The US Department of State has awarded around $1m to the World
Monuments Fund (WMF) for conservation work on Phnom Bakheng, the oldest
temple at the Angkor Wat complex in northwest Cambodia. Situated at the
highest point in the city, it was built by Yasovarman I in 907 and was
designed to represent Mount Mehru, home of the Hindu gods.Damaged in the 1970s by Khmer Rouge soldiers, the temple now faces two
main threats: tourists and erosion by monsoon rains. In 2004 the State
Department provided $550,000 to assess conservation needs and plan
tourism management. The new grant will be used to restore the heavily
damaged east elevation, after which a second phase will waterproof,
repair and partially reconstruct the temple. The chargé
d’affaires at the US Embassy in Phnom Penh, Piper Campbell, describes
the grant as “a significant diplomatic gesture”. The funding for Angkor
is important because the US is among the countries known to have