Latest / The Khmer Empire: The Lost Civilization Behind Angkor Wat — Fexingo History
Jayavarman VIII and the Hindu Restoration of Angkor
In 1243, the Khmer Empire underwent a dramatic religious and political transformation. Jayavarman VIII, a fervent Hindu king, seized the throne and launched a brutal campaign to dismantle the Buddhist state his father had built. Over two decades, he ordered the defacement of thousands of Buddha images across Angkor Thom and the Bayon, attempted to erase the Mahayana Buddhist legacy of Jayavarman VII, and restored the devaraja cult. Yet his reign ended in chaos—a Mongol invasion under Kublai Khan's general Sagatu forced him to flee Angkor, and his son-in-law Srindravarman seized power…
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