Being the largest temple in the world, Angkor is undeniably Cambodia’s famous historical tourist attraction. Today, the temples are a point of pilgrimage for all Cambodian. It is the spiritual and cultural heartbeat of the Kingdom of Cambodia and a source of national pride to all Khmer as they are on the road to rebuild their live after many years of inquietude.

This splendid ancient stone city was built sometime between the ninth and fourteen century during the glorious years of Angkor Empire. After the fourteen century, the Thai kingdom in the west became stronger. They finally sacked the empire in 1431. The glory of the Angkor Civilization was terminated since that time. For the next 400 years, with the exceptional of the Angkor Wat, which was restored for use as a Buddhist shrine in the 16th century by the Khmer royalty, the monuments of Angkor were virtually forgotten and lying hidden in the jungle. It was the French naturalist, Henri Mouhot that first brought Angkor to the public eye through his publication in 1868.

Back in the time of the Angkor dynasty, the temples of Angkor, capital of Cambodia’s ancient Khmer empire is just one of the marvels that resulted from the cultural migration from the sub-continental. There are not only temples in the Angkor region, but also secular buildings, city walls, roads and water management systems, pottery production sites, as well as religious sites in natural environments. Angkor Thom particularly, is a huge urban complex, surrounded by a wide moat and an impressive wall with five magnificent gates. Inside, both secular buildings such as the Royal Palace as well as the beautifully carved Bayon remain.

It was not until the late 1920s that a new stone-related conservation techniques developed by the Dutch was used extensively for the restoration works. The first major restoration job was carried out on Banteay Srei in 1930. It was such a success that many more restoration projects were undertaken elsewhere around the Angkor and the comprehensive restoration of Angkor Wat was carried out in the 1960s. Nevertheless, lying in the tropical rain forest, the temples are consistently invaded by overgrown trees whose roots penetrate the temples' foundation whereas the water helps in its decay. The weakening of their foundations endangered the temples to collapse in the future if no continuous preservation works were done.

In December of 1992, after years of preparation on the part of Khmer authorities in collaboration with the international community, Angkor was inscribed on the World Heritage List. The archaeological activities have been restarted by substantial funding from UNESCO in order to preserve this World Heritage for the future generations.

There are two main sites where the Khmer temples are located. The main attractions of Angkor are Angkor Wat, the mother of all temples; the fortified city of Angkor Thom; the enigmatic faces of Bayon; and Ta Phrom, the temple battling the forces of nature. Other spectacular temples that should not be missed include Roluos Group of temples which was the first Khmer capital city built by Yasovarman I in the late ninth century. Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom are only 6km to 8km north of Siem Reap respectively while the Rolous Group of temples is 13km east of the town.

Siem Reap is the gateway to the ancient city of Angkor. It is a quiet yet charming town with rural qualities. Few years back travelers described it as a sleepy backwater village-town but today, it is fast reinventing itself as a sophisticated tourism centre. There are direct international flights to Siem Reap from Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Vientiane, Ho Chi Min City, and Singapore. Domestic links are currently limited to Phnom Penh.

We have scarce knowledge about the origin of Khmer Civilization but know of their existence from finding of ceramics and stone tools dated back to 5000 B.C. In the Chinese Chronicles of second century A.D., it was called as Funan. It was found that Funan had adopted many cultural aspects from India whose civilization had been highly developed several hundreds of years earlier.

In the early seventh century, Funan was overthrown by one of its vassal state of Chenla. Nevertheless, the weakening of the Funan Empire was unclear. The Funanese people were completely absorbed by Chenla as time passed by. In actual fact, Funan thus had laid a basic foundation for the evolution of Angkor Civilization in later centuries.

Chenla or "Kambuja" called by the Khmer, was first appears in the Chinese Chronicles as a Funan's vassal state who gained its independence from Funan around the year 550 A.D. Within the next 60 years, Chenla succeeded to conquer its predecessor the Funan. Effectively, Chenla was a more direct ancestor of the Khmer Empire.

During the eighth century, another naval state emerged into a strong "Java Empire" across the sea. Java vigorously expanded its territory and sailed to invade and finally conquered the weak Chenla states. The Khmer were forced to retreat westward inland as a result of the continuous invasions of Java Empire from the sea. They finally settled on the plain around northwest of Tonle Sap Lake which the Angkor Civilization would be established and became flourished for many centuries.

In 802 A.D., Jayavarman II, the first king of Angkor crowned himself and made a breakthrough by proclaiming he is a universal monarch of Khmer – a deva-raja or "god-king" in Hinduism. Moreover, it implied the declaration of independence from Java Empire which marked as a starting point of the Khmer civilization and the birth of the Angkor Empire. Derived from the Sanskrit, the term Angkor means ''capital city".

The Khmer temples are architectural allegory of the Hindu religion. The central tower stands for Mount Meru, the center of the universe according to Hindu mythology. The gods lived at the top of Mount Meru. The temple grounds are surrounded by a wall and moat, because in Hindu mythology Mount Meru is surrounded by other mountain ranges and oceans. The main avenue to the temple particularly Angkor Wat is meant to resemble the rainbow bridge in Hindu mythology -- the link between heaven and earth. The architectural style of the Khmer temple was continuing evolving from the rule of one king to the next. Basically they are divided into nine separate periods: Preah Ko, Bakheng, Koh Ker, Pre Rup, Banteay Srei, Kleang, Baphuon, Angkor Wat and Bayon.

It is hard to believe that such a high civilization of Khmer with a well-developed writing system would barely have any literature. Only three Khmer literatures are known since they were preserved in the stone inscription. Many literatures and other Khmer manuscripts, being written on unendurable materials other than on stone, are believed to have been lost with time, and some may have been survived until present day as local folklores. The stone carving skill of the ancient Khmer was basically inherited from the Indian civilization; however, it was later evolved into its own unique Khmer style. There were around 1,200 stone inscriptions written in Sanskrit and Khmer had been discovered.

The earliest written language to have been found in the region is in Sanskrit, an Indian sacred language. The oldest stone inscriptions written in Khmer language were found to be carved in 612 A.D. as its text said. The stone inscriptions found in the Angkor's region are mostly concerned with the religious related topics and rarely speak anything about the ordinary life of the local Khmer people. Only the stone carvings on the relief of Angkor Thom do portray some glimpses of the daily life in those days.

The Khmer sculptures were carved from stone with great craftsmanship and many of them represent the Hindu deities and Apsara as in Angkor Wat. The apsara are the female devatas, and each apsara was beautifully carved with her own supple posture, personal decorations and unique ornaments. There are more than three thousand sculptures of apsara in Angkor Wat. Many of this exquisite apsara were damaged but they are now being restored by the team of APSARA Authority.

The best time to visit Angkor is between November and March because the temperatures are more endurable. Most travelers feel that four to five days is the ideal length of time to spend at Angkor as this is possible to see most of the important sites. Begin at Angkor Wat, heads north to the South Gate of Angkor Thom, the Bayon, the Terrace of Elephants, the Centre Square, the Terrace of Leper King, and then exit the Angkor Thom via the Victory Gate and continue to Ta Keo, Ta Prohm and finally returns to Angkor Wat via Peasat Kravan.

Bearing memories of the past and through them offering hope for the future, the extensive archaeological remains situated in modern-day Cambodia's northern province of Siem Reap have for centuries founded Khmer identity. From the earliest known beginnings of this civilization, to the growing Empire and beyond, Angkor continues to contribute to Cambodia's evolution. Ironically, the living memory of Angkor has gradually conceptualized within the Khmer spirit.