Editing Khmer architecture (section)

==Structures==

===Central sanctuary===
[[File:Tower-Angkor Wat.jpg|thumb|right|The central prang of Angkor Wat temple symbolizes the [[Mount Meru (Mythology)|mount Meru]].]]
The central sanctuary of an Angkorian temple was home to the temple's primary deity, the one to whom the site was dedicated: typically [[Shiva]] or [[Vishnu]] in the case of a [[Hindu]] temple, [[Gautama Buddha|Buddha]] or a [[bodhisattva]] in the case of a [[Buddhist]] temple. The deity was represented by a statue (or in the case of [[Shiva]], most commonly by a [[lingam|linga]]). Since the temple was not considered a place of worship for use by the population at large, but rather a home for the deity, the sanctuary needed only to be large enough to hold the statue or linga; it was never more than a few metres across.<ref>Coedès, ''Pour mieux comprendre Angkor'', p. 91.</ref> Its importance was instead conveyed by the height of the tower (''prasat'') rising above it, by its location at the centre of the temple, and by the greater decoration on its walls. Symbolically, the sanctuary represented [[Mount Meru]], the legendary home of the [[Hindu]] gods.<ref>See Glaize, ''Monuments of the Angkor Group'', pp. 26 ff.</ref>

===Prang===
{{Main|Prang (architecture)}}
The [[Prang (architecture)|prang]] is the tall finger-like spire, usually richly carved, common to much Khmer religious architecture.

===Enclosure===
Khmer temples were typically enclosed by a concentric series of walls, with the central sanctuary in the middle; this arrangement represented the mountain ranges surrounding [[Mount Meru]], the mythical home of the gods. Enclosures are the spaces between these walls, and between the innermost wall and the temple itself. By modern convention, enclosures are numbered from the centre outwards. The walls defining the enclosures of Khmer temples are frequently lined by galleries, while passage through the walls is by way of gopuras located at the cardinal points.<ref>Glaize, ''Monuments of the Angkor Group'', p. 27.</ref>

===Gallery===
[[File:Angkor Wat, Camboya, 2013-08-15, DD 038.JPG|thumb|right|A cruciform gallery separates the courtyards at [[Angkor Wat]].]]
A gallery is a passageway running along the wall of an enclosure or along the axis of a temple, often open to one or both sides. Historically, the form of the gallery evolved during the 10th century from the increasingly long hallways which had earlier been used to surround the central sanctuary of a temple. During the period of [[Angkor Wat]] in the first half of the 12th century, additional half galleries on one side were introduced to [[buttress]] the structure of the temple.

===Gopura===
[[File:Ta Phrom, Angkor, Camboya, 2013-08-16, DD 01.JPG|thumb|left|A gopura leads into the 12th-century temple compound at [[Ta Prohm]].]]
[[File:2016_Angkor,_Angkor_Thom,_Brama_północna_(01).jpg|thumb|right|Many of the gopuras constructed under [[Jayavarman VII]] toward the end of the 12th century, such as this one at [[Angkor Thom]], are adorned with gigantic stone faces of [[Avalokiteshvara]].]]{{Main|Gopuram}}
A [[gopura]] is an entrance building. At [[Angkor]], passage through the enclosure walls surrounding a temple compound is frequently accomplished by means of an impressive gopura, rather than just an aperture in the wall or a doorway. Enclosures surrounding a temple are often constructed with a gopura at each of the four [[cardinal point]]s. In plan, gopuras are usually cross-shaped and elongated along the axis of the enclosure wall.

If the wall is constructed with an accompanying gallery, the gallery is sometimes connected to the arms of the gopura. Many Angkorian gopuras have a tower at the centre of the cross. The [[lintel (architecture)|lintels]] and [[pediment]]s are often decorated, and guardian figures ([[dvarapala]]s) are often placed or carved on either side of the doorways.

===Hall of Dancers===<!-- This section is linked from [[Architecture of Cambodia]] -->
A Hall of Dancers is the structure of a type found in certain late 12th-century temples constructed under King [[Jayavarman VII]]: [[Ta Prohm]], [[Preah Khan]], [[Banteay Kdei]] and [[Banteay Chhmar]]. It is a rectangular building elongated along the temple's east axis and divided into four courtyards by galleries. Formerly it had a roof made of perishable materials; now only the stone walls remain. The pillars of the galleries are decorated with carved designs of dancing [[apsaras]]; hence scholars have suggested that the hall itself may have been used for dancing.

===House of Fire===
{{Main|Dharmasala}}
House of Fire, or ''Dharmasala'', is the name given to a type of building found only in temples constructed during the reign of late 12th-century monarch [[Jayavarman VII]]: [[Preah Khan]], [[Ta Prohm]] and [[Banteay Chhmar]]. A House of Fire has thick walls, a tower at the west end and south-facing windows.<ref>Freeman and Jacques, ''Ancient Angkor'', p. 172.</ref>

Scholars theorize that the House of Fire functioned as a "rest house with fire" for travellers. An inscription at [[Preah Khan]] tells of 121 such rest houses lining the highways into [[Angkor]]. The Chinese traveller [[Zhou Daguan]] expressed his admiration for these rest houses when he visited Angkor in 1296 CE.<ref>Coedès, ''Pour mieux comprendre Angkor'', pp. 197 ff.</ref> Another theory is that the House of Fire had a religious function as the repository the sacred flame used in sacred ceremonies.

[[File:Libraryangkorwat.JPG|thumb|Unusually, the libraries at [[Angkor Wat]] open to both the East and the West.]]

===Library===
Structures conventionally known as "libraries" are a common feature of the Khmer temple architecture, but their true purpose remains unknown. Most likely they functioned broadly as religious shrines rather than strictly as repositories of manuscripts. Freestanding buildings, they were normally placed in pairs on either side of the entrance to an enclosure, opening to the west.<ref>Freeman and Jacques, ''Ancient Angkor'', p. 30.</ref>

===Srah and baray===
Srahs and [[baray]]s were [[reservoir]]s, generally created by excavation and [[levee|embankment]], respectively. It is not clear whether the significance of these reservoirs was religious, agricultural, or a combination of the two.

The two largest reservoirs at Angkor were the [[West Baray]] and the [[East Baray]] located on either side of [[Angkor Thom]]. The East Baray is now dry. The [[West Mebon]] is an 11th-century temple standing at the center of the West Baray and the [[East Mebon]] is a 10th-century temple standing at the center of the East Baray.<ref>Freeman and Jacques, ''Ancient Angkor'', pp. 161, 188.</ref>

The baray associated with [[Preah Khan]] is the Jayataka, in the middle of which stands the 12th-century temple of [[Neak Pean]]. Scholars have speculated that the Jayataka represents the Himalayan lake of [[Anavatapta]], known for its miraculous healing powers.<ref>Freeman and Jacques, ''Ancient Angkor'', p. 178.</ref>

===Temple mountain===<!-- This section is linked from [[Angkor Wat]] -->
[[File:Roulos_Group_-_005_Bakong_(8587796725).jpg|thumb|right|The [[Bakong]] is the earliest surviving Temple Mountain at Angkor.]]
The dominant scheme for the construction of state temples in the Angkorian period was that of the Temple Mountain, an architectural representation of [[Mount Meru]], the home of the gods in [[Hinduism]].<ref>Glaize, ''The Monuments of Angkor'', p. 24.</ref> Enclosures represented the mountain chains surrounding Mount Meru, while a moat represented the ocean. The temple itself took shape as a pyramid of several levels, and the home of the gods was represented by the elevated sanctuary at the center of the temple.

The first great temple mountain was the [[Bakong]], a five-level pyramid dedicated in 881 by King [[Indravarman I]].<ref>Jessup, ''Art & Architecture of Cambodia'', pp. 73 ff.</ref> The structure of Bakong took shape of [[stepped pyramid]], popularly identified as temple mountain of early Khmer temple architecture. The striking similarity of the Bakong and [[Borobudur]] in [[Java]], going into architectural details such as the gateways and stairs to the upper terraces, strongly suggests that Borobudur might have served as the prototype of Bakong. There must have been exchanges of travelers, if not mission, between Khmer kingdom and the [[Sailendra]]s in [[Medang Kingdom|Java]]. Transmitting to Cambodia not only ideas, but also technical and architectural details of Borobudur, including arched gateways in [[Corbel arch|corbelling]] method.<ref>{{cite book| title=Southeast Asia in the 9th to 14th Centuries | author=David G. Marr, Anthony Crothers Milner | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Lon7gmj040MC&pg=PA244 | publisher=Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore | date=1986 | page=244 | isbn=9971-988-39-9 | access-date= 23 September 2016}}</ref>

Other Khmer temple mountains include [[Baphuon]], [[Pre Rup]], [[Ta Keo]], [[Koh Ker]], the [[Phimeanakas]], and most notably the [[Phnom Bakheng]] at [[Angkor]].<ref name=Coedes>{{cite book|last=Cœdès|first= George|author-link=George Cœdès|editor= Walter F. Vella|others= trans.Susan Brown Cowing|title= The Indianized States of Southeast Asia|year= 1968|publisher= University of Hawaii Press|isbn= 978-0-8248-0368-1}}</ref>{{rp|103, 119}}

According to [[Charles Higham (archaeologist)|Charles Higham]], "A temple was built for the worship of the ruler, whose essence, if a [[Shaiva|Saivite]], was embodied in a linga... housed in the central sanctuary which served as a temple-mausoleum for the ruler after his death...these central temples also contained shrines dedicated to the royal ancestors and thus became centres of ancestor worship".<ref name=Higham>Higham, C. (2014). ''Early Mainland Southeast Asia''. Bangkok: River Books Co., Ltd., {{ISBN|978-6167339443}}</ref>{{rp|351}}