Angkor Wat’s Cosmology

June 16, 2014 -

Connecting the universal with the physical, Angkor Wat, as a moon temple, is a surrealist impression of the link between the individual and universal worlds. It is an artistic embodiment of the patterns of destiny; and the geometric and mathematical knowledge employed are a product of Vedic Astrology and Hindu Cosmology. The cultural significance of the monument cannot be understated. Angkor Wat is a prime example of traditional Khmer 12th century building techniques. It is the world's largest temple, a world heritage site and the best preserved Khmer temple in the Angkor complex. Arising from the dense jungle in Northwest Cambodia to touch the setting sun over a vast expanse, it is an awe-inspiring vision that captivates the viewer and prepares the mind for a transcendent experience. The complex layout was designed to mark the passing of time, as a place of pilgrimage, a path to purification, and a place to contemplate the meaning of life. It is an expression of grandeur which helped solidify Khmer cultural dominance over the area. Using the elements and natural order of life to mirror cosmic and societal ideologies, Angkor Wat`s design speaks to the original questions of our creation and place in the cosmos.

From its very inception Angkor Wat was legendary. It was built in an estimated 37 years. Builders today estimate that by current standards, it would take almost 300 years to complete a project of this scale. The world heritage site was commissioned sometime between 1100 and 1150 CE, by King Suryavarman II (Shield of the Sun) of the Khmer Empire, after military victories that united neighboring areas. The immense 5 million tons of sandstone used, was quarried from one spot 25 miles away. Angkor Wat was built as the Khmer capital and lies 5.5 kilometres north Siem Reap. It was dedicated to the Hindu protector god Vishnu. Workers were brought in from the surrounding areas, and, as well combination of elephants, coir ropes, pulleys and bamboo scaffolding were used to ensure the temple would be completed in record time. The monument and surrounding landscaping are dramatic enough to make a footprint visible from space. Few written records survive of the people who built it. We aren't even sure about its original name. The information available from the temple reliefs at Angkor Wat offer the best available insight into the culture and time period, almost like an art and engineering time capsule for the 12th century Khmer civilization.

The city of Angkor was a prosperous city of approximately 1,000,000 people. It had a complex irrigation system, paved roads and beautiful wooden buildings. The kingdom could support a huge population with surplus bounty. There was an extensive rectangular grid system of canals carved across the landscape, improving agricultural yields to 2 to 3 times a year. Communication was an important aspect to the Khmer's regional domination and a sophisticated network of roads lead from across the kingdom directly to Angkor.

Angkor Wat “was at once the symbolic centre of the nation and the actual centre where secular and sacred power joined forces,” Eleanor Mannikka writes in her book Angkor: Celestial Temples of the Khmer Empire. She continues “In the central sanctuary, Vishnu is not only placed at the latitude of Angkor Wat, he is also placed along the axis of the earth.” She points out the Khmer knew the earth was round. This was mapped astrologically in the Vedic tradition. The Vedic religion came from the Indo-Aryans of northern India. It is the predecessor of Hinduism, the main religion in the Khmer culture. Angkor Wat sits at the centre of the Khmer universe, marking at least eighteen astronomical alignments. The central spire points perfectly to the sun on the vernal equinox, or zero point of the Sun's path across the sky. It functions as a calendar. The solar year divides into four major sections by alignments from inside the entrance.

"as the measurements of solar and lunar time cycles were built into the sacred space of Angkor Wat, this divine mandate to rule was anchored to consecrated chambers and corridors meant to perpetuate the king's power and to honor and placate the deities manifest in the heavens above."

Set on an east-west axis, along a straight causeway that extends into the horizon, the structure was built in very grand terms. The faced oriented structure dictates a precise route for a processional walk. The building only reveals itself as you progress along the route. One passes through the adorned post and lintel gopuras located at the cardinal points, to the concentric series of walls, through the four courtyards lined by cruciform galleries, to the quincunx shaped sanctuary. Vishnu is thought to reside under the central spire where the vertical axis of the buildings are centred, know as the sacred cave. Half galleries buttress the temple as Angkorian architects have yet to discover the true arch. The corbeled arch without mortar was used, which could not span wide spaces adding to the need for the concentric walls. Some of the blocks are fastened by mortise and tenon joints.

The buildings along the route are placed axially according to their hierarchy of importance. This mirrors the social order of the Hindu demigod-king tradition. The linga and yoni shaped spire and bases that the temple represents is a rapturous union between male and female evoking Shatapatha cosmology of the union between the individual and the universal, which is the goal of Hinduism. The spire is adorned with lotus flowers. Stories state the lotus arose from Vishnu’s navel, with Brahma the creator at the centre. There are accounts of the world born through a "Golden Lotus" and Padmakalpa, the Lotus Age in the Padmapurana (678 ce). "Hindu texts describe that water represents the procreative aspect of the Absolute, and the cosmic lotus, the generative."

As an artistic representation of the Hindu concept of the cosmos, the moat symbolizes the oceans. The temple is Mount Meru. The verandas leading to the sanctum are continents. “The constant upward movement of the building from one gallery to the next represents the spiritual path of a human being. The final destination is the sanctum sanctorum where one comes face to face with divinity."

The stone materials used for the Angkor monuments are made from sandstone and laterite. This was a common choice for Khmer architects for a temple material. It is fairly weather resistant and easy to work with. "Grey to yellowish-brown sandstone, consisting mainly of quartz, plagioclase, alkali feldspar, biotite, muscovite and rock fragments, is the main sandstone used for most of the monuments in the surrounding area. As for laterite, two types can be distinguished: porous laterite and pisolitic laterite. Types of laterite consist of the same minerals: kaolinite, quartz, hematite and goethite. However, the sandstone blocks of Angkor Wat show a homogeneous magnetic susceptibility despite the large scale. This may suggest that the sandstone blocks were supplied from one quarry keeping its consistency." According to metaphysical mythology, sandstone enhances creativity, helps bring people together, promotes truth, clarity, balance and facilitates energy flow. It removes abrasiveness while encouraging compassion. Laterite, a soft clay that hardens, was used in the hidden structural parts and for the outer wall. The surface of laterite is uneven, thus unsuitable for decorative carvings, so it is dressed with stucco. This stone has a higher concentration of magnetism, because it contains a high percentage of iron. "Hindus once believed that the use of iron in buildings would spread epidemics." It is still unlucky today although it was used and worn in magical protective rituals. Its associated stones are quartz and holey stones such as the lingam. Quartz is also known as the star stone, while Hematite was the blood stone. All have been ascribed protective properties. “Aspects of the cosmos are incorporated into the temple by the use of specific forms, sacred geometry, careful orientation and axial alignments.”

Angkor Wat is built on a grid like subdivided-square mandala pattern. The square shape being a symbol for the earthly realm, while the circle represents the heavens. Yantric buildings in the form of mandalas, dated to about 2000 BCE, have been discovered in North Afghanistan that belong to a period that corresponds to the late stage of the Harappan tradition “Numbers associated with the gods are important in constructing and interpreting the mandala which provides link to divine proportions, hence harmony with the cosmos." It is likely that the astronomical basis of the Stupa was inspired by the Vedic altar that represented the circuit of the sun. It has been shown elsewhere how this representation of the sun's motion remained common knowledge and it was used in Angkor Wat."

In Vedic Astrology the sun's movements are marked against the backdrop of constellations, which are of unequal distance. The earth, as an imperfect sphere experiences pole shifts every "Great Year" or processional age which occurs every 2,160 years. According to Graham Hancock and precise computer mapping, the area around Angkor Wat is part of an “Angkor-Draco” alignment and is a “symbolic diagram of the universe”. There are several temples that line up to reflect the early beacon point. When the Rig Vedas were thought to be conceived, the Pole Star was Draconis, meaning the point at which the Sun returns to has changed since the beginning of time. Knowing the exact date when the point of the vernal equinox and the sidereal zodiac meet is knowing the date of the birth of the universe. Angkor Wat marks the passing of these events and is an excellent place from which to observe the solar system. Perhaps the temple monks were using Angkor Wat to map the changes in order to help calculate this sacred date.

The Rig Vedas offer insight into the answer with the four ages of man or yugas. These periods follow the rise and decent of man and last 1,728,000 years; 1,296,000 years; 864,000 years; and 432,000 years respectively. Angkor Wat`s causeway has axial lengths that approximate extremely closely to 1,728 hat, 1,296 hat, 864 hat, and 432 hat – the yuga lengths scaled down by 1000. The temple dimensions are based on the hat or Cambodian cubit measurement unit. In the central sanctuary, the sets of steps are approximately 12 hat apart, like the 12 lunar mansions, or annual months. The length and width of the central tower add up to approximately 91 hat. On average, there are 91 days between any solstice and the next equinox, or any equinox and the next solstice. The yugas are represented in the moat water level, and various distances.

As an example of one of the many stunning carved scenes, the continuous series of relief's in the third gallery take you through the four seasons. Entrance to this space was based on a hierarchy of importance. On the East wall the creation scene is symbolic of the renewal of spring, the bright summer, the west has a great battle as the autumn decline, followed by the dormancy or the lifeless winter. As the sun passes through its annual round, it lights parts of scene. The first light of the year shines on the creation story of the Churning of the Ocean of Milk and the creation of the elixir of immortality. At the Fall equinox, the battle of Kurukshtra is hit by the setting sun. In the dry season, the north gallery is dark, the relief's on the south gallery are lit of the kingdom of death.

Measuring the impermanence of time, Angkor Wat is a literal and artistic expression of walking a path to purification toward transmigration of the soul, the cyclical nature of time, and the law of natural order, cause and effect. Angkor Wat serves as tool for mapping of Vedic destiny and sacred geometry. It directs us along a path which can deliver us from unhappiness, even if simply to bask in its splendor. Through hard work and spiritual purification as well as the veneration of all living creatures can one attain the elixir of immortality or changeless state. It attempts to convey a message about the human connection with the infinite. Knowing ones place in the world both spiritually, materially and in the Khmer kingdom can save a lot of suffering and increase ones karmic sphere. As a transcendent experience, a place to train the soul for life after death, a place to increase the prestige of the Khmer Dynasty and home for monks teaching about the mechanisms of change over time, Angkor Wat has expanded the imagination of visitors and views alike.

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