The “Terrace of Elephants” at Angkor Wat, Cambodia.
Courtesy of American Memory at the Library of Congress.
Subject Areas
Art and Culture
Archaeology
Architecture
Foreign Language
Other
History and Social Studies
World History - Asia/Far East
Time Required
Activity One: One Class Period
Activity Two: One Class Period
Skills
Map reading
Interpreting visual information
Analyzing secondary texts for information
Collaboration
Making inferences
Critical thinking
Presenting ideas in writing
Beginning in the 9th century the Khmer empire, which was based in what is today
northwestern Cambodia, began to gather power and territory in mainland Southeast
Asia. It would grow to be one of the largest empires in Southeast Asian history,
and at the height of its power the empire’s influence reached beyond the
current boundaries of Cambodia and into present day southern Vietnam, Laos,
and Thailand, stretching into the Malay Peninsula. Over the course of several
centuries, the Khmer kingdom built nearly one thousand temples, shrines and
monuments stretching across a significant portion of mainland Southeast Asia.
The largest concentration of structures is located on the northwest tip of the
Tonle Sap, or great lake, near the present day provincial capitol of Siem Reap. Among these
temples is the largest religious structure in the world: the temple known as
Angkor Wat.
In this lesson, students will learn about Angkor Wat and its place in Cambodian,
and Southeast Asian, history. Students will attempt to “read” the
temple, in a way which resembles the reading of a primary document, to gain
insight into this history. In addition, this lesson can also supplement world
history lessons which focus on the migration of ideas and religions, such as
the movement of both Hinduism and Buddhism to Southeast Asia.
Guiding Questions
What is the significance of Angkor Wat, and what does the size and complexity
of the temple say about the Khmer Empire?
Is its use today the same as it was when it was first built, and what does
the answer tell us about Cambodia’s history?
Learning Objectives
After completing this lesson, students will be able to:
Identify where Angkor Wat is located on a map of Cambodia.
Relate a basic history of the temple, including when it was built, by what
civilization, and for what purpose.
Discuss what the temple’s size and complexity tells us about the
history of the Khmer Empire.
Discuss the change in the use of the temple from a Hindu temple to a sacred
pilgrimage site for Buddhists, and the purpose the temple fulfills in Cambodian
society today.
Preparing to Teach this Lesson
This lesson has been designed to supplement both World History lessons on the
history of Southeast Asia and the migration of Hinduism and Buddhism from India
to other points in Asia.
Review the lesson plan. Locate and bookmark suggested materials and other
useful websites. Download and print out documents you will use and duplicate
copies as necessary for student viewing.
In this lesson students will be “reading” a structure as they
might a primary document. The temple of Angkor Wat contains a wealth of information
if students begin to scrutinize and to “question” the monument.
Students should begin by looking deeply at the temple, noting information
such as its size and the materials it is made from. They should then read
the historical information that will give the structure a context, and will
also provide more insight into the structure itself. Finally, they should
use the information they have gathered from looking at the temple and from
reading about its context as a foundation for asking questions. For example,
a student might note that the temple is enormous. He or she should then ask:
How many people did it take to build? How long did it take to complete? The
answers can be used as clues in the search for a more complete conception of the
ancient Khmer empire.
Some of the questions students will pose will have answers that can be
confirmed. For example, scholars generally agree that the building of Angkor
Wat took more than three decades to complete. However, it may not always
be possible to confirm specific answers. Even where it may not be possible
to confirm a specific answer, it will still be possible to glean a more
complete view of the Khmer kingdom. For example, it is not possible to say
exactly how much wealth the Khmer king would have had access to in order
to build such a monument, however, the gilding and jewels decorating the
walls of the temple indicate that the size of the kingdom’s treasury
was substantial.
Ask students to locate Cambodia on the map
of Asia which can be found on the EDSITEment reviewed website AskAsia.
Discuss with students the location of Cambodia in relation to other Southeast
Asian nations and cultures, and to India.
How might geography have affected the movement of ideas and religions
such as Hinduism and Buddhism?
Using the map
of Cambodia found on the EDSITEment reviewed website AskAsia
ask students to locate the temples at Angkor. Discuss with students the location
that the ancient Khmers chose as the site for the seat of their kingdom.
What differences can be found in the location of the early Khmer capitol
at Angkor, and the later Cambodian capitol of Phnom Penh?
Why might the ancient Khmers have decided to build their capitol at
Angkor?
Students should pay particular attention to the location of the ancient
and modern capitols in relation to the Tonle Sap, or great lake. The lake
is so large that early European explorers thought it was an ocean. Each
year the size of the lake grows, providing a bounty of fish and freshwater
seafood such as shrimp, which is the main ingredient of a Cambodian food
staple: prahok (dried shrimp paste).
Please note: The area that is today officially known as the Angkor Historical
Park, which contains numerous temples and shrines, is often simply called
“Angkor” or “Angkor Wat.” However, the title Angkor
Wat specifically refers to only the temple known by that name. The word
wat is the Khmer word meaning temple, while the word Angkor comes
from the Sanskrit word nagara, meaning city.
Ask students to read about the history
of Angkor found on the EDSITEment resource AskAsia.
Depending on the reading level of your class, you may wish to complete this
reading as a group, perhaps reading the paragraphs aloud and then discussing
the material. Advanced students can read also the more detailed history of
the height of Angkor found in the section entitled The
Angkorian Period—The Classical Age in the history section of Angkorian
history page accessible through the EDSITEment reviewed web resource, the
Metropolitan Museum of Art. When they
have completed all of their reading, have them answer the questions contained
in this PDF
Worksheet, or have them complete this
web based interactive worksheet.
2. Seeing is Believing!
Students should then be directed to investigate the temple by scrutinizing
images of Angkor. An excellent series of images
of Angkor Wat is accessible through the EDSITEment reviewed web resource
SARAI.
Ask students to form groups of three or four. Have each group work together
to “read” the temple for the history of the Khmer Empire, and
its capitol at Angkor. Ask students to click through the arrows to view the
different parts of the temple. Each groups should work together to make notes
about what the see. For example, in the first few photographs they will see
a long causeway spanning over a moat. Students should note the walkway made
of stone, the carved hand rails, the man-made moat, and the large exterior
wall of the compound.
Once students have compiled their notes on the photographs of the temple
they should begin to work together as a group to formulate ideas about why
the temple looks the way it does. Why do they think the temple is so large?
Why do they think the builders dug a moat to surround the structure? One way
to begin thinking about this structure would be to search for examples of
other world architecture with which they might be more familiar. Does this
temple remind them of a castle? Or a cathedral? Or even the US Capitol building?
Next, ask each group to think about what the physical properties of the
temple might tell us about the Khmer Empire? More or less guidance may be
necessary depending on the skill level of the class. Remaining in their groups,
ask students to contemplate the following questions:
What does the size of the temple tell us about the power of the Khmer
kingdom?
Although there are many temples from the Angkorian period, and many
of them are very large, Angkor Wat is the largest temple in Cambodia.
What does this tell us about the time period in which this structure was
built?
It is also one of the most extensively and beautifully decorated temples
in the Angkor Historical Park, and much of it is covered with low relief
sculptures. It also contained many free-standing sculptures which were
often gilded and decorated with precious gems. What does the wealth of
decoration, and the addition of precious materials such as gold, tell
us about the strength and stability of the Khmer Empire?
Students should focus on issues such as what the access to precious materials
says about the Khmer Empire and its access to valuable resources and goods.
In addition, an important point of discussion is the harnessing of this tremendous
labor force needed to build Angkor Wat. The construction took more than three
decades, and could not have been completed without the widespread use of corvée
labor. The ability to draft and control thousands of corvée laborers
gives an indication of the strength and power of the Khmer kingdom.
3. Messages Written in Stone
Discuss with students the purpose of the temple. Using the factual information
provided in the historical description of Angkor Wat as a foundation, ask
students to theorize an explanation for the dedication of so much labor and
wealth to the construction of the monument.
Who built the temple?
Who is the temple dedicated to?
Why was it decorated so lavishly?
When King Suryavarman II (Sor-ya-VAR-man the second) initiated construction
on this temple dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu in the 12th century, he had
the temple built as an offering to this deity. Discuss with students possible
reasons why the temple was so meticulously and finely decorated. While the
religious motivations are very different, teachers might think of the beautiful
and opulent paintings and other decorations sponsored by wealthy patrons in
European cathedrals as a starting point for thinking about this question.
This temple was designed as a Vaishnavite (for the worship of Vishnu)
temple, and the presence of this Hindu god can be found in both the design
of the structure, as well as throughout the decoration of the structure. However,
the majority of the Cambodian visitors to the temple today are not Hindu. It is thought that Hinduism may not have been widespread beyond the aristocracy
in the ancient Khmer kingdom, and that many of the average citizens of the
kingdom were Buddhist. In the post-Angkorian years, the rulers of the Khmer
kingdom moved away from Hinduism and began to build and dedicate temples and
monasteries to the Buddha. With this shift in religious focus, images of the
Buddha began to appear in many of the formerly Hindu temples, such as Angkor
Wat. Today an image of the Buddha can be found in the main sanctuary of the
temple, and numerous similar sculptures fill the interior galleries, where
they are maintained and given offerings by visitors and monks from the monastery
inside the temple’s precincts.
Explore with students the historical changes that can be “read”
in the change in purpose of visitors to the temple.
Do Cambodian visitors today visit Angkor Wat for the purpose for which
it was originally designed?
Are there physical changes that have occurred (other than those wrought
by the passage of time) which might give clues about historical changes
in Khmer culture?
What other meaning might the temple have for Cambodians today beyond
its status as a Buddhist pilgrimage site?
Many Cambodians visit the temple today not only because of its status as
a sacred Buddhist site, but also because Angkor Wat is seen as an important
historical site. It is no coincidence that every Cambodian flag since the
country gained independence from France in 1953 has had the silhouette of
Angkor’s towers at its center. An example of the
current Cambodian flag is accessible through the EDSITEment reviewed
web resource Internet Public Library.
Assessment
For beginning students: ask students to choose their favorite view of the temple
from the photographs
of Angkor Wat available through the EDSITEment reviewed web resource SARAI.
Students should write a short essay about the image they have selected explaining
what the picture shows, and connecting it to what they have learned about the
temple in this lesson.
For advanced students: ask students to write a short essay explaining how “reading”
the temple confirmed and expanded upon one or two pieces of information they
received from reading the history. Students might write about how the written
history stated that the kingdom was very powerful and had control or influence
over a large area and its people. In viewing the temple, this was confirmed
by its size, as it could only have been built by a large number of people working
together.
Students should include in their short essay a section about a theory which
they developed by combining what they had learned from the written sources with
their scrutiny of the temple. This essay might focus on any number of theories
or ideas, such as the tremendous rice harvest that would have been needed to
sustain such a kingdom for hundreds of years, or that Khmer society probably
had artisan guilds in order to create miles of bas-relief sculpture. While there
does not have to be a strict control on what theories students write about,
it is essential that they are able to create a solid argument defending their
theory, and that they show how the images of the temple support their theory.
Migrations
of Buddhism
[http://www.askasia.org/teachers/essays/essay.php?no=23&era=&grade=&geo=]
o Hinduism
[http://www.religioustolerance.org/hinduism.htm]
o Map of Asia
[http://www.askasia.org/image/maps/asia.htm]
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