West Baray

The West Baray (Khmer: បារាយណ៍ខាងលិច, UNGEGN: Baréayôn Khang Lĭch, ALA-LC: Pārāyaṇ ̊ Khang Lic [ɓaraːj kʰaːŋ ləc]) or Baray Teuk Thla (Khmer: បារាយណ៍ទឹកថ្លា, UNGEGN: Baréayôn Tœ̆k Thla, ALA-LC: Pārāyaṇ ̊ Dẏk Thlā [ɓaraːj tək tʰlaː]; "Clear Water Reservoir") is a baray, or reservoir, at Angkor, Cambodia, oriented east–west and located just west of the walled city Angkor Thom. Rectangular in shape and measuring approximately 7.8 by 2.1 kilometers, the West Baray is the largest baray at Angkor and one of the largest handcut water reservoirs on Earth, possessing a current maximum capacity of 53 million cubic meters of water (14 billion gallons). Its waters are contained by tall earthen dikes measuring 11.9 meters in height. In the center of the baray is the West Mebon, a Hindu temple built on an artificial island. Construction of the baray probably began in the 11th century during the reign of King Suryavarman I and was finished later under King Udayadityavarman II. The Angkorian engineers who created the West Baray appear to have in places incorporated earlier construction. The east dike, for instance, appears to be largely a section of a dike that enclosed the capital city of King Yasovarman, which had the Phnom Bakheng temple at its center. In other places, the baray obliterated or submerged earlier human-made sites. The south dike, for instance, partially buried a brick pyramid

Archaeological site data from Wikidata (CC0). Summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).