Jayavarman VII built the Bayon in the late 12th or early 13th century, at the exact center of Angkor Thom, with roads leading to it from the city's gates at each cardinal point. A Japanese conservation team calls it the most striking expression of the baroque style of Khmer architecture. It was originally a Mahayana Buddhist monument.
At one point the temple had 49 towers, and 37 remain. The article gives 216 gigantic faces in one place and approximately 200 in another, and says no definitive count is possible. The central tower rises 141 feet (43 m), and the original central Buddha statue was nearly 12 feet (3.6 m) tall. The plan has two galleried enclosures and an upper terrace.
Bas-reliefs on the outer gallery depict historical events and everyday life, with no text, so their subjects are uncertain. Under Jayavarman VIII in the mid-13th century the state temple was altered. Since 1995 the Japanese team has led conservation.
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