The Battle That Made the Khmer Empire Buddhist

Long before Angkor Wat rose as a Hindu monument to Vishnu, the Khmer Empire was torn apart by a civil war that ended with a Buddhist king on the throne. In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the dramatic shift from Hinduism to Mahayana Buddhism under Jayavarman VII, the king who built Angkor Thom, the Bayon with its serene stone faces, and a network of rest houses and hospitals. They discuss how Jayavarman's personal faith, shaped by his flight from a usurper and his victory in a naval battle on the Tonle Sap, transformed the Khmer state religion and left an architectural legacy that still puzzles visitors. What drove a king to build over a hundred hospitals? How did Buddhist ideals of compassion mesh with Khmer imperial ambition? And why did the empire revert to Hinduism after his death? This episode traces the life of Jayavarman VII, from his years as a prince in exile to his monumental building projects, and the political theology that made the Khmer Empire a Buddhist kingdom for a century. #JayavarmanVII #KhmerEmpire #AngkorThom #Bayon #MahayanaBuddhism #Hinduism #TonleSap #Champa #AngkorWat #CambodiaHistory #BuddhistKing #12thCentury #SoutheastAsia #EmpireAndReligion #History #FexingoHistory #AncientTemples #StateReligion Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo