Editing Khmer architecture (section)

{{Short description|Architecture built by the Khmer during the Angkor period}}
[[File:Angkor Wat Reflection (46810498612).jpg|thumb|300px|right|The 12th-century temple of [[Angkor Wat]] is the masterpiece of Angkorian architecture. Constructed under the direction of the Khmer king [[Suryavarman II]], Angkor Wat is a [[Hindu]]-[[Buddhist]] temple.]]
{{Culture of Cambodia}}

'''Khmer architecture''' ({{langx|km|ស្ថាបត្យកម្មខ្មែរ}}), also known as '''Angkorian architecture''' ({{langx|km|ស្ថាបត្យកម្មសម័យអង្គរ}}), is the architecture produced by the Khmer during the [[Angkor]] period of the [[Khmer Empire]] from approximately the later half of the 8th century CE to the first half of the 15th century CE.

The [[Indian rock-cut architecture|architecture of the Indian rock-cut temples]], particularly in sculpture, had an influence on [[Southeast Asia]] and was widely adopted into the [[Indianization of Southeast Asia|Indianised]] architecture of [[Cambodia]]n (Khmer), [[Names of Vietnam|Annamese]] and [[Java]]nese temples (of the [[Greater India]]).<ref name=Advisory>{{Cite web|url= https://whc.unesco.org/archive/advisory_body_evaluation/249.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://whc.unesco.org/archive/advisory_body_evaluation/249.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |title= Advisory body evaluation |access-date= 23 October 2012|publisher=UNESCO.org}}</ref><ref name="BruynBain2010">{{cite book|first1=Pippa de |last1=Bruyn|first2=Keith |last2=Bain|first3=David |last3=Allardice|author4=Shonar Joshi|title=Frommer's India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qG-9cwHOcCIC&pg=PA333|access-date=7 February 2013|date=18 February 2010|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-0-470-64580-2|pages=333–}}</ref> Evolved from Indian influences, Khmer architecture became clearly distinct from that of the [[Indian sub-continent]] as it developed its own special characteristics, some of which were created independently and others of which were incorporated from neighboring cultural traditions, resulting in a new artistic style in Asian architecture unique to the Angkorian tradition.<ref name="UNESCO Angkor architecture">{{cite web |title=Angkor |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/668/ |website=UNESCO.org |access-date=16 February 2022}}</ref> The development of Khmer architecture as a distinct style is particularly evident in artistic depictions of divine and royal figures with facial features representative of the local Khmer population, including rounder faces, broader brows, and other physical characteristics.<ref name="Nietupski">{{cite journal |last1=Nietupski |first1=Paul |title=Medieval Khmer Society: The Life and Times of Jayavarman VII (ca. 1120-1218) |journal=ASIANetwork Exchange |date=2019 |volume=26 |issue=1 |pages=33–74 |url=https://www.asianetworkexchange.org/article/id/7861/ |access-date=29 March 2022}}</ref> In any study of Angkorian architecture, the emphasis is necessarily on religious architecture, since all the remaining Angkorian buildings are religious in nature. During the period of Angkor, only temples and other religious buildings were constructed of stone.

Non-religious buildings such as dwellings were constructed of perishable materials such as wood, and so have not survived. The religious architecture of Angkor has characteristic structures, elements, and motifs, which are identified in the glossary below. Since a number of different architectural styles succeeded one another during the Angkorean period, not all of these features were equally in evidence throughout the period. Indeed, scholars have referred to the presence or absence of such features as one source of evidence for dating the remains.