12th–13th century · c. 1122–1218
Jayavarman VII
ជ័យវរ្ម័នទី៧ · Cambodia
Khmer king who built Angkor Thom and the Bayon
After Cham forces sacked Angkor in 1177, he led the army that drove them out and took the throne around 1181. He rebuilt the capital as Angkor Thom with the Bayon as its state temple, and built hospitals and rest houses across the kingdom. The first Khmer king devoted to Buddhism, he is regarded as one of the most powerful rulers of the Khmer Empire.
Where the story happened
Los lugares que dejó
Historia · Bayon (Angkor Thom)
Angkor Thom, rebuilt from the ruins
In 1177 the Cham king led a fleet up the Mekong, across the Tonlé Sap lake and up the Siem Reap River to the Khmer capital, sacking Angkor and killing its king. Between 1177 and 1181 Jayavarman VII, already in his fifties, led an army to drive out the Cham, and scenes of the naval battles are still carved on the walls of the Bayon. He then took the throne and rebuilt the capital, Angkor Thom, on the ruins, with the Bayon as the state temple, and built hospitals and roadside rest houses across the kingdom. He was the first Khmer king devoted to Buddhism, and the serene smiling faces on the Bayon's towers are often thought to be Avalokiteshvara — or perhaps the king himself.
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