On a gallery wall at the Bayon, a king wrestles witha giant snake. This is part of the legend of the Leper King, who fights a giant snake but the venom gives him the disease. The Bayon, built between the late 12th and late 13th centuries by King Jayavarman VII, was the State temple of the time, at the centre of the city of Angkor Thom. It's bas-reliefs of historical events and daily life are an invaluable record of the period.