"Baphuon - The Biggest Jigsaw Puzzle in the World" Top 5 Page for this destination Angkor Thum Things to Do Tip by bpacker

If the Phimeanakas had been a tower of gold, the Baphuon was a tower of Bronze that represented the mythical Hindu Mount Meru. A Chinese envoy, Zhou Da Guan, called it "a truly astonishing spectacle, with more than ten chambers at its base" . Sadly, it looks more like a wreck today as the Khmer Rogue destroyed details of the Baphuon project during the civil war. Over 300,000 pieces of stone still lies along the periphery of the temple, neatly marked by numbers and drowning in thick vegetation.Little wonder why, it must be tough to piece such a big jig-saw puzzle together!

Date: 11th century

Kings: Udayadityavarman II (1050-1066)

Religion: Hindu ( Dedicated to Lord Shiva )


Architectural Style - This structure stands on a rectangular base and reaches a height of over 50 meters like a small pyramid. Little conincidence, it was built to represent Mount Meru anyway.

Things to do - There's little to do over here other than to admire the architecture from far and walk along the stone walkway. The temple still cannot be visited as it is still under reconstruction by the EFEO (École Française d'Extrême Orient) .

Read on to see the original state of the Baphuon