Angkor Archaeological Park comprises 12 main temples and scores of smaller structures, but the biggest and most important temple, the twelfth-century Angkor Wat, is the star due to its trove of art and immense size (an area of hundreds of acres, and a height of 700 feet at its tallest point).

The temples of Angkor, built by the Khmer civilization between 802 and 1220 AD, represent one of humankind's most astonishing and enduring architectural achievements. From Angkor the Khmer kings ruled over a vast domain that reached from Vietnam to China to the Bay of Bengal. The structures one sees at Angkor today, more than 100 stone temples in all, are the surviving remains of a grand religious, social and administrative metropolis whose other buildings - palaces, public buildings, and houses - were built of wood and have long since decayed and disappeared.
Orthodox archaeologists sometimes interpret the temples of the Angkor complex as tombs of megalomaniacal kings yet in reality those kings designed and constructed the temples as a form of service to both god and their own subjects. The temples were places not for the worship of the kings but rather for the worship of god. Precisely aligned with the stars, constructed as vast three dimensional yantras and adorned with stunningly beautiful religious art, the Angkor temples were instruments for assisting humans in their realization of the divine.
The main tower symbolizes Mount Meru, the home of the Himalayan Vedic gods; the lower towers, the surrounding peaks. The sandstone used in construction is thought to have been transported on rafts down the Siem Reap River from Phnom Kulen, about 25 miles away—and now a national park.
The moat surrounding the main temple represents the cosmic ocean, from which the amrita—the elixir of immortality the gods imbibe to gain power—is derived. The Churning of the Ocean of Milk, in the bas-relief galleries, depicts the struggle for this mythical potion.

You must possess an admission pass (an 'Angkor Pass') to visit the temples and sites in the Angkor Archaeological Park. Passes may be purchased at the main entrance on the road to Angkor Wat. One-day tickets only can be purchased at the secondary tollgate on airport road entrance near Angkor Wat and at Banteay Srey.

Angkor Archaeological Park comprises 12 main temples and scores of smaller structures, but the biggest and most important temple, the twelfth-century Angkor Wat, is the ...