Altogether, these creations of great conquerors and artisans embodied an integrated concept of the universe rooted in myth and deep religious belief, and hence a combination of physical and spiritual grandeur found elsewhere only in ancient Greece and Egypt, among the Maya and Aztecs, and in the medieval Europe of the Gothic cathedrals. That is what Angkor was.
Within the halfmile-long outer gallery of Angkor Wat, there are a succession of bas-reliefs unparalleled in extent: eight panels' carved in sandstone, each more than six feet high and 160 to 300 feet long. They are among the highlights of Angkor. The panel that depicts an allegory of creation: gods and demons churning a mythical Sea of Milk to produce ambrosia, the elixir of life is perhaps the most significant. It's a theme from the sacred literature of the Hindus, for the brilliant civilization of the ancient Khmer has its antecedents in India.
In the time of the Roman Empire, when trade between India and the Mediterranean reached a peak, Indian merchants seeking more gold and gems, sandalwood, spices, and drugs sent ships to Southeast Asia and established themselves in trading settlements. Over the centuries these peaceful traders were assimilated by the Khmer, who thus acquired Sanskrit writing and the astronomy, mathematics, technology, and religions of India, blending these with elements of their earlier culture.
And so it is that the Khmer, in a sense, owe their existence as a nation to India, as the French do to the Roman occupation, and that the builders of Angkor, steeped in Hindu cosmology, dedicated their temples to Siva, Brahma, and Vishnu.