Hey guys, today we're going to see the world's largest religious structure.
When people ask: "What is the largest religious structure in the world?"
People generally think it would be a church or a mosque.
but no, it is a Hindu Temple, but it's not located in India it's located in Cambodia.
And this is not a recent structure either, it was built many many centuries ago.
And this is very big, so let us go take a look and see how it looks.
I am at the temple's parking lot and I am leaving my bike here, this is very strange
because I don't see any temple towers at all.
I have visited a lot of temples, and when I usually park my car or bike, I will see
the temple towers, but I don't see the towers of Angkor Wat temple.
I am confused about this.
Why is this happening?
The authorities tell me that I have to walk for nearly 10 minutes before I start seeing
the temple towers.
First, I have to cross this massive lake, you see this lake, it is huge, I cannot even
see the land on the other side, and it is in the way of the temple.
I walk for nearly 5 minutes, and then I observe something very strange.
I look on the banks of the lake, and I am shocked.
Even though the banks are completely covered with bushes and trees, I can see neatly cut,
giant rectangular stone blocks, aligned all around the bank.
This is NOT a natural lake.
This is an artificial water body called moat, created by ancient builders.
I mean this is extraordinary, how were they able to create such a large moat, which almost
looks like a lake?
See this is why I had to park my bike outside the moat, the moat completely surrounds the
temple on all four sides.
And how big is this moat?
Normally, when we talk about manmade structures, we use units like feet or meters, but this
is the largest structure in the world, these units are too small, we have to use Kilometers
and miles for this one.
The moat stretches for 1.3 kilometers from South to North, and 1.5 Kilometers from East
to West.
So it is approximately 1 mile each way and it completely surrounds the temple on all
four sides with a perimeter of a whopping Five and a half kilometers, that is about
three and a half miles.
My first thought is, how could they dig such a moat with human hands?
According to historians, this was created at least 900 years ago with no more than digging
sticks, spades and shovels.
And experts claim it was built in just a few years.
How is this possible?
May be this moat was possible because it is only one or two feet deep, this would have
reduced the amount of manual work.
It looks like lake because we see it from the land, but maybe it is only 1 or 2 feet
deep, we can't see the depth of it from the outside.
I am very curious to find the depth of the moat, so I walk around the moat to see if
I could find more evidence.
Most people you see are tourists, so I need to find Cambodians who work here, so they
can give me authentic information about its depth.
And then, I see something crazy.
People are using boats in this moat!
These people are working in Angkor Wat temple complex and they actually have several boats
which go around the moat every day, and they clean out unwanted plants.
They take a long stick and keep swirling it in the water, and watch how many plants comes
out of the water.
They tell me that the moat is 12 to 25 feet deep, this is an astounding depth, and to
dig a moat of this magnitude, with such depth is just insane.
Imagine digging an artificial lake which stretches for one mile each way that is 12 to 25 feet
deep, 900 years ago.
And some experts will argue that ancient people of Cambodia were barbarians, so they captured
millions of slaves, and they forced them to dig this moat with brute force.
But this moat was not constructed crudely or hastily, it was built with perfection in
mind, the workers must have been talented artisans, not unskilled slaves.
How did they construct such a giant structure, which still fools most of the tourists into
believing that they are looking at a beautiful natural lake?
How did they arrange giant stone blocks all around the moat, both on the outer side, and
on the inner side, creating a perfect architecture.
If we look carefully, we can see the stone steps going into the water, as far as we can
see.
How deep do these stone steps go?
And there is something even more strange, locals confirm that this moat has never dried
up, and no one has ever seen the bottom of it.
How is it always full of water?
The architect of this temple did not just dig a large ditch around the temple, I mean
if you just dig a ditch, it will always be dry.
He strategically connected the moat to canals and the river which flows nearby, this is
why it is always full of water.
There is also another reason why the moat never gets dry: In 2007, when the World Monuments
Fund Organization was renovating the roof of the temple, they found a very advanced
original drainage system, which allows rain water to drain from all over the building
through many channels, but finally drains everything into the moat.
This ensured that the temple would get rid of any stagnating water which could cause
damage to the stones of the temple, while harvesting the rain water and increasing the
water level of the moat, so the ancient architect killed two birds with one stone.
Now, what was the purpose of this moat?
A moat by definition is a defense mechanism which protects the structure inside.
So if someone came in with an army of 50,000 people to capture Angkor Wat, they cannot
attack it from all sides, they will be forced to walk in through the narrow causeways which
are the only land passages on east and west sides, and they can be killed easily.
Some locals even claim that there were thousands of crocodiles in this moat during ancient
times, which would kill the enemies if they tried to use boats to come into Angkor Wat.
But there is a hole in this story, Angkor Wat is not a fort or a castle where the king
lived.
It was a temple, right?
So why does it need such a large defense structure around it?
Think about it, If this is just a temple, just a place of worship, it would have been
maintained by a few hundred pious, religious priests who would be unarmed and the enemies
can capture it easily anyway.
So what was the actual purpose of the moat?
Recently
scientists used thermal and lidar imaging techniques from the air, and they discovered
something baffling, the moat is not an isolated structure, it is part of a vast waterway system
which was interconnected with channels, ponds, tanks, reservoirs and canals.
The waterway system is so large that it spreads beyond the current city limit and gives water
to many rice fields.
The moat was actually a part of an ancient irrigation system which was crucial for agriculture.
Now, experts are trying to excavate and renovate these ancient irrigation canals which have
been taken over by trees and bushes.
However, this discovery still do not justify why the temple had to be built in the center.
The real answer may be hidden underwater, and we may find some evidence when we dive
in the water and look what is inside.
When we examine Angkor Wat from the air, we realize that this was probably the very first
artificial island of its kind . Today, we see many countries trying to create artificial
islands, for example, the Palm Jumeirah island was built in Dubai about 15 years ago.
Engineers agree that creating an artificial island is a monumental task which requires
every advanced engineering technology known to man.
However, today, they only build these islands in shallow waters of seas, by filling the
area with huge amounts of rocks and dirt until the desired height is reached.
However, Angkor Wat used the opposite technique, the nearest beach is about 200 miles away.
The ancient builders used a strange technique of building an artificial water body in land,
and turned Angkor Wat into an island.
This is why Angkor Wat is also called Island Temple.
So, what do you think?
How did they build this moat?
Is it possible to build it with primitive tools, or did they use advanced technology?
And why does a temple need a moat?
What is the actual purpose of this?
What is hidden in these waters?
Please let me know your thoughts, and I will talk to you soon.
Bye!