Angkor Wat - Restoration

Angkor Wat Restoration efforts since the Angkor Wat temple "discovery" in 1860 have been numerous. In 1866, following the publication of Henri Mouhot's memoirs in Europe, a French expedition set up to search new trading routes with China along the Mekong would become the first step to a conscientious research of Angkor Wat. The expedition members surveyed the ruins, and their observations are recognised today as pioneering in French research at Angkor. In 1898 EFEO (Ecole Francaise D'extreme Orient) was established in Cambodia and started working toward clearing the monuments from the jungle and consolidation and restoration of the monuments. In 1908, the EFEO assisted with setting up Angkor Conservation in Siem Reap, the archaeological directorate of the Cambodian Government.

Angkor Wat Restoration interrupted

The restoration of Angkor Wat came to a halt in the 1970s and 1980s following the civil war in Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge regime. However, despite the war, very little damage was done to the temple, as in the Khmer psyque Angkor Wat history is sacred and cherished. Overall, the Angkor temples were abandoned to the jungle for almost twenty years. Only the archaeological Survey of India managed to do work on the temples during 1860 and 1866, but their conservational efforts have been greatly criticized due to the use of their methods and materials.