The famous faces, and the most human carvings at Angkor
The Bayon is the state temple of King Jayavarman VII at the centre of Angkor Thom, built in the late 12th and early 13th century as a Mahayana Buddhist temple. It is famous for about 200 serene stone faces carved on its 37 surviving towers and for outer gallery reliefs showing everyday Khmer life and a naval battle against the Cham. Entry is covered by the Angkor Pass, and 60 to 90 minutes is enough for most visitors.
September 2026
Photo: Anandajoti, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Swipe to see more photos
The Bayon is the temple of faces at the heart of Angkor Thom, the walled royal city built by King Jayavarman VII. Around 200 huge, calm stone faces look out from its towers in every direction, and its outer galleries hold the liveliest carvings at Angkor. If Angkor Wat is the masterpiece, the Bayon is the one that stays in your head.
The Bayon stands at the exact centre of Angkor Thom, where the roads from the city’s four cardinal gates meet. From the ground it looks like a heap of grey rock. Climb to the upper terrace and the heap resolves into a crowd of towers, and the towers into faces.
Nobody knows for certain, and that is part of the pleasure. Each tower carries two, three or four faces, looking outward to the points of the compass. Scholars have proposed three main answers.
Most guides today lean towards a mix of the first two. Look at the faces for long enough and you will notice they are not identical: the lips, eyelids and headdresses vary from tower to tower. The famous half-smile is sometimes called the “smile of Angkor”.
The Bayon has three levels. The first two are galleries of carved reliefs; the third is the upper terrace, where the face towers crowd around the round central sanctuary.
The reason everyone comes. Walk slowly around the terrace and the faces appear and disappear between the towers. Several can be seen at eye level, close enough to study every line.
Long walls of reliefs showing Khmer armies on the march, a naval battle against the Cham, markets, cooking, fishing and cockfights. The best social history in stone at Angkor.
Smaller, finer panels of Shiva, Vishnu and scenes of palace life, many added when the temple was turned back to Hindu worship after Jayavarman VII’s death.
A dark, round chamber that once held the great seated Buddha. Today there is usually a small shrine with incense, tended by local worshippers.
Dancing apsaras carved on pillars and doorways, often in groups of three on lotus flowers. They are smaller and livelier than the stately devatas of Angkor Wat.
The main entrance faces east. Start here for the best first view of the towers and to follow the reliefs in the order they were meant to be read.
The outer gallery is where the Bayon beats every other temple at Angkor. The lower registers of the long walls show ordinary life around the great events: women buying fish, a man roasting a pig, a birth, a board game, Chinese merchants in their distinctive dress and acrobats entertaining a crowd.
The south wall is the one to find. It shows the naval battle on the Tonle Sap lake in which the Khmer fought the Cham, with boats full of warriors, crocodiles snapping at the fallen and fishermen carrying on below. The east wall shows the Khmer army on the march, with elephants, carts and cooks.
| Ticket | Covered by the Angkor Pass: 1 day $37, 3 days $62 (use within 7 days), 7 days $72 (use within 30 days) |
|---|---|
| Where to buy | Angkor ticket office on Road 60, or online through Angkor Enterprise |
| Children | Under 12 free; bring a passport as proof of age |
| Opening hours | Daily, reported as 6:00 am to 6:30 pm for the main temples; confirm locally |
| Time needed | 60 to 90 minutes, or two hours if you want the reliefs properly |
| Accessibility | Steep, uneven steps to the upper terrace; the outer gallery is mostly level |
Carry your Angkor Pass at all times. Staff check it at the entrance to the Bayon and at many other temples, and a pass bought for the following day lets you in from late afternoon the evening before.
The Bayon faces east, so the morning sun falls on the front of the towers. The classic plan is to come straight here after sunrise at Angkor Wat, or to skip the sunrise and arrive when the temple opens. Tour groups usually reach the Bayon from about 9:00 am, and the upper terrace stays busy until early afternoon.
Late afternoon is the other good window. The crowds thin out, the stone warms to gold and the faces take on long shadows. For the season, November to February is the coolest and driest. The green season from June to October brings fewer visitors, lush forest and dramatic skies, with showers usually in the afternoon.
The nose-to-nose photo. On the upper terrace there is one spot where you can line up your face with a stone face. Everyone does it. Be patient, take your turn and step aside for the next person.
The Bayon is inside Angkor Thom, about 1.5 kilometres north of the South Gate. From central Siem Reap it is roughly 20 to 30 minutes by tuk-tuk, passing Angkor Wat on the way. Most visitors enter through the South Gate, which is worth a stop in its own right.
Cycling is a lovely way to reach it. The roads inside the park are flat and shaded, and a bicycle lets you stop wherever you like between the South Gate, the Bayon and the terraces. Electric bikes are widely available for hire in Siem Reap.
The Bayon is the centre of a half-day visit to the walled city. A relaxed route looks like this:
Add Preah Khan on a second day if you want another of Jayavarman VII’s great temples without the crowds.
We plan our Angkor days around the light and the crowds, so you reach the Bayon when it is quiet and your Khmer guide can read the reliefs with you rather than over the heads of a tour group. The Bayon is part of our Cambodia Classic Highlights and our unhurried Siem Reap Slow Travel journey. Tell us how you like to travel and we will shape the temple days around you. See more of our heritage experiences.
Banteay Kdei is a late 12th-century Buddhist monastery temple in the Angkor Archaeological Park, built by King Jayavarman VII in the Bayon style. It lies just…
Cambodia Wildlife Sanctuary is an elephant rescue and forest conservation project about 100 km north of Siem Reap, developed with the Save Elephant Foundation. It protects…
The Roluos Group is a set of 9th-century temples about 12 km east of Siem Reap, at the site of Hariharalaya, the first capital of the…
Theam's House, also called Theam's Gallery, is the home, studio and gallery of Cambodian artist Lim Muy Theam on the edge of Siem Reap. Set in…
