Editing Angkor (section)

=== Vaishnavism ===
In the early days of Angkor, the worship of [[Vishnu]] was secondary to that of [[Shiva]]. The relationship seems to have changed with the construction of [[Angkor Wat]] by King [[Suryavarman II]] as his personal mausoleum at the beginning of the 12th century. The central religious image of Angkor Wat was an image of Vishnu, and an inscription identifies Suryavarman as "Paramavishnuloka", or "he who enters the heavenly world of Vishnu".{{sfn|Higham|2001|p=118}} Religious [[syncretism]], however, remained thoroughgoing in Khmer society: the state religion of Shaivism was not necessarily abrogated by Suryavarman's turn to Vishnu, and the temple may well have housed a royal lingam.{{sfn|Stern|1934|p=616}}

Furthermore, the turn to [[Vaishnavism]] did not abrogate the royal personality cult of Angkor, by which the reigning king was identified with the deity. According to Angkor scholar [[Georges Coedès]], "Angkor Wat is, if you like, a vaishnavite sanctuary, but the Vishnu venerated there was not the ancient Hindu deity nor even one of the deity's traditional incarnations, but the king Suryavarman II posthumously identified with Vishnu, consubstantial with him, residing in a mausoleum decorated with the graceful figures of apsaras just like Vishnu in his celestial palace".{{sfn|Coedès|1943|p=63}} Suryavarman proclaimed his identity with Vishnu, just as his predecessors had claimed consubstantiation with Shiva.

[[File:Le Bayon (Angkor) (6550614425).jpg|thumb|right|Face towers of the [[Bayon]] represent the king as the Bodhisattva [[Lokesvara]].]]