Baphuon

Baphuon is a three-tiered temple-mountain at the heart of Angkor Thom, built in the mid-11th century by King Udayadityavarman II as a representation of Mount Meru. It was connected to the south gate of the Royal Palace by a 172-metre elevated sandstone causeway supported by short pillars — still standing and striking to walk along. The French EFEO began dismantling the temple for restoration in 1960, but the work was interrupted by civil war; what you see today is the result of a remarkably long reconstruction project completed in 2011.

The west face of the upper terrace conceals the largest reclining Buddha in Cambodia — 70 metres long and visible in full only when viewed from a distance, since the figure is built into the hillside itself. Climb to the top tier for a view across the treetops of Angkor Thom. The Baphuon is easily combined with the Bayon and the Terrace of the Elephants as part of a morning circuit through the walled city.

things to do temple historic site
A story
The Baphuon's enormous reclining Buddha — carved from the stones of the collapsed western gopura in the 15th century, when the temple was converted from a Shaivite Hindu shrine to a Theravada Buddhist one — remained hidden in plain sight until the 1990s. French archaeologists had completely dismantled the temple for restoration when the Khmer Rouge took power, scattering 300,000 numbered stones and destroying the catalogues; it took decades to reassemble.