Suryavarman II

Hello, I am Suryavarman the Second. A very long time ago, I was a king of the great Khmer Empire. My home was a beautiful, green land that is now called Cambodia. I became the king around the year 1113. As king, it was my job to protect all of my people and to help our kingdom grow strong and wonderful. I wanted to be a great ruler for my kingdom and lead them to do amazing things that the world would remember for a very long time.

My biggest dream was to build something that would last forever. I wanted to create a magnificent temple called Angkor Wat. This was not just going to be any building. It was going to be a very special home on Earth for the Hindu god Vishnu, who I believed protected the world and everyone in it. I planned for it to be made of giant stone blocks, carefully placed one on top of the other. The temple would have tall, pointy towers shaped like the buds of a lotus flower just before it blooms, all reaching up toward the sky.

Building Angkor Wat took many, many years to finish. It took thousands of hardworking people to lift the heavy stones and put them in the right place. We carved amazing pictures and stories right into the stone walls. These carvings showed stories of gods, big battles, and graceful dancers. To keep this special place safe, we dug a huge moat all around the temple. It was like a giant lake that protected our beautiful stone city from harm.

I lived a long and busy life as both a king and a builder. Even though my time on Earth ended, the greatest thing I ever made, my temple of Angkor Wat, still stands today. Millions of people travel from all over the world just to see its beautiful towers and amazing stone carvings. It reminds everyone of the powerful Khmer Empire and shows what amazing things people can create when they work together.