares.
Originally constructed as a Hindu temple dedicated to the god Vishnu, it was gradually transformed into a Buddhist temple towards the end of the century; as such, it is also described as a "Hindu-Buddhist" temple.
As his state temple and eventual mausoleum, Angkor Wat was built at the behest of the Khmer King Suryavarman II in the early 12th century in Yaśodharapura, the capital of the Khmer Empire.
Angkor Wat combines two basic schemes of Khmer temple architecture: the Temple Mount and the later Heroic Temple.
Mount Meru, home of the devas in Hindu mythology, is designed to be represented within a moat of more than 5 kilometers.
The meaning of the modern name Angkor Wat, alternatively Nokor Wat, is "Temple City" or "City of Temples" in Khmer.
"Wat'' is the word for "temple grounds", which is also derived from Sanskrit/Pali and means "enclosure" .
The original name of the temple was Vrah Viṣṇuloka, which means "the sacred dwelling of Vishnu."