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The house of the
local people in
ancient Khmer was
more or less similar
to those found today
in villages of
modern Cambodia. It
was elevated about
two and a half
meters above the
ground with the
wooden ladder and
was built by wooden
piles which
supported the floor,
the walls and the
roof. The wall was
made up of either
the straws or the
bamboo with the roof
covered with the
thatched leaves of
dry coconut palms.
The architecture of
the dignitaries'
houses and the
palaces was somewhat
different from those
of the laymen, and
differed in sizes,
layouts and
dimensions. The
materials used to
built the house
consisted of
stronger wooden
planks, generally
made up of teakwood,
and the roof was
covered with tiles
for the inner rooms
and with thatched
leaves for the outer
corners. These
differences clearly
identified the
classes of the
people by which the
laymen were not even
dare to put up a
single tile on their
roof.
According to
Hinduism, the gods
reside in the five
sacred mountains
with central Mount
Meru and these
mountains are
surrounded by the
cosmic ocean. The
structure of the
Khmer temples mostly
symbolizes the
heavenly residence
of the gods with
five towers, called
prasats. The
central dominant
tower or prasat
represents the Mount
Meru with four
smaller ones, each
at its corners, to
represent the other
four sacred
mountains of the
heaven. In some
temples, there are
galleries connecting
the towers. The
moat surrounding the
temple symbolizes
the cosmic ocean.
As the residence of
gods, the temples
were made up of more
endurable materials
such as the bricks,
laterites and
sandstones.
Numerous stones were
carved with artistic
craftsmanship to
portray the gods and
the deities, the
epics of Mahabharata
and Ramayana, and in
many instances, the
important events of
Khmer history as
well as that of the
king who was its
founder. For the
temples dedicated to
Buddhism in the
later centuries, the
architecture is much
less prominent with
some stone carving
related to the
stories of Lord
Buddha and his
teaching.
 In
addition to the
remarkable temples,
the ancient Khmer
also had showed its
architectural genius
by building large
reservoirs and dikes
which were essential
in agriculture as
well as for the
survival of the
people. The two
largest reservoirs
were the East Baray
and the West
Baray. The former
one, built during
the reign of
Yasovarman I, was 7
1/2 kilometer long
and 1 km 830 meters
wide with the depth
of 4-5 meter and
holds up to 55
million cubic meters
of water. The
latter was almost
twice larger,
covering the area of
1,760 hectares with
the depth of 7
meters and hold over
123 million cubic
meters of water.
These reservoirs
collected the water
from the nearby
rivers through dikes
and help
significantly to
prevent floods by
collecting water
from heavy rainfall
during the Monsoon
season. There were
also smaller
reservoirs, many
ponds and moats
which were
constructed in the
vicinity of the
various temples, and
thus further helped
in water storage.
This water was used
in everyday life of
the Khmer people,
and irrigated to the
farmland during the
dry season. The
Angkor Empire was
therefore able to
cultivate crops and
rice two to three
times in a year,
resulting in its
prosperity.
The extensive road
system of the
ancient Khmer enable
us to draw a virtual
map of the Angkor
Empire during its
peak. These roads
were built by
raising the earth as
the pavement,
however, most parts
of these roads were
lost but some
vestiges remain. The
Angkor being at the
center of the
civilization had its
roads branching out
in all directions.
The northern route
passes through
Buriram and Phimai
which are now in
Thailand and divide
into two branches,
one to Vientiane,
the modern Laos
capital and another
to Srisatchanalai
and Sukhothai, the
first capital of
Thailand, while the
southern one leads
to Phnompenh and
ends at Oc Eo in
Mekong Delta of
Vietnam. The eastern
route heads to
Kompong Cham until
present-day
Hochiminh City in
South Vietnam where
it curves northward
along the coast up
as far as Hue in
Central Vietnam. The
western route runs
through Aranyapathet
in modern Thailand
until Chao Phya
River Basin where
Ayuthaya and Lopburi
resides before
extending westward
until Maung Singh in
Kanchanaburi near
the Burma border.
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