The West Mebon is a temple at Angkor, Cambodia, located in the center of the West Baray, the largest reservoir of the Angkor area. The temple's date of construction is not known, but evidence suggests the 11th Century during the reign of King Suryavaraman I and Udayadityavaraman II.
Khmer architects typically surrounded temples with moats that represent the Hindu sea of creation. The West Mebon, located amid waters so vast that they can seem like a real sea, takes this religious symbolism to the ultimate level.
In 1936, the West Mebon yielded up the largest known bronze sculpture in Khmer art, a fragment of the reclining Hindu god Vishnu. The fragment includes the god's head, upper torso and two right arms. The statue, which incomplete form would have measured about six meters long, entered the collection of the National Museum in Phnom Penh.
*It has been restorating about 8 year and funding by
- Ministry of Foreign Affair and International Development
- Ministry of Culture and Communication
- Ministry of Higher Education and Research
- Royal Government of Cambodia
- Apsara National Authurity
- French School of Asian Studies
- Apsara National Authurity