These 5 must-go temples in Siem Reap proves that this unique ancient city has not only Angkor Wat temple as symbol of Cambodia but also other hundreds of magnificent temples, which is the sacred pride of this country. It’s never enough time for foreign tourists to discover all temples or pagodas here. These following list is just 4 of the typical and beautiful temples in Siem Reap. Tours on Indochina

1. Angkor Wat

Angkor Wat Temple is the brightest and most splendid when the first rays of sunshine come down at dawn. Angkor Wat is the main reason that almost all international visitors come to Siem Reap. It consists of 5 lotus-shaped towers which are 65m high buildings with 12th-century Khmer-styled architecture. There are also about 2000 stone carvings of Apsaras (also known as dancers in paradise).

Recognized by UNESCO as world cultural heritage, Angkor Wat was built to worship Vishnu (a Hindu god). According to archeologists, this place is a funeral temple for King Suryavarman II. Angkor Wat is located inside the Angkor Archaeological Park.

2. Ta Prohm Temple

Ta Prohm Temple is a quiet monastery built in the middle of the 12th century by King Jayavarman VII to commemorate his mother. It is believed that this 600-room monastery used to have more than 70,000 inhabitants, and most of them were monks, clergy, auxiliaries, dancers and employees. The most attractive point of Ta Prohm Temple is large tree roots interwoven with bricks of the temple.

Maintaining many courtyards and galleries, the walls, doorways and paths here own ancient architecture and are surrounded by century-old trees and vines, giving visitors the feeling of discovering a lost temple in the forest. Because of its stunning, superb and splendid appearance, the movie Tomb Raider was filmed at this temple.

3 Ba Yon Temple

Ba Yon Temple has approximately 50 towers along with four huge stone statues which are formed like the face of Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara. It was built in the late 12th century as the official temple to serve Mahayana Buddhist Jayavarman VII. Set in the middle of Angkor Thom, people can easily see sculptural architecture of ancient Khmer Kindom. Along with serene expression, the four statues here are 4 meters high and they represent four directions of the compass. Cambodia travel tours

Beside the four-faced Buddha statue, the Ba Yon Temple is fortified at two sides by two long walls including elaborate figures about what happened on daily life together with images of battles and religious rituals. If visitors are looking for a place to “reverse the time line” and visit Siem Reap, Ba Yon is an ideal choice.

4. Wat Damnak Pagoda

Located on Wat Bo Road, Wat Damnak Pagoda once was a royal palace under the reign of King Sisowath. Today, it is a school, a charity and a sewing training center for young indigenous girls. This place is the best known due to the reason it involves Center for Khmer Studies.

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