Srah Srang, Angkor, Camboya, 2013-08-16, DD 07

A ''baray'' ( km, បារាយណ៍) is an artificial body of water which is a common element of the architectural style of the Khmer Empire of

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...

. The largest are the

East Baray The East Baray ( km, បារាយណ៍ខាងកើត), 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 ...

and

West Baray The West Baray ( km, បារាយណ៍ខាងលិច, UNGEGN: , ALA-LC: ) or Baray Teuk Thla ( km, បារាយណ៍ទឹកថ្លា, UNGEGN: , ALA-LC: ; "Clear Water Reservoir") is a baray, or reservoir, at Angkor, Cambodi ...

in the

Angkor Angkor ( km, អង្គរ , 'Capital city'), also known as Yasodharapura ( km, យសោធរបុរៈ; sa, यशोधरपुर),Headly, Robert K.; Chhor, Kylin; Lim, Lam Kheng; Kheang, Lim Hak; Chun, Chen. 1977. ''Cambodian-Engl ...

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 the sacred five-peaked mountain of Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist cosmology and is considered to be the centre of all the physical, metaphysical and spiritu ...

, font of the Hindu cosmos. Others have theorized that they held water for irrigation of fields. Others believe that it was used to store water, the current most popular theory. It is possible that the function was a combination of these explanations, or others. The building of barays might have originated from the tradition of building large reservoirs called dighi in Eastern India.

See also