Right in the center of Yaśodharapura (Angkor), the second capital of the Khmer empire, stood Baphuon temple. Dedicated to Lord Shiva and consecrated in 1060 with an installation of a shivalinga in the central tower, Baphuon was the state temple of King Udayadityavarman II (1050-1066). Measuring at 130-meter long by 104-meter wide at its base, Baphuon was the largest temple in the empire at the time of its completion, making it the largest temple on mainland Southeast Asia, until one of the king’s successors out-built him a century later.

Baphuon was a favorite of Zhou Daguan, the Chinese emissary to the Khmer court in 1296-1297. Zhou described it as “the tower of Bronze, higher than the Golden Tower (the Bayon), a truly astonishing spectacle, with more than ten chambers at its base.” Built in the Khmer temple-mountain style, five tiered pyramid in sandstone, Baphuon’s central pyramid soared at 50-meter high. Built on an unsteady foundation of sandy soil and coupled with the temple’s massive weight, Baphuon became unstable for most of its history. Throughout the Angkor era, regular maintenance had been done to prevent the temple from collapsing in. After a period of political and civil unrest combined with attacks from recent migrations from Southern China, the empire came to a close in 1432, which also gave rise to Theravada Buddhism in the country. The Buddhists, led by monks, damaged some Hindu temples including Baphuon. Near the end of the 15th century, they tore down the central tower and some sections of the temple. The stones were used to build a 9-meter high by 70-meter long reclining Buddha on the second level of the west side. The weight of the Buddha exaggerated the problems that the temple had been facing from the start. The Buddha sculpture was never finished and the temple was abandoned.