High Middle Ages · Southeast Asia · Culture

1032

Khmer artisans carve Baphuon temple at Angkor

1032

Under Suryavarman I's patronage, Khmer builders began raising the Baphuon, a massive sandstone temple-mountain at the center of the royal city of Angkor Thom. Its walls were covered with intricate bas-reliefs depicting scenes from Hindu mythology and daily Khmer life, from rice harvests to cockfights to processions of war elephants laden with soldiers.