East Baray

The East Baray, or Yashodharatataka, is a now-dry baray, or artificial body of water, at Angkor, Cambodia, oriented east–west and located just east of the walled city Angkor Thom. It was built around the year 900 AD during the reign of King Yasovarman.: 113, 116  Fed by the Siem Reap River flowing down from the Kulen Hills, it was the second-largest baray in the Angkor region and one of the largest handcut water reservoirs on Earth, measuring roughly 7.5 kilometers by 1830 m and holding over 55 million cubic meters of water. Stones bearing inscriptions that mark the construction of the baray have been found at all four of its corners.: 65  The labour and organization necessary for its construction were staggering: Its dikes contain roughly 8 million cubic meters of fill.: 68 Scholars are divided on the purpose…