Main content

Angkor Wat

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the astonishing and massive Cambodian temple commissioned by Suryavarman II in the 12th century, a centre for Hinduism, Buddhism and Animism.

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the largest and arguably the most astonishing religious structure on Earth, built for Suryavarman II in the 12th Century in modern-day Cambodia. It is said to have more stone in it than the Great Pyramid of Giza, and much of the surface is intricately carved and remarkably well preserved. For the last 900 years Angkor Wat has been a centre of religion, whether Hinduism, Buddhism or Animism or a combination of those, and a source of wonder to Cambodians and visitors from around the world.

With

Piphal Heng
Postdoctoral scholar at the Cotsen Institute and the Programme for Early Modern Southeast Asia at UCLA

Ashley Thompson
Hiram W Woodward Chair of Southeast Asian Art at SOAS University of London

And

Simon Warrack
A stone conservator who has worked extensively at Angkor Wat

Producer: Simon Tillotson

Available now

49 minutes

Last on

Thu 23 Jun 2022 21:30
麻豆社 Radio 4

More episodes

Previous

Dylan Thomas

Next

John Bull

See all episodes from In Our Time

LINKS AND FURTHER READING

CONTRIBUTORS






READING LIST

R. Brotherson, 鈥楽pecial Section: new discoveries at Angkor Wat, Angkor鈥� (Antiquity, 89: 348, 2015)

Alison K. Carter and others, 鈥楾he Evolution of Agro-Urbanism: A Case Study from Angkor, Cambodia鈥� (Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 63: 101323, 2021)

Cristina Cobo Castillo and others, 鈥楾he Khmer Did Not Live by Rice Alone: Archaeobotanical Investigations at Angkor Wat and Ta Prohm鈥� (Archaeological Research in Asia 24 December, 2020)

Michael D. Coe and Damian Evans, Angkor and the Khmer Civilization (Thames & Hudson. 2018)

George Coedes, Angkor: An Introduction (Oxford University Press, 1963)

Zhou Daguan (trans. Solang Uk and Beling Uk), A Record of Cambodia's Land and Customs (New Generation Publishing, 2010)

Penny Edwards, Cambodge: The Cultivation of a Nation, 1860-1945 (University of Hawai鈥檌 Press, 2008)

M. Falser, Angkor Wat: A Transcultural History of Heritage (De Gruyter, 2020)

Michael Freeman and Claude Jacques, Ancient Angkor (River Books, 2009)

Peter Grave and others, 鈥楥entralized Power/Decentralized Production? Angkorian Stoneware and the Southern Production Complex of Cheung Ek, Cambodia鈥� (Journal of Archaeological Science, 125 January, 2021)

Piphal Heng and others, 鈥楩orm, Structure and Long-Term Angkorian Urbanism: A View from the Kok Phnov Site (9th鈥�10th Century CE)鈥� (Archaeological Research in Asia 31 September, 2022)

Helen Ibbotson Jessup, Temples of Cambodia: The Heart of Angkor (River Books, 2011)

Thomas S. Maxwell, Of Gods, Kings and Men: The Reliefs of Angkor Wat (Silkworm Books, 2007)

Theresa McCullough, Stephen A. Murphy, Pierre Baptiste, and Thierry Z茅phir (eds.), Angkor: Exploring Cambodia鈥檚 Sacred City (Asian Civilisations Museum, 2018)

Ashley Thompson, Engendering the Buddhist State: Territory, Sovereignty and Sexual Difference in the Inventions of Angkor (Routledge, 2016)

Vittorio Roveda, Sacred Angkor: Carved Reliefs Of Angkor Wat (River Books, 2001)


RELATED LINKS









Broadcasts

  • Thu 23 Jun 2022 09:00
    麻豆社 Radio 4
  • Thu 23 Jun 2022 21:30
    麻豆社 Radio 4

Featured in...

In Our Time podcasts

Download episodes from the huge In Our Time archive.

The In Our Time Listeners' Top 10

If you鈥檙e new to In Our Time, this is a good place to start.

Podcast

  • In Our Time

    Misha Glenny and guests discuss the ideas, people and events that have shaped our world.