Angkor Wat: The Lost City That Was Never Actually Lost

Everyone says Angkor Wat was swallowed by the jungle and rediscovered by explorers. The real story is stranger, and much more human. In the early 1100s, King Suryavarman II set out to build a mountain for the gods, a temple so vast and perfect that it would carry his soul to heaven. This is the story of the largest religious monument ever built, and the legend about it that isn't quite true. In this documentary: • How the Khmer Empire's kings used temple-mountains to prove their divine right to rule • The moat, the lotus towers, and the millions of sandstone blocks moved without engines • Why Angkor Wat faces west, and what that may reveal about its use as a tomb • The sack of Angkor in 1177 and the king who rebuilt it • How a Hindu temple became a Buddhist one, and why it was never truly abandoned • What actually happened to Angkor, and where the "lost city" myth came from Note on sources: This video draws on Khmer inscriptions, the work of historians such as Michael Coe, and UNESCO's research on Angkor. Several points, including the temple's use as a tomb, the causes of Angkor's decline, and the details of Suryavarman's rise, are debated by scholars, and the video marks those uncertainties where they matter. If you enjoy stories from history that are not what you were told, subscribe so you don't miss the next one. What surprised you most about Angkor Wat? Tell us in the comments. #AngkorWat #KhmerEmpire #CambodiaHistory #HistoryDocumentary #AncientCivilizations