The Bayon (Khmer: ប្រាសាទបាយ័ន, Prasat Bayon) is a well-known and richly decorated Khmer temple at Angkor in Asian nation. Built in the late twelfth or early thirteenth century because the official state temple of the Mahayana Buddhist King Jayavarman VII, the Bayon stands at the centre of Jayavarman's capital, Angkor Thom. Following Jayavarman's death, it was modified and increased by later Hindu and Theravada Buddhist kings in accordance with their own spiritual preferences.
The Bayon's most distinctive feature is that the multitude of serene and smiling stone faces on the numerous towers which jut from the higher terrace and cluster around its central peak. The temple is known additionally for 2 spectacular sets of bas-reliefs, which gift Associate in Nursing uncommon combination of mythological, historical, and mundane scenes. The current main conservatory body, the Japanese Government Team for the Safeguarding of Angkor (the JSA) has described the temple as "the most hanging expression of the baroque style" of Khmer design, as contrasted with the classical style of Angkor Wat.
The temple is oriented towards the east, and so its buildings ar set back to the west within enclosures elongated on the east-west axis. Because the temple sits at the actual centre of Angkor Thom, roads lead to it directly from the gates at each of the city's cardinal points. The temple itself has no wall or moats, these being replaced by those of the city itself: the city-temple arrangement, with an space of nine sq. kilometres, is much larger than that of Angkor Wat to the south (2 km²). Within the temple itself, there are 2 galleried enclosures (the third Associate in Nursingd second enclosures) and an higher terrace (the 1st enclosure). All of these elements ar jammed against one another with very little house between. Unlike Angkor Wat, which impresses with the grand scale of its design and open areas, the Bayon "gives the impression of being compressed within a frame that is too tight for it."
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