Surrounded on every side by peaceful waters, Ankor Wat rises from the jungle as the crown jewel of the ancient Khmer capital city of Angkor. Sitting on 402 acres of land, it is considered the largest religious structure in the world by Guinness World Records. Angkor Wat is a unique combination of the temple mountain and the later plan of concentric galleries. The construction of Angkor Wat suggests that there was a celestial significance with certain features of the temple. This is observed in the temple's east–west orientation, and lines of sight from terraces within the temple that show specific towers to be at the precise location of the solstice at sunrise. The temple's main tower aligns with the morning sun of the spring equinox. The temple is a representation of Mount Meru, the home of the gods according to Hindu mythology: the central quincunx of towers symbolise the five peaks of the mountain, and the walls and moat symbolize the surrounding mountain ranges and ocean. The mainstream history narrative tells us that Ankor Wat was originally constructed circa 1150 AD by the Khmer king Suryavarman II who ruled 1113-1150 AD) in the early 12th century. But is there more to Ankor Wat than we've been led to believe? In this episode I sit down with researcher and explorer Cassie Martin who just returned from an expedition in Cambodia exploring Ankor Wat and the many temples of Cambodia. Using Power Point presentation, Cassie will guide us through many examples of out-of-place-artifacts, LIDAR scan and architectural styles that seem to point to an older history at Ankor Wat and the surrounding temples... Did Khmer king Suryavarman II reclaim and build upon an ruins from an earlier epoch?

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