This our entry in Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge: Letters I or J.
Jayavarman VII, who is generally regarded as the most powerful of the Khmer kings of Cambodia, was a Mahayana Buddhist. The Buddha figures in the Bayon Temple in Angkor Thom are modeled after him.
Jayavarman VII (1125–1218) was a king of the Kymer Empire in what is now Cambodia, ruling from 1181 to 1218, approximately. During his reign, he built temples in the Angkor complex near present-day Siem Reap. Three of his temples that are most familiar to tourists are these:
- Ta Prohm, built to honor his mother
- Preah Khan, built to honor his father
- Bayon, built to honor himself, and the Angkor Thom city surrounding it
Angkor Wat, built in the early 12th century, already existed when Jayavarman VII built his temples.
