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Township of Temples It was not by chance that the new king took the name of the founder of Angkor, for he too had to wait for many years and fight to gain his kingdom. With the Chains in power, Jayavarman VII came to the throne aged 55 in 1181 and reigned until his death approximately 33 years later. He fought ruthless wars to oust the Chains and to secure, even to extend, the Khmer empire. And he built the great, square walled city of Angkor Thom around the old royal palace. During Jayavarman's reign, the city of Angkor beyond the walls was enriched by many great temples, some of them the traditional mountains, some of a new type with their towers rising from ground level. Banteai Kdei was built on the eastern side in 1181 and Ta Prohm near it, beside the East Baray, in 1186. To the north, the mighty pile of Preah Khan was started in 1191, and the smaller Ta Som and Ta Nei decorated the northern side of the East Baray at the end of the century. Preah Khan marks the place where Jayavarman lived while he directed the rebuilding in the 1190s of the city destroyed by the Chains. At Angkor Thom, a 13-kilometre (8-mile) moat enclosed a tall stone wall buttressed from within by a ramp of earth. The four main gates (five with the entrance where the ancient royal avenue crossed the moat) each had a big gatehouse with a tower decorated by stone elephants and huge smiling faces. Inside, Angkor Thom probably had comparatively few dwellings, for most of the people lived beyond the walls. But the ceremonial Grand Plaza beside the palace was embellished by several raised and sculptured walks, such as the Royal or Elephant Terrace. Even today, with the wooden buildings gone and the jungle barely held back from the stone structures, it is possible to imagine the people gathered at this civic centre for the great occasions of the Khmer. |
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