Expert: Paul S. Brown, AIA - 10/5/2004

Question
respected sir,
Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule for reading this letter.

iam  writing this letter to get some information on angkor wat.

iam a student of Bharatiya Vidhya Bhavan,thrissur.Thrissur is a place in
kerala which in turn is a state of INDIA.
We are celebrating our 25th anniversary this year.we are organising a nation wide exhibition
in connection with this.
One of our topics is "VEDIC MATHS" of which committe iam the head of.
We wish to have a model of "SOME KIND" which would show "how" math was
applied in ancient times.ie, we plan to have a model which will
demonstrate how the ancient knowledge of mathematics was put to practical
use.

One of our ideas is to use the cambodian temple "angor wat" as an
example.This is because i have heard that the temple has some interesting
dimensional features.for ex, iam told that the width and length of the
corridors of the temple is in correspondence with lunar and solar cycles.
It is known  that the temples in the angor complex were laid out as a
projection of a constellation in the sky and that the distances b/w the
structures bear mathematical symbolisms.we plan to make  a model of the
angkor and to demonstrate the existence of mathematical music in the
complex.
In connection with this, we would like to know the following:
1) angor is/was a hindu temple. would i be wrong to assume then that it
was built by people who bore close resemblence to vedic indians or that
indian technologhy and skill was the basis of construction?
in short, is angor an idea in theme with the exhibition?
2)do these mathematical symbolisms really exit in the temple? i know
angkor is very beautiful,but is that of any help to us?
3)are there more patterns? if so were can i get it from?
4)could you send me a detailed blue print of the angor? or else could
you direct me to where it is? This is for making a rough model of it.
5)lastly, if you think that angor is a bad idea could you give us any
other idea consistent with our theme?

Also we would be really grateful if you could direct us to more experts
on the topic.

I thank you for taking time for reading this.
I do wish that you would reply soon as our exhibition is just around
the corner.
thank you once again.
-VINEETH VENUGOPAL

Answer
Dear Vineeth:
Please excuse my delayed response to your important and detailed question.
I am only familiar with Angor Wat in a very rudimentary sense; from images I have seen.  I am sorry to tell you that I do not have enough expertise on this Temple to be able to answer your questions adequately.
After doing a brief web-search on your topic, I suggest that you might try sending this question to Ms. Marijke J. Klokke at Leiden University:  klokke@rulub.leidenuniv.nl .
She may be able to help, or to suggest others who can.
Good luck with this interesting endeavor.
- PB