<P> The modern name, Angkor Wat, means "Temple City" or "City of Temples" in Khmer; Angkor, meaning "city" or "capital city", is a vernacular form of the word nokor (នគរ), which comes from the Sanskrit word nagara (Devanāgarī: नगर). Wat is the Khmer word for "temple grounds", also derived from Sanskrit vāṭa (Devanāgarī: वाट), meaning "enclosure". </P> <P> The original name of the temple was Vrah Viṣṇuloka (Sanskrit) or Brah Bisnulōk (Local variant) which means the sacred dwelling of Vishnu . </P> <P> Angkor Wat lies 5.5 kilometres (3.4 mi) north of the modern town of Siem Reap, and a short distance south and slightly east of the previous capital, which was centred at Baphuon . In an area of Cambodia where there is an important group of ancient structures, it is the southernmost of Angkor's main sites . </P> <P> According to legend, the construction of Angkor Wat was ordered by Indra to serve as a palace for his son Precha Ket Mealea . According to the 13th - century Chinese traveller Zhou Daguan, some believed that the temple was constructed in a single night by a divine architect . </P>

16 facts about the temple of angkor wat