KHMER EMPIRE: Angkor

Religion and Politics

Mind Map

Geography

Trade
Khmer Kings
Empire

Your map should start to Wealth

look something like this
Religion
What was the original religion of the Khmer people?

The temple Angkor Wat is modelled on which religion?

The temple Angkor Thom is located on which religion?

Which ruler was against the Hindu religion and destroyed all of the previous Hindu
temples and shrines which were already located in Angkor?

At the end of the empire which religion do you think the Angkor people conformed to?
God-King deja rava

Khmer people believed their Kings were deva raja or

God-Kings

Kings were divine

Incarnations of the God Shiva

Shiva was considered the protector of the empire

Beliefs were passed on by word of mouth through

generations into the future
Angkor Wat Hindu Temple
Hinduism
Khmer people believed in the Hindu Trinity:
Shiva (God of Rebirth and Destruction)
Vishnu (The Protector) Which
Brahma (The Creator) Hindu
God do
Khmer people worshipped Shiva through a linga which is a stone pillar dedicated to him you
think
Brahma is less well known and is seen this is?

Angkor Wat was built as a representation of Mount Meru

The temple is a built as a religious shrine to the Hindu God Vishnu

The largest religious temple in the world

Khmer people also praised the Hindu God Shiva

The Khmer people would pray in Angkor Wat to honour Vishnu through the God-King Suryavarman II He believed himself to be the real life version of the
God and that is why he was known as the God-King

Hindu priests and ceremonies were held for the elite, nobles and ruling class
Hinduism

Where do you think these objects would have been found?

What do you think is being depicted in these objects?

Buddhism
12th century most of the Khmer Empire was Mahayana Buddhist
Believed in the new Buddhas (Bodhisattvas)
Stop their progress just before enlightenment to help the human race
Sri Lankan influence spread throughout Asia when the Khmer people
started trading with them
Spread Thevarada Buddhism through Khmer Empire which is the Buddhism
that is practiced today in Cambodia
Angkor Thom was built by Jayavarman VII in late 12th century and was
dedicated to the Mahayana Buddhist tradition
Bayon Temple Angkor Thom
Paragraph Writing
T = TOPIC
SENTENCE

E + EXPLANATION

E = EVIDENCE

L = LINK