Uncle wat was one of the largest agurbanism in the world during that time. The settlements actually were interspersed with ricefield. They had access to cotton and bees wax from the micon delta, mineral salt from the corat plateau in nort tilence. So these sort of intricate sectors of economy intertwine at uncle to interconnected highways or system of roads that link uncle to their provincial centres. And that's what help facilit uncle as this giant cities and their temples.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the largest and arguably the most astonishing religious structure on Earth, built for Suryavarman II in the 12th Century in modern-day Cambodia. It is said to have more stone in it than the Great Pyramid of Giza, and much of the surface is intricately carved and remarkably well preserved. For the last 900 years Angkor Wat has been a centre of religion, whether Hinduism, Buddhism or Animism or a combination of those, and a source of wonder to Cambodians and visitors from around the world.
With
Piphal Heng
Postdoctoral scholar at the Cotsen Institute and the Programme for Early Modern Southeast Asia at UCLA
Ashley Thompson
Hiram W Woodward Chair of Southeast Asian Art at SOAS University of London
And
Simon Warrack
A stone conservator who has worked extensively at Angkor Wat
Producer: Simon Tillotson