The Forgotten King Who Built Angkor: Jayavarman II

Before Angkor Wat, before the Bayon, before the god-kings of the Khmer Empire, there was a single man who united warring principalities under one sword. Jayavarman II is not as famous as Suryavarman II or Jayavarman VII, but without him, there would be no Angkor at all. In this episode, Lucas and Luna trace his journey: his years at the court of the Sailendra dynasty in Java, the sacred ritual on Phnom Kulen that declared him a chakravartin or universal monarch, and the founding of the first Khmer capital at Mahendraparvata. They explore the shadowy history of the ninth century, the Sanskrit inscriptions that piece together his life, and the controversy over whether the devaraja or god-king cult was really his invention. From the mountain temples of the Kulen hills to the plain of Angkor, this is the story of how one king set the stage for Southeast Asia's greatest empire. #JayavarmanII #KhmerEmpire #Angkor #PhnomKulen #Devaraja #Chakravartin #Mahendraparvata #Sailendra #Java #SdokKakThom #Sanskrit #Cambodia #SoutheastAsia #History #FexingoHistory #AncientCivilizations #Archaeology #LostCities Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo