Siem Reap
- Formerly spelled:
- Siĕmréab
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Siem Reap, city, northwestern Cambodia. It is Cambodia’s second largest city and the capital of Siem Reap province. It lies along the Siem Reap River, an artificial river created by the ancient kings of the Khmer (Cambodian) empire, and just north of Tonle Sap, the great lake at the heart of Cambodia. It is linked to Phnom Penh, the national capital, by highway and is serviced by an international airport. The modern town is located just south of Angkor (or Angkor Thom), the ancient Khmer empire’s capital. The area is home to the famous Angkor Wat temple and numerous other Hindu and Buddhist temples. These temples are widely considered to be among the great marvels of Southeast Asian architecture and world religious architecture.
Tourism is the primary industry of Siem Reap, driven by the temples of Angkor. The city features a vibrant restaurant and bar scene, along with numerous yoga studios and meditation centers. The city was selected as the ASEAN City of Culture for 2021–22. Angkor Wat is a UNESCO World Heritage site and is considered by the Guinness Book of World Records to be the largest religious structure in the world. Pop. (2019) 225,607.
History and landscape
The area around Siem Reap and Angkor has been populated for thousands of years, becoming a political center with the establishment of the Khmer empire’s early capital of Hariharalaya (modern Roluos) near the beginning of the 9th century by Jayavarman II. The location was favored by successive kings because of its proximity to both the sacred mountain of Phnom Kulen and Tonle Sap lake, a vital food source then and now. During this early period, the Siem Reap River was artificially constructed by the Khmer kings to provide water to the city. Over the past 1,000 years, it has developed its own ecosystem similar to that of natural rivers.
The name Siem Reap can be translated as “Siam’s defeat.” According to local legend, Tai kings tried to seize this territory in antiquity and were defeated by the Khmer. However, this legend is apocryphal, and extant historical records make it seem unlikely, as the Tai rulers of Ayutthaya successfully sacked Angkor in 1431. The true origins of the name Siem Reap are unknown. Following the Tai sacking of Angkor, the Khmer capital was moved to Lovek, near modern Phnom Penh, and the Khmer became a minor power, vassalized by the Tais.
By the time French explorer Henri Mouhot introduced Angkor to the Western world after his 1860 expedition to the area, it was no longer an urban center. Instead, it was dotted with small villages, although the temples remained places of worship. After Mouhot’s “rediscovery” of Angkor, it rapidly became a center of archaeological interest and tourism, which contributed largely to the development of modern Siem Reap.
People
At the peak of the Khmer empire, between the 10th and 14th centuries, Angkor was one of the most populous cities on the planet, home to more than one million inhabitants. Although they were of Khmer ethnicity, their culture and political structure was largely Indianized, due to successive waves of Indian immigration in the first centuries of the Common Era. As a result, names of early Khmer rulers and places were largely in Sanskrit or derived from it. For example, Jayavarman: jaya means “victorious,” varman means protector. Hariharalaya: Hari is a name of the Hindu god Vishnu, Hara is a name of the god Shiva, and alaya means temple. Angkor is derived from the Sanskrit nagara, meaning “city.” The inhabitants of the Angkor area built their homes mostly from wood, thatch, and bamboo, but they were also masterful stone workers and engineers, as evidenced by the temples of the area and the artificial Siem Reap River. Their staple crop was rice.
Notable sites
Angkor Wat
Angkor Wat, the largest and most famous of the Angkor temples, was built as a temple to the Hindu god Vishnu by Suryavarman II during the 12th century. Under the rule of Jayavarman VII (reigned 1181–c. 1220), it transitioned from being a Hindu to a Buddhist place of worship, although the two traditions remain essentially syncretic in Cambodia even in modern times. The five central towers of Angkor Wat symbolize the peaks of Mount Meru, which according to Hindu mythology is the dwelling place of the gods. The temple walls are covered with bas-relief sculptures of very high quality, representing Hindu gods and ancient Khmer scenes as well as scenes from the Mahabharata and the Ramayana.
Banteay Srei
Banteay Srei (Khmer: “Citadel of the Women”) was constructed during the reign of Jayavarman V in the late 10th century by members of an influential priestly family. Considered by some to be the jewel of Khmer art and architecture, it is very different in style from the other temples in the Angkor area, constructed from red sandstone and decorated with extraordinarily intricate carvings of scenes from Hindu mythology. These scenes include the duel between Bali and Sugriva as described in the Ramayana, Shiva and Parvati on Mount Kailash, the burning of the Khandava forest, and Krishna slaying the evil king Kamsa.
Bayon
The Bayon temple was built near the end of the 12th century or the beginning of the 13th by Jayavarman VII, greatest of the Khmer kings and a devoted Mahayana Buddhist. It is known for its stone carvings of serene faces. It is a subject of debate whether these faces represent the Buddha, bodhisattvas, or Jayavarman himself in the guise of Avalokiteshvara. Although most of the great temples constructed prior to his reign were Hindu temples, the Bayon was the first, and remains the greatest, of the Buddhist temples of Angkor. In addition to its Buddhist carvings, it is famous for its reliefs of Jayavarman’s military exploits.
Ta Prohm
Another temple built during the reign of Jayavarman VII, Ta Prohm was constructed as a gift for his mother. Completed in the early 13th century, it has been largely swallowed by the jungle. Unlike other temples that have been subject to significant cleaning and renovation efforts, Ta Prohm remains covered in trees and roots and retains an appearance close to what early European explorers would have seen when first “rediscovering” the temples of the Angkor area. An inscription at the temple tells us that it once functioned as a monastery.