Cambodia

The baray represents a vast water reservoir, a land area where embankments were raised to conserve this precious resource during the Angkorian era. Temples were erected at the center of the barays, enhancing the legendary and spiritual character of these architectural complexes. From the 9th century onward, just after the rise of the Khmer Empire in 802 by Jayavarman II proclaiming himself chakravartin, or universal monarch, king of kings, at the summit of Phnom Kulen, freeing the Khmer people from the yoke of the island of Java, the builders of the empire began their splendid and massive projects aiming to bring it the radiance we know today.

A use still debated

In popular culture, the baray obviously served agriculture for the Khmer people. The hydraulic structure could fill up thanks to overflowing rivers or the heavy monsoon rains. It first allowed the management of this sometimes excessive influx of water during certain extended rainy seasons. Moreover, thanks to the natural slope of the terrain designed by the architects at the time of excavation, the water could both flow into canals irrigating the country’s rice fields, especially those of Angkor, the capital, but also toward the Tonlé Sap Lake in case of overflow. This system would have been essential during long dry seasons or monsoons that could occasionally strike Southeast Asia between the 9th and 14th centuries, sometimes lasting much longer than expected. A clever technique, which, given the size and volume of these reservoirs, should have functioned sustainably.

So the question is why recent research, including a 2017 study by National Geographic, suggests that this capital—advanced for its time, likely the most populous pre-industrial city with its million inhabitants—may have brought down an entire empire because of… water. The debate has been opened to determine whether these barays truly served the empire in this way to manage the different variations in rainfall or drought suffered by the Khmer people, or if this is in fact just a myth. One thing is certain: water served the legitimacy of the various Angkorian kings and was thus linked to politics and religion. But to what extent? Still, by the end of the 14th century, Angkor suffered, over several consecutive years, terrible droughts and torrential monsoons, without any respite. These brutal and frequent downpours would have caused serious repeated flooding for several years, leading to the erosion of various structures near the Siem Reap River at Angkor Thom, or of the different barays and canals built in the capital. These canals ended up being blocked by buildings in ruins collapsing into their beds and clogging them, thereby causing further floods. The slow collapse of the Khmer Empire was then confirmed with the invasion of Siam in 1430.

The 4 largest barays still intact

Serious questions about their use may remain, but their technical or spiritual importance is no longer in doubt. The archaeological site of Angkor still houses today the 4 largest barays in the country. Only two still hold water: those of the Western Mebon and of Jayataka, the two most recent. Jayataka is on the verge of drying up and has already been invaded by vegetation. It fills slightly during the rainy season, that’s all. Here are the four listed in chronological order of their construction.

The first on this list to have been built was Indratataka. It measures 3.8 km by 880 m and was completed in 889 by King Indravarman I. At the time, Angkor was not the capital of the Khmer Empire; it was Hariharalaya, nearby, where the baray was constructed, near the group of temples of Roluos. The temple of Lolei now lies at the center of an empty Indratataka.

Following Indratataka, the second great baray was built. The Yashodharatataka or East Baray. It measures almost 5 times the area of the first with its 7.8 km by 880 m. Fifty years later, the temple of the East Mebon was built at its center.

The third and largest baray in the history of Cambodia, 8 km by 2.2 km, was built at the beginning of the 11th century under the reign of Suryavarman I. It truly gives an impression of immensity—one wonders how it was possible to dig such a gigantic baray. It houses at its center an artificial island where lie the ruins of the Western Mebon temple.

Finally, the 4th and last of the largest barays of Angkor is Jayatataka. It was built by Jayavarman VII at the end of the 12th century. Its dimensions are approximately 2.5 km by 600 m. It is considered to be the baray of Preah Khan, adjacent to the reservoir, although it is another temple that stands at the center of the baray: Neak Pean.