Jayavarman VIII and the Hindu Restoration of Angkor

In 1243, the Khmer Empire underwent a dramatic religious and political transformation. Jayavarman VIII, a fervent Hindu king, seized the throne and launched a brutal campaign to dismantle the Buddhist state his father had built. Over two decades, he ordered the defacement of thousands of Buddha images across Angkor Thom and the Bayon, attempted to erase the Mahayana Buddhist legacy of Jayavarman VII, and restored the devaraja cult. Yet his reign ended in chaos—a Mongol invasion under Kublai Khan's general Sagatu forced him to flee Angkor, and his son-in-law Srindravarman seized power, restoring Buddhism. This episode explores the religious wars carved into Angkor's stones, the fragility of imperial ideology, and the forgotten king who tried to turn back time. #JayavarmanVIII #HinduRestoration #AngkorThom #Bayon #Devaraja #KublaiKhan #MongolInvasion #Srindravarman #Buddhism #KhmerEmpire #Angkor #Cambodia #SoutheastAsia #MedievalHistory #ReligiousConflict #Iconoclasm #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo