Q 01/05

Angkor Wat is in which country?

A) Cambodia

B) Thailand

C) Laos

D) Vietnam

Answer · why

A) Cambodia

Angkor Wat stands near Siem Reap in north-western Cambodia and is widely reckoned the largest religious monument in the world by area.

Q 02/05

Which Khmer king commissioned Angkor Wat?

A) Jayavarman VII

B) Yasovarman I

C) Suryavarman II

D) Indravarman III

Answer · why

C) Suryavarman II

Suryavarman II, who took the throne in 1113, commissioned Angkor Wat; work stopped at his death around 1150, leaving some bas-reliefs unfinished.

Q 03/05

Angkor Wat was originally dedicated to which Hindu god?

A) Indra

B) Vishnu

C) Brahma

D) Shiva

Answer · why

B) Vishnu

Its original name may have been Vrah Vishnuloka, 'the sacred dwelling of Vishnu'; the central statue was replaced by standing Buddhas centuries later.

Q 04/05

What does the name Angkor Wat mean in Khmer?

A) Great Lake Shrine

B) Mountain of the Gods

C) Palace of the Sun King

D) City of Temples

Answer · why

D) City of Temples

Angkor Wat means 'City of Temples' (or 'Temple City'): 'Angkor' derives from Sanskrit nagara, 'city', and 'wat' from vata, 'enclosure', the Khmer word...

Q 05/05

Which direction does Angkor Wat face, unusually for a Khmer temple?

A) North

B) South

C) West

D) East

Answer · why

C) West

Scholars such as Coedès took the orientation as evidence that it was meant as Suryavarman II's funerary temple, since west is associated with death an...