A ''baray'' () is an artificial body of water which is a common element of the architectural style of the
Khmer Empire
The Khmer Empire was an empire in Southeast Asia, centered on Hydraulic empire, hydraulic cities in what is now northern Cambodia. Known as Kambuja (; ) by its inhabitants, it grew out of the former civilization of Chenla and lasted from 802 t ...
of
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...
. The largest are the
East Baray
The East Baray (), or Yashodharatataka, is a now-dry baray, or artificial body of water, at Angkor, Cambodia, oriented east–west and located just east of the walled city Angkor Thom. It was built around the year 900 AD during the reign of King Y ...
and
West Baray
The West Baray (, Romanization of Khmer#UNGEGN, UNGEGN: , Romanization of Khmer#ALA-LC Romanization Tables, ALA-LC: ) or Baray Teuk Thla (, Romanization of Khmer#UNGEGN, UNGEGN: , Romanization of Khmer#ALA-LC Romanization Tables, ALA-LC: ; "Cl ...
in the
Angkor
Angkor ( , 'capital city'), also known as Yasodharapura (; ),Headly, Robert K.; Chhor, Kylin; Lim, Lam Kheng; Kheang, Lim Hak; Chun, Chen. 1977. ''Cambodian-English Dictionary''. Bureau of Special Research in Modern Languages. The Catholic Uni ...
area, each rectangular in shape, oriented east–west and measuring roughly five by one and a half miles.
Historians are divided on the meaning and functions of barays. Some believe that they were primarily spiritual in purpose, symbolizing the Sea of Creation surrounding
Mount Meru
Mount Meru (Sanskrit/Pali: मेरु)—also known as Sumeru, Sineru or Mahāmeru—is a sacred, five-peaked mountain present within Hindu, Jain and Buddhist cosmologies, revered as the centre of all physical, metaphysical and spiritua ...
, font of the Hindu cosmos. Others have theorized that they were primarily practical, holding water for drinking and/or the irrigation of fields. It is possible that the function was a combination of these explanations, or others.
The building of barays is similar to the Eastern Indian and Bangladeshi tradition of building large reservoirs called ''
dighi
Prarthana Fardin Dighi (popularly known as Dighi) is a Bangladeshi Dhallywood film actress and model. She won the Bangladesh National Film Award for Best Child Artist three times for the films ''Kabuliwala (2006 film), Kabuliwala'' (2006), ''Ek ...
''.
See also
*
Srah and baray
*
Temple tank
Temple tanks are water well, wells or reservoirs built as part of the temple complex near Indian temples. They are called pushkarini, kalyani, kunda, sarovara, Theertham, tirtha, talab, pukhuri, ambalakkuḷam, etc. in different languages and r ...
References
Archaeological sites in Cambodia
Hindu temples in Cambodia
{{Cambodia-stub