A shot of the “Terrace of the Elephants” in Angkor Thom.  This wall is 350m long, supporting the main “viewing square” where the King would have parades of the army with its elephants, Calvary,  flags and chariots and all of the pomp and circumstance surrounding such displays even until today. I can still hear the shout "Pass In Review" from my boot camp days.

Angkor Thom, meaning “Great City”, once housed up to 1,000,000 people within its walls.  It was about 10 Sq. Km. in size, built by King Jayavarman VII around the end of the 12th century.  It was the administrative and commercial center of the area with all of its other religious locations and probably hundreds of agricultural villages which are lost to decay and the jungle.

Angkor Thom was dedicated to the Buddhist religion, but has much evidence of and pays respect to the Hindu and even to the Animist religions that came before.