 Angkor
Thom is quadrangle of defensive walls totaling 12 kilometers that once
protected the Khmer capital of the same name (Angkor Thom means "Great
City"). Built in the late 12th and early 13th centuries by King Jayavarman
VII, the walls are divided by two axes running north-south and east-west.
A gateway lies at the end of each axis, four in total, facing the four
cardinal directions. An additional gate, called the "Gate of Victory",
pierces the east wall just north of the "Gate of the Dead",
the east gate along the central axis. The significance of the additional
gate is that it provided access to a terrace of the royal palace. As for
the other gates, the two axes intersect at the center of the enclosed
area where the Bayon temple sits.
 The
south gate of Angkor Thom is the best preserved. It is approached from
outside via a causeway that extends about fifty meters across a moat.
On each side of the causeway are railings fashioned with 54 stone figures
engaged in the performance of a famous Hindu story: the myth of the Churning
of the Ocean. On the left side of the moat, 54 'devas' (guardian gods)
pull the head of the snake 'Shesha' while on the right side 54 'asuras'
(demon gods) pull the snake's tail in the opposite direction. In this
myth, the body of the snake is wrapped around the central mountain—Mt.
Meru—perhaps corresponding here to the Bayon temple at the center of the
site. In any case, the myth relates that as the Devas pulled the snake
in one direction and the gods pushed in the other, the ocean began to
churn and precipitate the elements. By alternating back and forth, the
ocean was "milked", forming the earth and the cosmos anew.
The central tower of the stone gate is capped by three face-towers that
face the four directions (the central tower faces both out and in). Below
them at the base of the gate are two sets of elephant statues that flank
the entrance on both sides. Sitting on each elephant is a figure of the
god Indra carrying his usual weapon—the 'vadra' (a lightning bolt). The
gate itself is shaped like an upside-down "U" and is corbelled
at the top (instead of arches, the builders of Angkor preferred to use
corbelling to span distances). It is still possible to see where wooden
doors once fitted to the gate through openings in the stone.
 There
is some debate as to the functionality of Angkor Thom as a whole. If it
was a wall intended for defense, it was rather poorly designed, since
there is nowhere along the wall for defenders to take refuge from incoming
fire or shoot back from a shielded location. This is surprising since
Angkor had been sacked in 1177 by Champa invaders, and one can readily
imagine that its new King, Jayavarman VII would have been concerned with
defense should the invaders return.
If not intended for defense, the walls may simply have been an additional
enclosure around the Bayon temple, more for ceremony than for practical
use. As in Southern India, the Angkor rulers built temples surrounded
by walls, but usually not with walls as thick and grand as those of Angkor
Thom.
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