<sod>  
 ==Features==
 
The architecture of the Angkor period used certain specific structural features and styles which (along with inscriptions) are one of the main methods used to date the temples.

===Corbelling===

Rather than a true [[arch]], the Khmers used [[corbel]] arches.   These were constructed by adding layers of stones to the walls on either side, with each layer projecting further towards the centre.   This method, while adequate, made the temples particularly prone to collapse once the buildings were no longer maintained.

===Colonettes===
[[Colonette]]s were used as decoration on either side of doorways.
 
 ===Blind doors and windows===
 
 [[Blind door]]s were typically used to balance true doorways.   Shrines frequently opened only towards one direction: the other three sides therefore featured blind doors to maintain symmetry.   [[Blind window]]s were often used along otherwise blank walls.
 
===Gopura===
 
A gopura was an entrance building.   Each enclosure of a temple usually had a gopura at each of the four [[cardinal point]]s.   In plan they were most often cross-shaped, elongated along the axis of the enclosure wall; where the wall had a gallery, this could be connected to the arms of the gopura.   Many gopuras had a tower at the centre of the cross.   The lintels and pediments were often decorated, and guardian figures (dvarapalas) were often placed or carved on either side of the doorways.
 
 ===Gallery===
 
The gallery was a passageway running along the wall of an enclosure or along the axis of a temple, often open to one or both sides.   The form evolved during the [[10th century]] from the increasingly long hallways which had earlier been used to surround the central sanctuary.  During the later [[Angkor Wat]] period, additional half galleries on one side were introduced to [[buttress]] the structure of the temple.
 
===Library===
 
The library is one of the most common features of Khmer temple architecture, but it is still not certain what they were used for.   Most likely they were shrines rather than actual libraries.   Free-standing buildings, they were normally placed in pairs on either side of the entrance to an enclosure, opening to the west.
 
 ===Hall of Dancers===
 
 The Hall of Dancers is a structure found at [[Ta Prohm]], [[Preah Khan]], [[Banteay Kdei]] and [[Banteay Chhmar]].   In each case it is a rectangular building elongated along the temple's east axis; and divided into four courtyards by galleries. The roofs were made of perishable materials and have disappeared.  The pillars of the galleries are decorated with dancing apsaras, hence the presumption that the buildings were used for dancing.
 
 ===Srahs and barays===
 
 <eod> <sod> 
 ==Features==
 
[[Image:Blinddoortaprohm.JPG|thumb|100px|Blind door at [[Ta Prohm]].]]The architecture of the Angkor period used certain specific structural features and styles which (along with inscriptions) are one of the main methods used to date the temples.
 
 ===Blind doors and windows===
 
 [[Blind door]]s were typically used to balance true doorways.   Shrines frequently opened only towards one direction: the other three sides therefore featured blind doors to maintain symmetry.   [[Blind window]]s were often used along otherwise blank walls.
 
===Colonettes===
[[Colonette]]s were used as decoration on either side of doorways.
 
===Corbelling===

[[Image:Corbelangkorthomsouth.JPG|thumb|100px|Corbel arch at the south gate of Angkor Thom.]]Rather than a true [[arch]], the Khmers used [[corbel]] arches.   These were constructed by adding layers of stones to the walls on either side, with each layer projecting further towards the centre.   This method, while adequate, made the temples particularly prone to collapse once the buildings were no longer maintained.
 
 ===Gallery===
 
[[Image:Cruciformgalleryangkorwat.JPG|thumb|100px|left|Cruciform gallery at Angkor Wat.]]The gallery was a passageway running along the wall of an enclosure or along the axis of a temple, often open to one or both sides.   The form evolved during the [[10th century]] from the increasingly long hallways which had earlier been used to surround the central sanctuary.  During the later [[Angkor Wat]] period, additional half galleries on one side were introduced to [[buttress]] the structure of the temple.
 
===Gopura===

[[Image:Gopurataprohm.JPG|thumb|Gopura at [[Ta Prohm]].]]A gopura was an entrance building.   Each enclosure of a temple usually had a gopura at each of the four [[cardinal point]]s.   In plan they were most often cross-shaped, elongated along the axis of the enclosure wall; where the wall had a gallery, this could be connected to the arms of the gopura.   Many gopuras had a tower at the centre of the cross.   The lintels and pediments were often decorated, and guardian figures (dvarapalas) were often placed or carved on either side of the doorways.
 
 ===Hall of Dancers===
 
 The Hall of Dancers is a structure found at [[Ta Prohm]], [[Preah Khan]], [[Banteay Kdei]] and [[Banteay Chhmar]].   In each case it is a rectangular building elongated along the temple's east axis; and divided into four courtyards by galleries. The roofs were made of perishable materials and have disappeared.  The pillars of the galleries are decorated with dancing apsaras, hence the presumption that the buildings were used for dancing.

===Library===

[[Image:Libraryangkorwat.JPG|thumb|Library at Angkor Wat; unusually, the libraries here open both east and west.]]The library is one of the most common features of Khmer temple architecture, but it is still not certain what they were used for.   Most likely they were shrines rather than actual libraries.   Free-standing buildings, they were normally placed in pairs on either side of the entrance to an enclosure, opening to the west.


 
 ===Srahs and barays===
 
 <eod>